Piedt and Sons - Benton Harbor MI
I passed this odd place on my way to the lighthouse. The next day leaving town I had to stop and take a few shots. It turns out it is in the Roadside Attractions web site. At first I thought the guy in the window would come out and yell at me with a shotgun. LOL turns out it's Elvis! Who knew he is alive and in Benton Harbor.
At the corner of M-139 and Nickerson Avenue in Benton Township, there is a building that is, at first glance, difficult to pin down. Old-fashioned signs hang on the building's whitewashed sides and there are cars and trucks from the 1950s parked in the driveway. The lawn is bristling with statuary. It's a unique-looking establishment before you even spot the disembodied Tyrannosaurus rex head in the side yard.
Brad Piedt is the third generation of Piedts to run the store, which his grandfather John opened in 1921 to sell farm supplies. Darrell Piedt, Brad's father, ran it next. When Brad Piedt took it over in 1984, he began selling lawn and garden supplies and statues. In 2009, Piedt started manufacturing his own statues on-site.
The small building that was the original 1921 farm supply store is now a museum of old toys, bicycles, cans, signs, other historical knickknacks, including an old soda fountain, that Piedt picked up over the years. Piedt opens the little museum to visitors during the summer.
1952 Chieftain Deluxe
Piedt and Sons - Benton Harbor MI
I passed this odd place on my way to the lighthouse. The next day leaving town I had to stop and take a few shots. It turns out it is in the Roadside Attractions web site. At first I thought the guy in the window would come out and yell at me with a shotgun. LOL turns out it's Elvis! Who knew he is alive and in Benton Harbor.
At the corner of M-139 and Nickerson Avenue in Benton Township, there is a building that is, at first glance, difficult to pin down. Old-fashioned signs hang on the building's whitewashed sides and there are cars and trucks from the 1950s parked in the driveway. The lawn is bristling with statuary. It's a unique-looking establishment before you even spot the disembodied Tyrannosaurus rex head in the side yard.
Brad Piedt is the third generation of Piedts to run the store, which his grandfather John opened in 1921 to sell farm supplies. Darrell Piedt, Brad's father, ran it next. When Brad Piedt took it over in 1984, he began selling lawn and garden supplies and statues. In 2009, Piedt started manufacturing his own statues on-site.
The small building that was the original 1921 farm supply store is now a museum of old toys, bicycles, cans, signs, other historical knickknacks, including an old soda fountain, that Piedt picked up over the years. Piedt opens the little museum to visitors during the summer.
1952 Chieftain Deluxe