The Bright Lights of the Krispy Kreme Sign
The neon Krispy Kreme sign on the corner of Peace and Person Street isn’t unique to Raleigh, but it is unique in that it’s a remnant of a bygone era when such signs were prevelant throughout town. (See comments for more information on when this sign went up.) There are a few such examples left, including the bulldozer on the NC Equipment Building, the Mecca Restaurant Sign, and the famous Arby’s Cowboy Hat. The preceeding examples have all been grandfathered in — current zoning ordinances prevent new signs of this style from being constructed.
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03/23/2009
I love the giant Krispy Kreme sign, and the others mentioned. They were the first things that I really noticed when I moved to Raleigh.
03/24/2009
I don’t think the Krispy Kreme sign is all that old. Anyone remember when it went up? I would say late 70s-early 80s maybe? I remember when Krispy Kreme operated out of one of the store fronts just north on Person Street, near the old Conti’s Market. There was no large sign then. I think they moved to the corner in the around 1980 and that’s when the sign arrived.
I remember being a bit surprised they got an exemption when the sign ordinance passed because it wasn’t that old.
Raleigh Boy can set me straight here. Help! ;)
03/24/2009
OK– here’s what I can tell you right off the top of my head. NCSU is right, sort of. KKD operated for years out of the strorefront at 618 N. Person St. –just recently vacated by Conti’s Market. My family would often stop by there on Sunday mornings on our way back home from church downtown. There was a beautiful Victorian house on the site where KKD is located today, and an enormous old oak tree stood on the corner, just about where the sign is now.
As I recall, it was in 1965 or ’66 when KKD bought the corner lots and built the present store building and erected the sign. As far as I know, this sign is the same one put up on the site of the oak tree back then. I live over in that neighborhood now, and whenever I drive by that corner I always flash back to that old tree. Sure wish I’d taken some photos of it!
Speaking of photos — great shot of the KKD sign John! I see it at night sometimes, but usually half the neon is burned out, so it’s a treat to see it fully illuminated!
03/24/2009
I’m not disputing you Raleigh Boy, but 1965 or ’66 doesn’t seem right to me. I would have only been 4 or 5 years old and I have lots of memories of going to the old location many times with my dad. My parents used to play “Rook” on Friday nights with some neighbors and they’d always take a break so the women could fix coffee and the men could run down to get donuts. I can’t believe I was only four or five years old when that happened. But maybe my memory is better than I thought.
03/24/2009
As I said, this narrative is right off the top of my head. The reason for the dates is that when I was roving around downtown 1965-1967 taking photos I would stop in at the antique shop that was in the Victorian house that used to be there. So maybe it was 1966-67 the KKD was built.
The Leonidas Polk house used to stand a couple doors down from there, where KKD now parks its trucks. When the Victorian house and the house next to it were torn down for KKD, the Polk house was moved back from Person St. to adjoin the rear of the Winborne house on Blount St. (It was moved again a few years ago up to the 500 block of Blount St.) So, if I can find out when the Polk house was moved the first time, that would be when KKD was built and the sign erected!
03/25/2009
According to the Wake County Real Estate website, the land was sold to the Rudolph Investment Corp. in January 1969:
http://services.wakegov.com/realestate/Deeds.asp?id=0061599&stype=addr&stnum=&stname=person&locidList=2108&spg=8&cd=01&loc=549+N+PERSON+ST&des=&pin=1704812992
The building constructed in 1970:
http://services.wakegov.com/realestate/Building.asp?id=0061599&stype=addr&stnum=&stname=person&locidList=2108&spg=8&cd=01&loc=549+N+PERSON+ST&des=&pin=1704812992
So the sign probably dates to 1970 – not the late ’70s as I thought and the original comments might be accurate. I would have been nine in 1970 and that would better agree with the many memories I had of the old location. I don’t have too many vivid memories when I was three or four or younger.
03/25/2009
NCSU — Thanks for doing the leg work for me. Glad to know you take an interest in my commentaries!
I did find out the Polk house was moved from its Person St. site before 1967, probably more like 1966. Anyway, the two houses (and the oak tree) on what is now the KKD site were torn down about that same time time — that is what I remember. I guess the lot must have remained vacant for a couple years thereafter until KKD was built. btw — there’s a small photo of what looks like it on the KKD history Web page http://www.krispykreme.com/history.html#
03/26/2009
Any idea where “567 N. Person” would be? I have an old postcard that shows “Wooten’s Hometel” at that address, but I can’t find it in the online county real estate listings.
03/26/2009
NCSU — I have that same postcard! Here’s a rundown of the west side of the 500 block of N. Person St. in 1950 (Sanborn maps): 549 — (large Victorian house at the corner of Peace with the oak tree), 553 — (small 2-story house– I don’t remember this one), 561 — (large 1-story — I do remember this one), 565 — Polk house (This one I remember being moved ca 1966 or maybe ’65), 567 — the ‘Hometel’ (don’t remember it, but I love that name!), and 571, the corner lot — a filling station (only vaguely remember). Nos. 549, 553, 561 are now the site of KKD; 565, moved, now KKD delivery truck lot; 567, 571, now the site of a bank. So, if you’re standing in front of the KKD truck lot today, Wooten’s ‘Hometel’ was immediately to the right.
The Person Street Pharmacy has a collection of 5 or 6 photos from the 1930-40s on display that show most of the buildings at the intersection of Person and Pace at that time — including the Hometel. You ought to check it out… You’ll be amazed how different it looked back then!
03/30/2009
Our sign ordinance is too limiting — I think we have a thing to two to learn from Austin, TX.
04/14/2009
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dgmckim/3443540694/sizes/l/
do these count?
05/29/2009
I went to Murphy Elementary School in the late 30’s. I remember stopping at the Krispy Kreme place near Person St. Pharmacy on the way home from school to buy “day old” doughnuts with my milk money. I bought some pills from the pharmacy called methelene blue. These turned your urine blue and I used them on Boy Scout camping trips. I lived on Mordecai Drive Next door to the Dukes. Dan was my age and became a college professor. His brother Jim , also a PHD, became world famous as a botanist and author. He is the author of The Green Pharmacy and many textbooks. My brother , Charles Rue also a PHD, became a famous Ceramic expert with many patents. My sister, Marie, and I only made it to the Master’s level. She worked as a mathematician for the Navy and I worked as an engineer on Apollo and the Space Shuttle. There must have been something in that Mordecai Springs water.
06/09/2009
Thanks for the comments and facts on the KKD site on Person street. I can remember some very late nights in 1965-66 that we’d roll over there and pick up a couple of boxes of them … still hot! There’s nothing like a fresh-cooked KKD … unless it’s one with vanilla ice cream on it. I can still see the things rolling off the stainless-steel conveyors.
05/29/2021
The Hill’s Directories of Raleigh over at archive.org start showing a listing for Krispy Kreme in 1941, at 304 Pace St. This address no longer seems to exist, but would be in the southeast corner of Person and Pace between the commercial building and the first house.
The address changed to 618 N Person St sometime between ’45 and ’48, where it remained through at least ’63, which is the last of the Directories that have available. That address is now Crawford and Son.
I wonder if it’s possible that those addresses were the same place.