Plainsman Coffee Shop neon sign in Holbrook is taken down

The neon sign for the long-closed Plainsman Coffee Shop & Dining Room along Route 66 in Holbrook, Arizona, was taken down Tuesday.

The news first was reported on the Holbrook AZ News & Events page on Facebook as it was happening. Photos were posted of an obviously professional sign company removing the sign. Observers on the ground reported the sign is going to a new owner in California.

Naturally, this sparked a lot of discussion from locals and Route 66 enthusiasts, urging city officials to be more proactive in preserving Holbrook’s Route 66 heritage.

Some were resigned, such as frequent Route 66 traveler and writer Blue Miller opining: “See ’em while you can, folks. See ’em while you can …”

Many vintage Route 66 signs have disappeared to collectors in recent years, with the controversy coming to a head about two years ago with the forthcoming Glorieta Station in Albuquerque containing several such signs from New Mexico.

It’s a tension between letting signs deteriorate at long-defunct businesses along Route 66 or someone restoring or at least halting their deterioration at a new location.

The Plainsman at 1001 W. Hopi Drive (aka Route 66) was built in 1966, the same year a remake of a 1936 movie of the same name was released, according to the Library of Congress.

According to one report, The Plainsman closed in 2009.

Holbrook also suffered a big loss during the COVID-19 pandemic when Joe & Aggie’s Cafe, a fixture along Route 66 since the early 1940s, closed.

(Image by Carol M. Highsmith of the Plainsman Coffee Shop and Dining Room sign in 2018 in Holbrook, Arizona, via the Library of Congress)