Sacramento Googie

Northgate Orbit Station

Googie is a term, derived from the name of a Los Angeles coffee shop, selected by Alan Hess to describe a style of building developed in the 1950s that is exaggeratedly modern--a style that fits a 1950s conception of space age design. The style on The Jetsons is very Googie.

This style is of the commercial vernacular, meaning that it is not a design movement within academia based on an intellectual philosophy and then executed by academically trained architects. Instead, it was developed by builders in response to the needs of the client. In this case, the need was primarily to catch the eye of the families speeding by in cars. It developed out of the post-war car culture and the shift of urban populations to the suburbs, and its birthplace and area of greatest development is the car capital of the planet, Los Angeles.

And the climate of Los Angeles plays a role in Googie design as well. Year-round mild temperatures freed the builder to use vast expanses of glass, as structures seem to float in the air.

Sacramento must have had its share of Googie design--most everything you can find in Los Angeles you can find in Sacramento on a smaller scale. But much of it would have been gone before I moved to the area and started exploring it. I see the listings in old city directories for Sambo's and Sam's Big Tops and diners/coffee shops with intriguing names I've never come across before, but most of the buildings are long gone

Here are the few I have gotten around to photographing and researching:



Country Club Lanes
2600 Watt Ave.
1959
Status: extant

This is easily the most substantial Googie structure in Sacramento, and worthy of attention from Googie fans across the nation. The bowling alley opened in 1959, but there is a lot more in this structure than just the lanes, and much of it was not open until 1960.



Still in the hands of a private ownership group, the place has kept up with the times, and is regularly named best bowling alley in Sacramento Magazine's best of Sacramento roundup. One thing that hasn't changed is an old drinking fountain near the back entrance that looks right out of a 1950s school, and out of place with the glow-in-the-dark carpet and all the thin panel monitors.



Northgate Orbit
2240 Northgate Blvd.
1964
Status: standing vacant

In recent years this old Orbit Station has been a car dealership, and it is available for lease for that purpose now.



Orbit Station
4716 Auburn Blvd.
Circa 1970-1971
Status: extant

Yes, I was surprised by the late date on this one, but it doesn't show up in the Sacramento Suburban directories until 1971. I even checked the cross street, Myrtle Ave., in case the address had changed. This is the best known and most often photographed Orbit building in Sacramento. The gas station usually has some of the lowest prices in the area too, which makes it easy for me to support them.


Orangevale Orbit
8994 Greenback Lane
Circa ??
Status: extant

This one lies too far away from the city center for me to find listings for it in old directories, hence I am unable to date it. In addition to these three, there were Orbit Stations at:

1340 Del Paso Blvd.
1834 El Camino
4101 Manzanita Ave.
4948 San Juan Ave.

plus one station listed as Orbit Seaside Service at 3920 Fruitridge Rd. I don't know whether they had the same Googie buildings or not.



Lyon's Restaurant
Circa 1966-1967
Satus: demolished March of 2007

This was one of my two favorite buildings in Sacramento (the other one has also been demolished), and so I ate at the Lyon's frequently, even though I didn't think much of the food. I assumed it had been something else originally, as I had never seen another Lyon's like this one, but no, it opened originally as a Lyon's that was open 24 hours and was quite the happening place late at night in the late 1960s (according to a friend at work). I've since seen another building similar to this in Hayward that currently houses a Chinese restaurant, but was originally a Lyon's.

When the long-closed Montgomery Ward next to the restaurant was renovated and changed into a Wal-Mart, this building got a new paint job, and a couple of months later it closed. Eventually it was demolished to allow for extra parking for the Wal-Mart. I'm sure Satan got a good chuckle out of that one.


Sam's Big Top
2721 El Camino
Circa 1966-1967
Status: in use as Country Waffles

In the Sam Gordon Center. Sam Gordon had a restaurant empire, with Sam's Ranch Wagon, Sam's Hof Braus, and Sam's Big Tops, plus Sam's Town. He also had an ongoing business relationship with Denny's: he sold them the Sam's Hof Brau concept. He sold them Sam's Town, and then bought it back. And presumably he sold them this Sam's Big Top, as it was a Denny's by 1970. It was then for more than 20 years Walt's before becoming Country Waffles. The interior contains only hints of its original identity, like the hot pink tile back splash behind the counter.


Sambo's Pancakes
Circa 1963-1965
Status: in use as restaurant El Patron

There were several Sambo's in the Sacramento area at one time, but as far as I know, this one is the only Sambo's building remaining. When it was a typical Mexican restaurant for the area (an inexpensive place run by Mexicans) it looked more like a Sambo's on the outside, and probably the inside too. But it was extensively remodeled before reopening as El Patron, a higher priced Mexican restaurant that is not very authentic.


The Coffee Hut
Circa: 1966-1968
Status: in use as Eggie's Restaurant

The Coffee Hut didn't last long, but it wasn't the building's fault. Eggie's has done just fine as a coffee shop under the boomerang roof the last 30 years.


Al & Myrle's Platter
2101 Broadway
Circa 1963-1964
Status: in use as Pancake Circus

The Pancake Circus is such a beloved Sacramento institution that I imagine most people can't imagine that it was every anything else, but it didn't become Pancake Circus until 1970 or 1971. It's only open for breakfast and lunch now, but still does a very strong business.


Safeway
Circa 1960-1963
Status: in use as Tognotti's (auto parts)

This is much like the marina style Safeways in the Bay Area, but the curl up of the roof line at both sides is an added bit of flair I haven't seen elsewhere. There's another old marina Safeway in town that has not been treated sympathetically over the years.


Phillips 66
2920 P St.
Circa 1971-1973
Status: modified for use as Suzie Burger

When the chain link fence went up around this old service station, I figured it was done for. But instead it just got a renovation, and seems to be doing good business as Suzie Burger.

Phillips 66
Broadway
Circa 1967-1968
Status: standing

This place seems to alternate frequently between being vacant and having some sort of auto-related business in it. Hmmm, I thought I had a photo of this place, but I can't locate one. I'll have to run out and correct that.


Woody's Smorgasburger
Circa 1963-1965
Status: in use as Land Park Ski & Sports

Wow! What a roof. There's a match for this building in Berkeley, which also used to be a Woody's Smorgasburger. I'd love to see some photos of the interior back in the day.


Sacramento Zoo
3930 W. Land Park Dr.
Status: still in use

The Sacramento Zoo first opened in 1927, but I would guess that the entrance dates from 1950s or 1960s.