Skip to main content

A ride out to Mayberry

On June 5th, Joe Babyak and I took a trip out to Mount Airy, NC.  We went to check out 'Mayberry'.  Little did we know that the trip would be full of 20th century American nostalgia!

The route: I-540, I-40, NC 66, NC 89, US 52 Business, NC/VA 103, VA/NC 8, I-40, I-840, US 70 and local roads home.

For the flickr set from the entire trip, head here.

NC 66 is actually a very nice and surprisingly twisty drive.  There are also a lot of classic rural and roadside finds on the winding route through Forsyth and Stokes Counties.  Here at the intersection of Beux Mountain Road a old country store turned pool hall still has this classic old Gulf sign.

IMG_6604

From there it's a brief drive to Rural Hall and the small town on what was once US 52 has a few treasures of its own.  From an old train station - that can use a little touch up work...

IMG_6610

...to what may be the best find of the trip. 

Pepsi-Cola Ghost Billboard - Rural Hall, NC

This Pepsi-Cola ghost sign may be one of the oldest still viewed within North Carolina.  Sadly, the computer repair shop covers the name of the former "____ Quick Lunch".  And the deck for the apartments on the second floor cover up the rest of the sign.  I wonder if there are any photos of this building in any archives.  The other side of the building also has a similar Pepsi-Cola ghost sign.

Ancient Pepsi-Cola billboard - Rural Hall, NC

After a twisty ride through the Sauratown Mountains, we picked up NC 89 towards Mount Airy.  A couple of miles onto 89, this older shield popped up.

IMG_6618

Now it's only from 1987 - but considering the rate of how NC has replaced signs over the last 10 years, it's 'old'.

We pulled into Mount Airy around 1 pm and quickly found Mayberry.  Main Street in Mount Airy is a walk back to yesteryear, and its easy to spend a few hours here.

IMG_6628

In Mount Airy, the sites and sounds of 'Mayberry' and the 'Andy Griffith Show' are all around.

Mayberry Police Car

IMG_6632

IMG_6634

Over at Carolina Crossroads, I've written more about Mount Airy and how the town has embraced its role as 'Mayberry'.  You can read it here.

To prove that we did in fact enter Virginia, here's a photo from where VA 103 meets VA 8.

IMG_6685

Finally, there's an old country store on Leesville Road in Durham County that I have been wanting to get photos of.  Three years after moving back to North Carolina, I finally captured some photos of it.

Leesville Road Country Grocery

There is a rare - at least to me - Borden's Ice Cream (complete with Elsie the Cow) sign left at this old store.  The sign is rusted out and the light wasn't the best but you can certainly see the classic Elsie Borden logo!

IMG_6692

A trip like this is why I love driving the backroads of rural North Carolina. It is amazing what you can find when you get off the interstate, slow down, and get out and walk around!

Comments

Anonymous said…
You found some great signage on this trip. I especially like the old Gulf sign!

Popular posts from this blog

The 1915-era Teilman Bridge (the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge in California)

The Teilman Bridge is a semi-abandoned structure over Fresno Slough west of Burrell siding near the intersection of Elkhorn Avenue and Elkhorn Grade.  This structure is the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge constructed in California and was designed by Ingvart Teilman.  Teilman's Bridge would open in late 1915 when the Elkhorn Grade was the primary road between Fresno and Coalinga.  The structure would be replaced in 1991 but was left standing as it carries pipelines over Fresno Slough.  Part 1; the history of the Teilman Bridge In the early Twentieth Century the most direct highway between Fresno and Coalinga followed the Elkhorn Grade.  The Elkhorn Grade began at Fresno Slough a short distance west of Burrell siding.  From Fresno Slough the Elkhorn Grade followed a generally southwestern course through San Joaquin Valley into the Kettleman Hills towards Coalinga.   The Elkhorn Grade can be seen on the  1914 C.F. Weber map of Fresno Coun...

The Dummy Lights of New York

  A relic of the early days of motoring, dummy lights were traffic lights  that  were  placed  in the middle of a street intersection. In those early days, traffic shuffled through busy intersections with the help of a police officer who stood on top of a pedestal. As technology improved and electric traffic signals became commonplace, they were also  originally  positioned on a platform at the center of the intersection. Those traffic signals became known as  " dummy lights "  and were common until  traffic lights were moved  onto wires and poles that crossed above the intersection.  In New York State, only a handful of these dummy lights exist. The dummy lights  are found  in the Hudson Valley towns of Beacon and Croton-on-Hudson, plus there is an ongoing tug of war in Canajoharie in the Mohawk Valley, where their dummy light has been knocked down and replaced a few times. The dummy light in Canajoharie is currently...

Prunedale Road (Monterey County)

Prunedale Road is a short 2.6-mile-long frontage corridor of US Route 101 in the namesake Monterey County community of Prunedale.  Prior to 1932 US Route 101 bypassed Prunedale in favor of the San Juan Grade to the east.  Prunedale Road along with nearby Moro Road served as an alternative connecting highway between Salinas and San Juan Bautista.  Following the realignment of US Route 101 onto the Prunedale Cutoff the former through route along Prunedale Road would be rendered as a western frontage.   Part 1; the history of Prunedale Road Prunedale Road is located in and is named after the Monterey County community of Prunedale.  Said community was founded near the junction of San Migeul Canyon, Langley Canyon and Echo Valley.  Watsonville settler Charles Langley (namesake of Langley Canyon) was one of the prominent early community settlers.  The Prunedale Post Office would open for the first time in 1894 but would close by 1908.  Early agricu...