[Fading Advertisements] Second National Bank? Hidden in Plain View
When I find a restaurant I like, I'll get on a kick for awhile. Lately that's been The Sports Page on Main. It's cheap, delicious, quick, and I can hop a train to get there. Departing the streetcar at the 8/Main station the other day, I glanced up and noticed something on the Second National Bank Building which was being hit by the sun just right. There was the word "parking" with a faint arrow under beneath it pointing to the small lot below.
Interestingly enough, Main Street has one of the city's largest collections of fading advertisements/ghost signs. In the book, several of them are featured. They range from barely decipherable to plain as day. I walked up this street several times to shoot photographs for the publication and now travel it daily for work. Yet, I never noticed one hiding in plain sight. I should've thought to look, as the spot is a pretty prominent place for an ad.
So far, "parking" is the only word I've been able to make out. It wouldn't surprise me, though, if the ad was once for the bank that inhabited the building, now replaced by offices, a credit union, and barbershop.
To check out the other Fading Advertisements posts and the book that inspired them, click here.