Phoenix opened McDonald’s first restaurant designed with Golden Arches.
Architect Stanley Clark Meston created the distinctive restaurant design for McDonald’s franchisees in the early 1950s. The large yellow arches rose from the building’s sides and became visible from a distance, helping motorists identify the restaurant.
The first such restaurant opened in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1953. Although the arches were initially architectural features rather than a standalone corporate logo, they became one of the most influential examples of branding through building design.
People sometimes associate the first arches with the McDonald brothers’ original restaurant in San Bernardino, California. That location was important to McDonald’s history, but the famous freestanding arch design was developed for later restaurants, including the Phoenix site.