Neonopolis

...a.k.a. 25 neon signs part iv...

1.
Houston, Texas
I begin this episode of Neonopolis with a sign I drove by for many years without stopping. Part of the problem was the fairly intense traffic along Interstate 45/the Gulf Freeway. This Harmony Wedding Chapel is on a feeder road off of I45, and one of those times, I finally pulled over and got its weathered old neon sign.


2.
Houston, Texas
This is from the Heights Theater, a theater built in 1929, remodeled in 1935 in its current Art Deco design.

3.
Mineola, Texas

4.
Richmond-Rosenberg, Texas
The towns of Richmond-Rosenberg were on the way to (and from) my mom and dad's hometown, Eagle Lake. This is one of the earliest neon signs I can remember seeing, and I would have seen it a lot(!).

5.
Another one in Richmond-Rosenberg, Texas

6.
I've heard this one in Marlin, Texas, is gone.

7.
A different shot of this one in Alexandria, Louisiana, got me published, so to speak. Great sign! The voodoo theme is very Louisiana.

8.
Attached to the endangered (in fact, for all I know, it's been demolished) 1937 Art Deco Martini Theater in Galveston, Texas.

9.
Temple, Texas

10.
Austin, Texas

11.
Shreveport, Louisiana

12.
Galveston, Texas (my hometown!)

13.
Taylor, Texas

14.
Houston, Texas, c. 1954

15.
Junction, Texas

16.
Fort Worth, Texas

17.
Austin, Texas

18.
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
From Route 66 in New Mexico (Images of America) (p. 27):

In 1956, Joe Campos Sr. opened La Fiesta Café as a drive-in. It was enclosed in 1962-1963, and Jose passed it on to his son Joseph in 1985. It is now Joseph's Bar and Grill.

19.
Port Arthur, Texas

20.
Austin, Texas

21.
Tucumcari, New Mexico
La Cita opened in 1940, and the new building with the sombrero-shaped entrance opened right across Route 66 in 1961. It closed in 2004 but reopened in 2006.

22.
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
From the motel's website:

The La Loma Motel is an authentic vintage motel in Santa Rosa, New Mexico and has been a favorite rest stop for travelers along route 66 since the 1940s. You may be interested to know that the Campos family has run the La Loma since it opened, and we still do. We here at the La Loma believe that the route 66 traveler deserves a good nights rest at a great rate, so stop on by and experience the warmth and friendly hospitality of days gone by.

23.

Richmond-Rosenberg, Texas

24.
Tucumcari, New Mexico

25.
Houston, Texas