Sonrise Donuts, with its unusual spelling, was founded in 1947 by Byron Figuera with a donut shop that opened on Route 66 at 1101 S Ninth Street in Springfield. After two years in business, the now iconic, double-sided V-shape 6' x 8' porcelain sign with traditional lighting and neon was erected on its rooftop. In 1967, employee Don "Donuts" Greenslade, bought the business from Byron after working for him for 14 years. At one point it was said that Greenslade made 400 varieties of doughnuts every day until he died in 1998. Sadly, the business closed shortly after that. Various eateries would occupy the space here and there in the decades that followed. In 2018, a Mexican restaurant that occupied the location asked the landlord to remove the Sonrise Donut sign as it confused its customers.

The sign went up for auction and the City of Springfield won the bid at $22,000 in an effort to keep Springfield Route 66 history alive. The restoration of the signs was a collaborative effort with the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau. With the assistance of other private donors, the sign was removed from the rooftop where it stood for 70 years. In October of 2019 one of the two restored faces was unveiled during a lighting ceremony in our museum. The second face was later restored and placed on display at Motorheads Bar & Grill.