Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 06/17/1992
NRHP Listing Date 10/29/1992
NRHP Reference Number 92001370
The prefabricated diner is a uniquely American form of roadside architecture. Taking its name from U.S. Highway 29, the city of Fairfax’s 29 Diner is a rare example of the once-numerous streamlined Moderne diners that operated across the United States. Built by the Mountain View Diner Company of Singac, New Jersey, the shiny, eye-catching establishment was installed on its site in July 1947. From the mid-1930s through the 1950s, the diner emerged as the ubiquitous roadside eatery, offering a comfortable atmosphere and quickly prepared home-style cooking to a new “car-mobile” society. Machine-age materials such as shining stainless steel and ceramic tile conveyed the image of cleanliness and efficiency. The beauty of machine-age precision is expressed in the sleek, rounded glass-brick corners, colored neon tubes, porcelain enamel panels, Formica, and brightly colored tile. The 29 Diner (renamed the Tastee 29 Diner for a time during the last quarter of the 20th century) is still serving meals to the motoring public.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: March 20, 2023
