Downey, California, has the McDonald's restaurant that became the oldest surviving example of the original arches design.
The Downey restaurant opened in 1953 and retained the distinctive early building form with its separate golden arches. It is associated with the McDonald brothers' original architectural style, which preceded the later connected-arches corporate logo.
The site is often described as the oldest surviving McDonald's restaurant, although the company's history includes earlier locations and buildings that no longer survive in the same form. Its historical importance comes from the preservation of the early roadside identity, not simply from its age.
Phoenix is linked to the development of the first arches design, San Bernardino to the original McDonald brothers restaurant, and Des Plaines to Ray Kroc's first franchise. These locations are easy to confuse because each represents a different stage of McDonald's history.