Photo Retro! - The Central Hotel

The Central Hotel occupied the upper floors of the John B. Ray Building in downtown Leaksville. Leaksville was one of three small towns that were combined to become the greater metropolitan area of Eden, located in central North Carolina just south of the Virginia border.  Its now age-worn and broken neon sign could have been a set piece in a classic Hollywood film noir.

A vintage postcard shows the whole of the building; the entrance to the Central Hotel can be seen at the rear corner.  The sign featured above remains hanging above that entrance, however the artist chose not to include it in the postcard rendering.  The vertical HOTEL sign at the front also survives, albeit in equally poor condition.

Photo Retro! - Fill It Up With Regular

Remnants of old gas stations are becoming rarer and rarer, but a chance glance while driving a North Carolina backroad brought this vintage-era pump to our attention.  Though difficult to see, the price per gallon shown on the pump is a mere 33¢.  This would date its last activity to sometime during the late 1960s, early 1970s.  When I began my short-lived career as pump jockey back in 1977, the price of leaded regular had jumped to around 60¢ a gallon.

Photo Retro! - Playground Apocalypse

Space age playground equipment was quite the rage during the 1960s and 1970s. Slides and climbing gyms themed as retro-style rockets were especially popular and red always seemed to be the dominant color of such structures. Safety concerns ultimately grounded much of the era's imaginative designs and equipment. This particular playground rocket is located within an abandoned radar base far off the beaten path in rural North Carolina.