The Coffee Pot

During the Lincoln Highway era from 1912 to 1940, the rise in automobile travel encouraged programmatic architecture, with proprietors using oversized buildings shaped like objects to attract motorists. In Pennsylvania along the Lincoln Highway, notable examples included the Coffee Pot, the Ship Hotel, and the Shoe House, though many later fell into disrepair. In 1927, Bert Koontz designed and quickly erected the Coffee Pot on the west end of Bedford to draw visitors to his adjacent gas station. The restaurant originally served ice cream, hamburgers, and Coca-Cola. In 1937, it was converted into a bar, and a hotel was built behind it. Because the Greyhound bus depot stood next door, the Coffee Pot became a regular stop for bus passengers. In 2004, the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor moved the Coffee Pot to a new location and restored it in an effort to save it.

Pennsylvania · United States