Historic Tropics sign removed

ExploreLoganCounty.com on Wednesday posted on its Facebook page a photo of the Tropics sign along Route 66 in Lincoln, Illinois, being removed.

The tourism agency said:

Although it will be missed from the landscape, the city of Lincoln (the new owner of the sign) has expressed plans to have it restored. When this will happen and where it will go once restored has not been said.

The new owner of the restaurant — which had been open only sporadically in recent years — donated the sign.

The Tropics opened in 1950, and the style of the sign strongly indicates it was installed there at that time or shortly after. Original owner Vince Schwenoha lived in California for a time, and was inspired by the native palm trees to give his restaurant a tropical theme.

More history of the restaurant and vintage photos can be found here.

(Photo by Donna Doolin via Facebook)

3 thoughts on “Historic Tropics sign removed

  1. Does anyone know what color neon was in the sign? Would be cool to be able to replace the same colors of neon that originally lit the sign. Does anyone have a picture of the same when it was lit up?

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.