Does a ‘Single-Arch McDonald’s’ Exist in Iowa, Illinois, or Wisconsin?

I feel like over the years, I've become something of a McDonald's super-fan. I unironically love the food, I crave the French fries, and I love finding out weird, obscure history related to the godfather of fast food. My friendship with Big Mac world-record holder Don Gorske has only strengthened my love for the Golden Arches.

Earlier this year, I wrote about the unique, log cabin McDonald's located in Fort Dells, WI. It showed me that while most brands desire uniformity in their restaurant design and structure, McDonald's does allow for some uniquely design restaurants to grace their portfolio. Still, I'm constantly learning new things... like there's a small faction of McDonald's with this unique sign.

There are apparently a handful of McDonald's restaurants whose signs have only one arch. The brand is colloquially known as the "Golden Arches," but some restaurants' towering signs only have one arch. It looks strange. But it was designed that way purposefully, for you can see there's no unused space on these select few signs.

Like all oddities across the world, single-arch McDonald's signs have been the subject of much debate on social media websites. Do they have a purpose? Why do they exist? I got to investigating.

Check out a short video of a single-arch McDonald's here.

The History of the Arch(es):

Per Today.com, who sourced an old NBC News article, McDonald's co-founders Richard and Maurice McDonald hired an architect named Stanley Clark Meston to commission a design that made their restaurant stand out. Richard McDonald apparently felt the roof line of the building was too flat, so he thought arches might offset it in a way that would be appealing. You might think of older, vintage McDonald's where a set of two golden arches acted as pillars to the building design.

That design was extended over to the sign itself. The two arches weren't yet put together to form the iconic "M," so a singular arch was mounted on the side for consistency with the building design. The McDonald's arches we instantly recognize today didn't become a part of the larger brand until 1962, when they were trademarked.

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Is a "Single-Arch McDonald's" in Iowa, Illinois, or Wisconsin?:

Here's the tricky part: there's no confirmation on how many of these single-arch McDonald's actually exist. From my research, I did find that one used to existed in Belleville, IL as recently as 2023. According to Yahoo!, several attempts were made to modernize the old-fashioned restaurant, but all were rejected. The restaurant closed in 2023.

How a McDonald's could be deemed a lost cause like that is beyond me. There must have been other factors related to sales.

That being said, a 2017 article from NJ.com claimed that merely seven McDonald's have the loan arch on their sign. However, the signs they show in the article feature larger, throwback designs that are mounted on the ground (not atop a pole on an otherwise conventional, red McDonald's sign).

Further Reading:

Other sources say fewer than 15 single-arch McDonald's locations exist. One of which is in Downey, CA. Another is in Southwestern Colorado. Again, the exact figure is unknown, and some might not make the differentiation between ones that have single arches on the building versus single arches on the McDonald's sign itself.

If you're as curious about this phenomenon as myself, read more on TODAY.com and Yahoo!'s website. Click here if you're interested in my friendship with Don Gorske, who holds the world-record for most Big Macs eaten at over 35,000-and-counting.