There are landmarks in the city that are so familiar, and so woven into the fabric of everyday experience, that they become sort of invisible; so that once they are gone, we hardly miss them. Until, of course, something brings them to mind, and we realize how much we miss them.
The old pagoda building that stood at the place on Lexington Avenue where it converges with South Main Street, can be located today only by an anomaly of the curb; because every other surrounding building that might have been used for reference, is also gone.
The entire acreage of that one-unique block of the city is now gone: replaced by a grassy knoll, like a mounded grave.
That odd little pagoda was built in the 1920s to be a filling station, but the owners failed to obtain a license to sell gas so it sat empty for nearly a decade. During the 30s through the 50s the place was used as an office for two successive Realty companies; and then in the 60s through the 80s it housed a number of businesses from CPAs to pest control. In the end it was Cupid’s Professional Dating Service.
It was a strange little place, stuck in an odd little spot, and wholly unforgettable. Until, of course, it was forgotten and torn down in 2005.
