A historic McDonald's, one of the earliest in New Jersey, avoids McBoxing and remains a red-roofed mansard (with quirky golf-related decorations)

Plus, a McDonald's of similar vintage closes in Illinois -- and one of the last single-arch signs goes with it.

One side of the sign is maxed out at "over 99 billion served," and the other just goes with "billions and billions served." I call those Carl Sagan signs.

The other day, on a jaunt to Long Branch, New Jersey, to photograph a recently uncovered early 20th-century Coca-Cola mural (post coming soon!) I stumbled upon this untouched mansard McDonald's. 

This is not your usual McDonald's, I'd like to point out, at least what passes for usual these days. Aside from having escaped (for now) architectural sterilization, the location has an interesting history.

This McDonald's, at 925 Route 35 in Middletown, New Jersey, was the 157th store in the chain and the fifth in New Jersey, having opened on Sept. 15, 1960. On that day, local resident Billy Hayer became the first person here to bite into a burger, according to newspaper archives. The introduction of the Filet-O-Fish here, in early 1965, just in time for Lent, was headline news. (The menu in 1960 was simple: hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, shakes, soda, coffee, milk, root beer and orangeade.)

This building here is likely the second on the site, having replaced the original “red-and-white” walk-up McDonald's, which featured "neon-lighted rainbow arches." The small building had a 400-square-foot kitchen, enclosed in a 900-square-foot perimeter of quarter-inch plate glass, allowing customers to ensure the “preparation of his food is quick and clean,” the Daily Record reported in 1960.

The restaurants were so novel back then that the reporter had to explain how it all worked: You’d walk up to the plate-glass window to order, pick up your food, and walk it back to your car (no car hop to help) or drive it home. The system did away with two restaurant “nuisances” — tipping and waiting, the report explained! And yes, at this point, you could not step inside a McDonald’s, though the area where you ordered was heated for those much colder winters of yore.

Below is an image from The Daily Record showing what it looked like right before opening day:

Over 100 million sold as of 1960 .... (Daily Record via Newspapers.com)

This ad for the Middletown location was published in November 1960.

For fans of the Masters Tournament that ended on Sunday, this McDonald’s is an interesting stop, as it features all kinds of golf memorabilia and a cute display of golf tees in the shape of an M at the counter.

If vintage McDonald’s restaurants are your thing, check this one out while we still have it! [MAP]

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McDonald’s with rare single-arch sign closes in Belleville, Illinois

The sign as it looked in October 2022, via Google Streetview.

This McDonald’s in Belleville, Illinois, had been McBoxed, and now it’s McClosed, a historic location dating to 1961 that had one of the most special relics a legacy McDonald’s can have. Now in doubt is the future of the star attraction here, the single-arch sign, a transitional style used between 1962 and 1968, and today down to a handful. This one had the additional words WE VALUE BELLEVILLE.

When I learned of the closure, I briefly contemplated a quick trip to shoot the sign, but I was already too late. It’s been taken down, and it was not immediately clear what would become of it, reported the Belleville News-Democrat.

Regardless, I’d been hoping to get out this way this year, as I’ve never explored this part of Illinois and love shooting the remaining single-arch signs. (I’ve photographed one in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, now in a private collection; one in Magnolia, New Jersey; one in Winter Haven, Florida; and one in Green Bay, Wisconsin. For a full list of survivors, see Debra Jane Seltzer’s roadarch.com)

The fact that the sign appears to have been taken down carefully, not crudely demolished, suggests it will not end up in a landfill. Hopefully, it can stay in town, as the community successfully fought to keep it when it was almost removed in 1996 during a renovation.

The sign said WE VALUE BELLEVILLE — added after it was saved in 1996 — but it also worked the other way around.

I’ll have updates as I get them.

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