St. Joseph, Missouri: Neon Horse and Rider

Speedy's Convenience Store in St. Joseph, MO, has a neon sign out front featuring a galloping racehorse. The horse only gallops when the neon is turned on at night.

There are actually many versions of the galloping horse neon signs. Not only are there other Speedy's stores in Northwest Missouri with the same sign, but in Wichita, KS, there is a motel whose sign features a riderless horse, doing the same gallop. The neon has to be turned on at night, though, to get the full effect.

The Speedy's convenience stores are on Frederick, between the Belt Hwy., and I-29, in St. Joseph, and there is one somewhere in Fairfax, MO, a few miles due east of Maryville. The motel with a similar sign is called The Corral Motel, and it is on South Broadway, almost to Pawnee, in Wichita. (East side of street.) [Don Fraysier, 10/01/2000]

[RA: Jan. 2011: Debra Jane Seltzer wrote: "The Corral Motel sign in Wichita is long gone. The Pony Express Motel sign, which features a galloping horse, was restored and moved to the Pony Express Museum in town."]