Oldest McDonald's restaurant

McDonald's Restaurant #3
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The McDonald's in Downey, California is almost unchanged in appearance since it opened in 1953. Photo taken on 16th August 2024.
Location	10207 Lakewood Blvd., Downey, California, United States
Built	1953;72 years ago (1953)
Architectural style	Googie architecture Modern architecture
NRHP reference No.	84003893 [1]

The oldest McDonald's restaurant is a drive-up hamburger stand at 10207 Lakewood Boulevard at Florence Avenue in Downey, California, United States. Opened on August 18, 1953, it is the third McDonald's restaurant outlet to be opened and is the second restaurant franchised by Richard and Maurice McDonald, before the involvement of Ray Kroc in the company. The outlet still retains the original, standardized Golden Arches façade design and is one of Downey's main tourist attractions. Along with its sign, it was deemed eligible for addition to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, although it was not added at the time because the owner objected. ^[1]

The site of the first McDonald's restaurant in San Bernardino, California is now occupied by an outlet that is the de facto headquarters of the Juan Pollo chicken restaurant chain, with an unofficial museum nearby. ^{[2] [3]}

History

The original owners of the Downey, California McDonald's were Roger Williams, the brother-in-law of McDonald's first franchisee Neil Fox, and his business partner Bud Landon. Williams and Fox worked for Occidental Petroleum and used their expertise in siting Occidental gasoline stations in choosing the location. Like the McDonald brothers' other franchisees, they were required to use Stanley Clark Meston's design. ^[4]

Gallery

• 
  The sign outside the Downey McDonald's in 2014
• 
  A view of the inside of the Downey McDonald's
• 
  Another view from the outside of the Downey McDonald's in 2014, with the museum to the right
• 
  The Downey McDonald's in 2017

See also

• List of hamburger restaurants
• McDonald's No. 1 Store Museum

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. "Entrepreneur channels San Bernardino's history". Marketplace.org. Archived from the original on December 5, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
3. "San Bernardino: McDonald's museum pays homage to the hamburger". The Press-Enterprise. Archived from the original on August 16, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
4. Hess, Alan (August 14, 2013). "The Oldest McDonald's as Architecture" . Retrieved March 2, 2014.^{[ self-published source ]}

External links

• Official Restaurant Website Archived 2015-06-15 at the Wayback Machine

33°56′50″N118°07′06″W / 33.9471°N 118.1182°W / 33.9471; -118.1182