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Michigan Signs (page 6)

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Aubry Cleaners [gone]
Saginaw, MI		 Savoy Bar & Grill
Saginaw, MI		 parking garage
Saginaw, MI
Aubry Cleaners is long gone but this sign remained until around 2023.

The Savoy Bar & Grill has been around since at least the 1940s. The sign's neon was restored recently. For more, see this website. [map]

This parking garage sign is probably from the 1950s or 1960s. By 2023, the parking garage was demolished and the sign was installed on a pole. [map]

Ippel's
Department
Store
Saginaw, MI		 Perkins Drapery Laundry
Saginaw, MI		 Mooney's Ice Cream
Saginaw, MI
The Ippel Department Store was established in 1891 and closed in 1981. The building was destroyed in a fire in 2002 but the sign was saved. In 2006, it was restored and installed in a parking lot next to the new Ippel Building at the Old Saginaw City Historic Sign Park. The sign was built in 1935 and is 22 feet tall. In 2011, this sign was joined by the Brenske Plumbing sign. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

The Perkins Drapery Laundry window sign was built in the 1960s. The store closed in 2008. The six-foot-wide sign now hangs inside the new Ippel Building. For more, see this website.

Mooney's Ice Cream was established in 1927 as a butter plant. The company went on to sell ice cream throughout northern and mid-Michigan. The ice cream store in Saginaw closed in 1996 and the building was demolished in 1997. This 33-foot-long sign was saved. In 2009, it was restored and installed above a cafe at the new Ippel Building. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. [map]

More Saginaw:
Bean Bunny [gone]
Brenske Plumbing Heating & Supply Co.
Dawn Donuts [gone]
Stardust Lanes [gone]
State Lanes [gone]

Quality Restaurant [gone]
Sandusky, MI
The Quality Restaurant was gone but this sign remained when this photo was taken in 2011. The sign appeared to be from the 1940s. The letters are embossed. The neon tubing has been removed. The sign was removed around 2016.

Saugatuck:
Marro's Italian Restaurant [map]
Ship 'n Shore Motel
Welcome sign [map]

Skyline Motel
Sault Ste. Marie, MI		 Longships Motel
Sault Ste. Marie, MI
The Skyline Motel sign has been here since at least the 1960s. There used to be a ball above the sign. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

The Longships Motel sign had a bigger tack-on, wooden ship in 2010. This photo is from 2011. By 2016, the sign has been repainted and longer ships placed on the panels. Obviously, the sign was advertised for another motel originally. Does anyone know what the name was? For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. [map]

Lockview Motel
Sault Ste. Marie, MI		 VFW Post #3676
Sault Ste. Marie, MI
The Lockview Motel has been around since at least the 1960s. This photo is from 2011. In 2014, the sign was removed for restoration. It was reinstalled in 2015. In 2019, one of the supporting poles was found to be very rusted. A sign company gave them a quote for about $100,000 to replace the poles. The sign was removed and is now sitting next to the office. A plastic box sign went up next to the street. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

The V.F.W. Post #3676 sign is covered with plastic to protect the neon. [map]

More Sault Ste. Marie:
Alpha Bar [map]
Edison Electric
Lockview Restaurant
Sno-White Motel [gone; vintage]

Shelby Township:
Shelby Lanes

Sunoco
Southfield, MI		 Stan's Bar
Spring Lake, MI
This Sunoco sign looks larger than the remaining handful of these signs that remain. It is about 15 feet wide and composed of six plexiglass panels stitched together on each side. The sign is at a still-functioning Sunoco gas station. Should the branding change, this sign will most likely be removed. It was probably built in the 1960s by Rohm and Hass which produced many other gas station signs and smaller Sunoco signs like this. [map]

The Stan's Bar sign appears to be from the 1940s. [map]

Castle Rock Curios
St. Ignace, MI		 Gibraltar Trade
Center [gone]
Taylor, MI		 Gibraltar Trade
Center
Mt. Clemens, MI
The Castle Rock Curios sign is probably from the 1950s. It had neon letters originally. This tourist attraction consists of a hiking trail up to the top of Castle Rock, Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statues, and a souvenir shop. Castle Rock has been a tourist attraction since 1928. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. [map]

The Gibraltar Trade Center had identical signs at both of its locations. Both signs were installed next to an interstate. The signs are 94 feet tall and about 32 feet wide. The Taylor location opened in 1980 while the one in Mt. Clemens opened in 1990. I believe both signs were installed in 1990. The Taylor location closed in 2014. The building was demolished in 2015 and I assume the sign is also gone. The Mt. Clemens location closed in 2017 but the sign is still there. In 2023, it was repainted by Detroit Sign Painters with a blue suit by Pleasantrees event space and cannabis store, the location's current occupant. [Mt. Clemens map]

Standale:
Meijer Supermarket [vintage; gone]

More St. Ignace:
Indian Village

Sterling Heights:
GM Heritage Center

Three Rivers:
Spartan Motel [gone]

Mosquito Inn
Toivola, MI		 Sibley Gardens
Trenton, MI		 Top Cleaners [gone]
Utica, MI
The Mosquito Inn has been here since at least 1943. The sign is likely from the 1950s or later. By 2024, the "Inn" panel had been covered with a modern panel reading "Food, Spirits, etc." [map]

The Sibley Gardens was established in 1935. The restaurant moved to this location in 1949. The sign is probably from then. For more, see this website. [map]

Top Cleaners probably opened in the 1950s. This photo is from 2011. The business closed sometime between 2015 and 2017. In 2018, the window signs were gone but the main sign remained. The building remained vacant until around 2023 when the facade was stripped.

Traverse City:
Bardon's Wonder Freeze

Big John
Vulcan, MI		 Bingo's Motel
Wakefield, MI
Big John is a 40-foot-tall wooden sign that stands in front of the Iron Mountain Iron Mine. The sign was built in the early 1960s and it has been repainted six or seven times since then. Around 1999, the sign was "redone" with marine plywood to prevent it from peeling. The Iron Mountain Mine features mine tours and a gift/rock shop. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

Bingo's Motel has been here since the 1950s. The complex includes the motel, a garage, and a bar. [map]

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