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Sambo's and Ponderosa Inn, Downtown Billings, early 1970's
A later image of the Ponderosa and Sambo's restaurant looking down First Avenue North and North 26th.
Downtown has changed quite a bit since the picture from this post card was taken... This is a birdseye of how things looked back in the seventies.
Sometime in the early eighties, the Ponderosa was completely rebuilt, including a new section added on when it changed ownership and became a Best Western, colloquially called the "Clock Tower Inn." The Sambo's building is now a restaurant called Stella's.
The grey building in the distance hiding behind the sign/lightpost is US Bank (then Firstbank) it is now completely covered in blue mirrored glass.
All of the small office and shop building across from Sambo's no longer exist. Today, the Wells Fargo bank tower and a seven tier parking garage stands in their place.
Downtown has changed quite a bit since the picture from this post card was taken... This is a birdseye of how things looked back in the seventies.
Sometime in the early eighties, the Ponderosa was completely rebuilt, including a new section added on when it changed ownership and became a Best Western, colloquially called the "Clock Tower Inn." The Sambo's building is now a restaurant called Stella's.
The grey building in the distance hiding behind the sign/lightpost is US Bank (then Firstbank) it is now completely covered in blue mirrored glass.
All of the small office and shop building across from Sambo's no longer exist. Today, the Wells Fargo bank tower and a seven tier parking garage stands in their place.
Category Photography / Miscellaneous
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Any
Size 500 x 315px
File Size 207.5 kB
I'm old enough to remember Sambo's. A textbook midcentury-modern design inside and out.
it's a shame about those old buildings across the way there. Nowadays they'd be called "historic" and preserved.
Oh, well.
The Ponderosa Inn is "Dingbat" architecture: balconies, balconies everywhere. And breezeways. Hardly any enclosed passages, if any at all.
it's a shame about those old buildings across the way there. Nowadays they'd be called "historic" and preserved.
Oh, well.
The Ponderosa Inn is "Dingbat" architecture: balconies, balconies everywhere. And breezeways. Hardly any enclosed passages, if any at all.
Sambo's became too "politically incorrect" and finally disappeared.
In recent years there's been a real push to preserve what historic buildings are still left standing.
As for the "Ponderosa's" current incarnation, all the balconies are gone, and the structure has a more modern look, less angles.
In recent years there's been a real push to preserve what historic buildings are still left standing.
As for the "Ponderosa's" current incarnation, all the balconies are gone, and the structure has a more modern look, less angles.
Seconding the comment on Sambo's. Never mind that the stories of Sambo themselves are far from demeaning or derogatory.
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