Looking like something from the Bodie State Historic Park ghost town, the former Monty’s Grocery store at 701-703 Tenth Avenue (or 839-849 Cabrillo) appears to be in a state of “arrested decay.”
Hollywood couldn’t come up better gone-to-Hell look if it tried. Click to expand – it gets big.
See that old glass tubing above the sidewalk?
Will this neon sign still be here in a hundred years? Maybe.
Tags: 10th, arrested decay, ave. avenue, bodie, cabrillo, california, district, groceries, grocery, liquors, monty, monty's, richmond, San Francisco, shp, state historic park, tenth
I like your blog, but I’m not sure i agree with the tone of this piece.
My opinion is this, buildings and signs like the one above are small but important indicators of a history of a place. Europe has crumbling buildings, Philadelphia has a bell, we have old neon signs in North Beach.
I’m all for embracing texture like this. I know I’m probably the exception, but that’s okay. I’m secure in my aesthetic black-sheepedness.
I mean let’s face, it would be a different and far worse “gone to hell” look if it was a new plastic-lit-from-the-inside sign that read walmart.
I don’t mind it being there at all. Never noticed it before, it hints at a past that I’m not aware of. Apparently, back in the day, this part of the Richmond District had a bunch of bars and was known for carousing.
Anwyay, I was surprised to see it in the Inner Richmond as it looks more something you’d see in the Mission. (Some people didn’t like this post I did about the Inner Sunset http://sfcitizen.com/blog/2009/03/22/a-sign-of-the-times-empty-parking-spaces-on-9th-avenue-in-the-inner-sunset/ neither – I was surprised to see what I saw there as well.)
Long may Monty’s sign stand (although somebody might want to look at the supporting cables every decade or so…)