The Coffee Pot: A Lincoln Highway Treasure – Bedford, Pennsylvania
The Coffee Pot or sometimes referred to as the Koontz Coffee Pot after it’s 1927 builder, is roadside American royalty. Calling Bedford, Pennsylvania home, the Lincoln Highway giant is a whimsical treasure. It handily earns it rightful place on many a “must-see roadside attractions” lists.
As the elder Griswold would say, “It’s a beaut, Clark.”
There was a time when I wanted to see the Coffee Pot so badly but it seemed just too far out of reach. Sitting at my computer, I’d plot out whether I could ride my motorcycle out to it and back home in a single day. The pot holds court some 330 miles away from where I live. Sure, an out-and-back ride was doable, but it would be a long highway drone for a short visit. At that time in my life, I kept coming to the conclusion that the price was just too high. And so, I never made that single-day, coffee pot-focused trip.
Fast forward a couple years, and what was once fantasy became reality. I visited the Coffee Pot for the first time in 2009.
Life is funny. At times it seems like you can manifest your wishes and whims into reality in an almost subconscious way. All of the little gremlins at the controls inside inch us ever closer towards those desires and experiences we seek.
I’ve seen the Pot quite a few times now. As a matter of fact, when I am passing Bedford, I don’t seem to be able to resist stopping to see it. In some strange cosmic twist, this mimetic architecture gem has become almost something of a touchstone for that corner of the world. Did I even pass through the area if I didn’t see the Pot?
Even I cannot say for sure why the big pot has had such an enduring hold on my interest. Except perhaps… that it’s just awesome. Can you ever have too much of that in your life? Maybe these periodic visits are just to top off my cup when it’s running low.
Here area few snaps from the big Pot stops over the years.
Coffee Pot Breaks
2022
October 2022 at The Coffee Pot. It still looks beautiful in the autumn morning light, though the signs of aging are starting to accelerate. There is significant peeling starting around the structure.
2018
Passing through on my way back to New York. You can see some eruption is starting on the paint surface here.
2015
The ole pot looking spiffy in its silver coat.
2013
Nary a peel to be seen during this winter visit to Bedford.
2009
The first encounter. It’s been over a decade now since I first made my way out to The Coffee Pot and I’ve loved each visit since.
Visit the Coffee Pot
714 W Pitt St, Bedford, PA 15522
The pictures of the ever changing beloved coffee pot sparked me to find what little history I could on the pot….a brief synopsis… In Bedford, David Berton Koontz built the Coffee Pot next to his service station in 1927 to attract customers. It was made of bricks and covered in sheet metal, and was 18 feet tall and 22 feet wide. The Pot changed hands at various points, becoming a diner, bus station, and a bar.
Thanks for sharing…
I know nothing…me, probably
Thanks for putting those pics up again, that is such a cool building. Also, I’d forgotten you once had a Bonnie….that was a cool looking bike too, and sporting the pink doughnut 🙂
‘Hope you’re doing’ well, and getting some rides in before the snow comes!