A Lexington Landmark.
Saved to Shine Again.

The original Saratoga Restaurant sign survived because Lexingtonians understood that some pieces of a city’s history are worth carrying forward.

1950sThe Saratoga sign enters Lexington’s streetscape

2000Saved by Michael McLaughlin

2013Acquired and displayed by Kevin McCloud

2027Restoration and relighting scheduled

The Preservation Story

The sign did not survive by accident.

In 2000, Michael McLaughlin—who grew up in Lexington’s Chevy Chase area—recognized that the old Saratoga Restaurant sign was worth saving.

His decision preserved a piece of the neighborhood’s visual history that could easily have disappeared. In 2013, McLaughlin sold the sign to Kevin McCloud. Kevin displayed it indoors at his store for the next 13 years, protecting it while plans for a permanent return took shape. Restoration is scheduled to begin in 2027.

By the time it returns to public view, the sign will be approximately 75 years old. It will not be hidden away as a museum piece. It will be restored, relit and repurposed for a new generation of Lexington adults—young and old alike—to make their own Saratoga memories.

“The Saratoga sign survived because two Lexingtonians, years apart, understood that it belonged to more than one building or one owner. It belonged to the city’s memory.”

Rear view of the original thin metal Saratoga letters and their support braces — Original Saratoga letters · Rear construction and support braces

More Than an Artifact

A personal connection to Lexington hospitality.

Kevin’s connection to the name is not only historical. As a young man, he worked as a dishwasher at several beloved Lexington institutions, including the Saratoga, the Little Inn and upstairs at Charlie Brown’s.

That kind of affection—shared by employees, patrons and neighborhood residents—is what Saratoga Restaurant meant to Lexington. The sign survived because people remembered the place, valued what it represented and cared enough to keep part of it alive.

The Original Metalwork

Built to look substantial.
Made remarkably thin.

The original SARATOGA letters are not modern, deep channel letters. Each is formed from thin metal with an edge measuring roughly one-half inch, supported from behind and fitted for the original neon treatment.

24″

Letter height

Each original SARATOGA letter stands approximately two feet tall.

≈20′

Sign length

The complete word and base span roughly 20 feet from end to end.

≈42″

Overall build-up

The letters and supporting base measure about 42 inches high as one assembly.

½″

Letter depth

The shallow metal edge gives definition without the bulky body of a modern channel letter.

Stamped Wagner Sign Service maker's mark and U.S. Patent 2,048,040 on the back of an original Saratoga letter — Maker’s mark on the rear of an original Saratoga letter

Wagner Sign Service · Chicago

Made for the age of the great theater marquee.

The surviving stamp identifies Wagner Sign Service, Inc. Duke University’s archive describes Wagner as a Chicago sign and lettering firm established in 1920 by Irwin Wagner. A 1940 federal court record says the company was incorporated in 1927 to service, sell and install signs, with theater signs as its principal business.

The stamp also carries U.S. Patent No. 2,048,040, issued in July 1936. The patent covered Wagner’s lightweight silhouette-letter system: a thin, flanged face that looked substantial from the street while remaining light enough for rod-like supports. That construction is still visible in the Saratoga letters today.

Duke Wagner archive 1940 court record

Euclid Avenue Shopping Center at East High Street in June 1949, showing Becker Launderers and Cleaners, its rooftop sign, and a partly obscured grill sign at right — Euclid Avenue Shopping Center · June 1949 · © Lexington Herald-Leader

Chevy Chase Before Saratoga · June 1949

The Becker sign was already on the block.

This photograph can be dated precisely to June 1949. It shows the Euclid Avenue Shopping Center at Euclid Avenue and East High Street, with Becker Launderers & Cleaners and its rooftop letters at the center. Those letters appear strikingly similar to the later Saratoga set.

The view predates Saratoga’s May 1950 opening by about a year. At right, a partly hidden sign clearly ends in “’S GRILL” at the future Saratoga end of the row. The utility pole obscures part of the business name. The 1944 telephone directory lists the R&S Grill at Saratoga’s future address, 856 East High. Explore the R&S Grill and the address before Saratoga.

What the photograph establishes: the date, the setting and a Becker rooftop sign that predates Saratoga. The shared supplier remains a strong visual theory, not a documented fact.

View archive record · Photograph 1.04-790

The Restoration Archive

Follow the sign’s journey.

This visual record will grow as more historic photographs are collected and the 2027 restoration progresses—from the surviving metal letters to new neon and the final relighting.

Archive Photo 01Original sign in Chevy Chase

Saratoga Restaurant in Chevy ChaseHistoric exterior photograph needed

Archive Photo 02Michael McLaughlin · 2000

The Sign Is SavedPreservation photograph needed

Archive Photo 03Kevin McCloud · 2013–2026

Years on DisplayStore display photograph needed

Back of the original Saratoga metal letters showing their shallow edges and braces — **Original Letter Construction**Thin metal faces and surviving supports

Restoration PhotoMetal repair, finish and new neon

The 2027 RestorationWork-in-progress photographs to come

Architectural concept showing the restored Saratoga sign relit above Lexington Distillery District lettering — **The Sign’s Next Chapter**Proposed installation · 359 Thompson Road

Seventy-five years old.
Ready for what comes next.

The Saratoga sign will once again be part of Lexington’s night—preserved with respect for its original construction and returned to public view in the Distillery District.

Return to the Venue

A Lexington Landmark.Saved to Shine Again.