Very cool picture, CSD! That would have been taken in their original building, obviously some years ago.

That building was knocked down in the mid to late ’90s to make way for a new Walgreen’s. There was such an uproar from the Route 66 preservation crowd, that Walgreen’s agreed to build a brand new Cozy Dog structure on the lot directly to the north of the old location.

Of course, in order to open up the space for the new Cozy Dog, they had to knock down the old A. Lincoln Motel, a classic U-shaped motor court inn with a big A-frame office right in the middle. We stayed there one night many years ago on a Route 66 trip from Chicago to St. Louis. I like to describe the A. Lincoln as the sort of place you’d see in a film noir crime movie. You know, the kind of place where the gang holes up after the bank robbery, and the leader of the gang, wearing a snap brim fedora and smoking a cigarette, pulls back the window shade just a bit to check for the cops.

The A. Lincoln Motel was a nasty, bug infested, filthy pit that was a dishonor to the source of its name. Although it was a landmark of sorts, it will not be missed.

The new Cozy Dog, on the other hand is still a fun place to stop in Springfield

Buddy