Someday, your Prince’s (hamburgers sign) will go. If you hail from the kingdom of the Heights, today appears to be that day. Swamplot reader Rachelle Varnon sends in the above photo, taken just a short while ago, of the old N. Shepherd Prince’s Hamburgers sign as it sits, mounted on a royal coach for a northern journey. “I saw a bucket truck by the old sign [pictured at left] at 15th and North Shepherd today on my way to lunch,” she writes. “By the time we returned, the sign was down.“
Where’s it headed?
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“The man that was removing it said he was contracted by The National Save the Neon Signs Museum in Minot, North Dakota to remove it and that it would end up there,” Varnon continues. “I was happy it was not being destroyed, but sad that it’s leaving the neighborhood.”
A new sign has taken its place on the property, but there are no buzzing lights attached:
Photos: Rachelle Varnon
Wow! Self storage! So happy that is coming to the neighborhood!
Said no one, ever.
Oh good, more self storage. I would be interested in seeing how Houston lists on a self-storage sqaure-feet per capita ranking. Doubly so for one that ranks self-storage square feet per-capita versus housing square-footage per-capita. Given the abundance of these places, which I can’t say i see in equal measure in other parts of the states, I would bet this is another category we’re #1 in.
Also, one of those towns I visit happens to be Minot, whose National Save the Neon Signs Museum I will definitely be checking out.
I remember when Prine’s used to be on Main St. @ Wheeler(near the Sears Main St. Store). The burgers back then were pretty good. And the drive-in parking was funky…
With Prince’s not being defunct (or are they??), you would think they would want to hold onto for future possible use.
The fact that somebody wants it in North Dakota and nobody wants it here. What a Houstony thing to happen.
I’m with adr; there is so much self-storage in the neighborhood. What’s up with that?
I once rented a self storage unit. My wife (then girlfriend) and I were condensing from two apartments to one. After a year and a half of paying the rental fee, I did the math. For what I had paid on the storage unit, I could have bought, brand new, everything I was storing in. So we ended up emptying the unit and tossing whatever we didn’t immediately have use for. Bottom line, the storage unit was some of the worst money I’ve spent in my entire life. I suspect that’s often the case.
@Al – A lot of us in the Museum District were actually happy to see the Proguard Self Storage open up on the NE corner of Almeda and Binz. That was a weedy, overgrown corner on two busy streets for too long. Also, Proguard actually has a nice looking building with pretty landscaping, and they even replaced all the crappy sidewalks around their property. Not all mini storage places are equal.
Self storage is one of the biggest rackets around. If you aren’t using it, sell it, donate it or trash it. There’s no reason to store stuff indefinitely.
I remember riding my bicycle to that location after it closed . The restaurant was deserted but when I looked inside at the tables the napkin holders were still in place as if everything was ready to open for business. It was turned into a used car lot later on.
I remember some REALLY HOT cars around there in mid 60s. Thnx for posting about the sign, I have wondered where it ended up. At least it was saved.