Much has been written about how the Interstate Highway System has changed the American landscape, causing small towns to be forgotten as people dash to and from their destinations.

When it comes to taking the fast route, I’m as guilty as anyone else; at least, when I’m in the car. But on motorcycle trips, I do prefer that “Road Less Traveled,” partly because leaning into a curve on a winding road is more fun, but also because that “Road Less Traveled” is, well … less traveled, as in fewer big trucks. I have nothing against professional truck drivers, but I do prefer to be on an entirely different piece of pavement than the 18-wheelers.

The Fourth of July weekend found me on US 30 between Breezewood and Greensburg. I had no particular schedule to keep, so I decided to check out one of the scenic overlooks on the way.

One thing that intrigued me was the ruins of a small building on the other side of the road. The building was built up against the side of the mountain, and was clearly designed to stand up to some rough treatment. Looking inside, you could see that even the roof was made of reinforced concrete, presumably to withstand falling rocks.

It’s a small building, perhaps 12 feet deep and 25 feet wide. The remains of some wooden shelves still cling to the back wall. The building is overgrown, covered in graffiti, and the interior is strewn with rubble from the hole in the roof.

My first thought was that perhaps it was a bus shelter, except the nearest buildings of any sort are over a mile away. Any kind of store seemed equally unlikely.

I posted a photo on Facebook and continued my trip while several friends speculated that, given US 30’s history as a major throughway, it might have been a gas station at one time. Turns out they were right.

A Google image search with my picture revealed that this structure possibly dates to the late 1920s when it was a gas station associated with the the “Grand View Ship Hotel” formerly located on the site of that scenic overlook. The hotel later did business as “Ship of the Alleghenies” and, in 1978 became “Noah’s Ark” which is a name I remember from my childhood when my parents would drive on US 30 on the way to my grandparents’ house on the other side of the state.

The hotel/restaurant burned down in late 2001 and all that’s left is a couple foundation walls and the ruins of the gas station.

More about the Grand View Ship Hotel

(Cover image of an abandoned building by Blair Learn)