Jersey lost one of its iconic signs Wednesday night in a massive fire.

The Marcal Paper Mill sign, mounted on the Elmwood Park plant's roof, was a landmark for Route 80 commuters throughout the years. But in the course of one night, the sign, along with the building that held it aloft, disappeared from the North Jersey skyline.

Here are nine other famous New Jersey signs which have disappeared from our buildings and roads, but not our hearts

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The Colgate Clock

The large Colgate clock, measuring 40 feet across, first appeared in Jersey City in 1908 on the corner of York and Hudson Streets in honor of the company's anniversary, according to a Jersey City University article.

The 28,000 watt sign on the Jersey City waterfront was visible about 20 miles away in Staten Island and the Bronx. It was replaced by a larger clock (pictured above) in 1924 and the original (pictured below) was sent to a factory in Clarksville, Indiana.

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This structure was first built in the 19th century as a prison. Colgate took it over in 1924, installing a giant clock. The factory was later added to in the 1940s. The factory was closed in 2008. Posted by Benjamin Hufbauer on Thursday, August 9, 2018

The replacement clock, which had a 50 foot diameter, stuck around even after the Jersey City complex was razed in 1988. It was put on the property that would later become Goldman Sachs.

In 2013, the replacement was updated with LED lights, and it still shines on Jersey City.

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The Trump Taj Mahal

If you wandered the boardwalks of Atlantic City in the 1990s or early 2000s, the Trump Taj Mahal would have been hard to miss.

Nicknamed the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” the lavish grand opening attracted celebrities like Michael Jackson.

The Casino cost $1.1 billion to build, but its fate was wobbly.

Now-President Donald Trump’s casino company declared bankruptcy a few times. Eventually other stakeholders mostly bought Trump out, but left his name on the building.

Hard Rock bought the building for a mere $50 million in spring of 2017, removing the Trump sign.

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Addis, Noah

Pabst Bottle

Erected in the 1930s, the 60-foot-high bottle was at first an advertisement for Hoffman Beverage Company’s Pale Ginger Ale.

It served as a road marker for drivers along the Garden State Parkway in Newark.

The bottle, which was actually a 55,000 gallon former water tank, became an advertisement for Pabst in 1945, when Pabst bought the Hoffman plant. The Pabst operation closed in the 1980s, but the bottle stuck around atop the brewery building until 2006.

A few people offered to purchase the bottle and set it up elsewhere in the area. One art professor wanted to buy just the cap, to make it into a table. But the last time we heard of the beer bottle, it was chilling in a junkyard in the Ironbound section off Exit 15E on the New Jersey Turnpike in 2009.

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Tim Hawk

Hillcrest Tavern and Coach Room

The locally-loved Bridgeton Hillcrest Tavern was badly damaged in a 2016 fire.

"The blaze on Monday scorched a cornerstone of the City of Bridgeton itself," according to an NJ Advance Media article published soon-after the fire.

The pub, formerly called the Henry Hann Tavern, was built in 1782 and served as a stopping point for people traveling on the stagecoach route between Trenton and Cape May, according to the article. Locals mourned the loss of their tavern, with its iconic old-time signs. It was a favorite spot for teachers from nearby schools and for attorneys who worked in the county courthouse across West Broad Street.

Tracey Lincks wrote in a Facebook post: "(It was an) iconic hangout on weekends back in the day with good friends, and you could always walk in and just know someone in there. One of the few places I could still drive by and remember having such a good time with my best friend who passed away a few years ago."

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Circus Drive-In

After 60 years of offering delicious American fare, the Circus Drive-In Diner in Wall Township was demolished in 2018.

It was known for its goofy neon road sign and Circus-themed dishes like the Bareback Betsy and the Daredevil. Customers sat in the comfort of their own car and employees would attach a table to their window, like many old-school drive-ins.

NJ Advance Media's food writer, Peter Genovese, included the diner's soft-shell crabs on his list of 50 Jersey Foods You Must Try Before You Die. He said it was "the most splendid example of the state's vanishing breed of drive-in restaurants, was a must-stop in any Jersey Shore summer."

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Linden Historical Society

Woolworth

Frank Winfield Woolworth opened “Woolworth’s Great Five Cent Store" in Utica, N.Y., in 1878.

He and his brother opened dozens of stores in various cities and by 1912, they had almost 600 stores.

Known for their lunch counters, Woolworth stores were staples in several Jersey communities, including Linden. Competition from other retailers pushed Woolworth to close his stores in 1997. The Woolworth store pictured above is now a CVS, according to the Linden Historical Society.

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Amy Kuperinsky

Alexander's Mural

A 200-foot-long mural was a landmark at the intersection of routes 4 and 17 in Paramus.

Starting in the 1960s, the mural was a bright dash on the the side of Alexander's Department Store.

It was created by Polish Artist and Holocaust survivor Stefan Knapp. Life magazine photographed him in the 1960s wearing skis to get around the giant mural when he was creating it in a airplane hanger. The expressionist painting spanned 280 panels and was called the largest mural in the world.

Yet, the mural came down in the 1990s when Alexander's went out of business. The panels shuffled through different owners and storage places, with a few making an appearance at the Art Factory in Paterson in 2015.

“It was a part of us,” Hawthorne-native Art Factory owner David Garsia said. “It was a part of our childhood.”

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Olga's Diner

Iconic Olga's Diner in Marlton shut down over a decade ago, but restauranteurs Bill Dovas and Chris Kolovos will break ground on a new Olga's — about a mile from the original site — in the spring.

The fate of the old Olga's red script-font sign was in question until Evesham Township Mayor Randy Brown and developers of the old site agreed to preserve it. According to a Philly.com column, they discussed placing it at baseball complex on Tuckerton Road near the municipal building, but there has been no word yet about when that will happen.

Cassidy Grom may be reached at cgrom@njadvancemedia.com Follow her at @cassidygrom.

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