The Motel Inn, San Luis Obispo, CA.
Motel Holiday Lodge, Los Angeles, CA.
Wilsonia Lodge, Kings Canyon National Park, CA.
The Horatio Hotel, Virginia Beach, VA.
Slugs Roost Motel & Restaurant, Camp Hill, PA.
Landmark Lodge Motel, Fort Worth, TX.
Diplomat Beach Motel, Daytona Beach, FL.
The Seacliff, Laguna Beach, CA.
Holiday Inn, Wichita Falls, TX.
Elkhart Hotel, Elkhart, IN.
Midway Motor Lodge, Kenosha, WI.
Aladdin Motel, Wildwood Crest, NJ.
El Rio Motel, Socorro, NM.
Chalet Motel, Reno, NV.
Apple Blossom Motel, Black Mountain, NC.
La Jolla Biltmore Motel, La Jolla, CA.
Black with white 1956 Meteor Rideau at the Alladin Motel in Wildwood Crest NJ.
I think it is a ’61 Olds wagon at the Landmark Lodge but I can’t really see the trim on the front fender well enough. Could be a ’62.
Holiday Inn / Wichita Falls is in Texas, not Kansas.
Looks like the Apple Blossom Motel in North Carolina is still operating – and still under its original name. Good for them!
Google StreetView link:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/J2mVYfr8aMwuRi6c9
Too bad they didn’t keep the sign!
Interesting 2-room addition on the second floor.
The Motel Inn, originally named the Milestone Mo-Tel, was the first “motel” in the world when it opened in 1925. It remained in business until 1991 and parts of the compound are still standing and visible as you pass by on US101. I have passed by this site numerous times, in fact, the last time was last week on my way home from SoCal. Unfortunately I’m am always in too much of a hurry to stop for a photo op, when I’m in the area. The remaining parts of the motel are being incorporated used by the Apple Farm Inn which is next door. The next time I’m in the area I will stop for a photo.at this bit of California history.
Thanks for the history. I thought it somehow looked familiar; we’ve stayed at the Apple Farm once or twice.
I have done the US 101 trip a couple of times. The most memorable was on my 1984 Honda Interceptor, in 1985. The winding roads of northern California were an absolute blast. It was the best ride of my entire life!
Hard to believe “La Jolla”, had something so “pedestrian”.
Not to mention called the Biltmore.
Yes, “Bit More” might a got them some “attention”.
The Holiday Inn structure in Wichita Falls still exists, but just barely. The Gulf gas station is still there as well. It was all abandoned for decades, but lately there has been some attempt at renovation. It is amazing to see it back when it was new and beautiful.
I stayed there a weekend in 1971 when my folks brought my wife out for a visit when I was in rocket school at Ft Sill. That’s how I remember it.
I did a doubletake when I saw the Landmark Lodge. That white Olds wagon is a twin to the one we always took on vacation. Lots of good memories with that car. My parents both loved it and actually owned it twice.
In my imaginary trip across the USA these are the places I will be staying.
The line at Wilsonia points out how thoroughly impractical US big cars had become. The car sprawled across a wide expanse of space, but the trunk was hard to use. You had to lift things high and drop them in. The Peugeot, like the Rambler American, continued pre-1957 practicality.
Here’s the Bennettsville Motel (SC) under the Quality Inn brand when it was in its heyday from around 1955 to 1975. It then was reduced to a Red Carpet Inn and eventually was abandoned. It was on US Highways 15/401, which was another NY-FL route. 1-95 routed about 30 miles east killed it. My Dad leased the Brandin’ Iron from. 1966-1970 and did well.
I live in Santa Cruz, where the mascot of our local branch of the Univeristy of California is the banana slug (“No Known Predators”) and real banana slugs are a common sight on our trails, and slug images are everywhere on stickers and t shirts. But I can’t imagine being very attracted to stay at the Slug’s Roost Motel, let alone eat at the restaurant. The number of Type 1 and Type 2 VW’s in the photo also caught my eye. The photo looks like it just slightly predates the domestic compacts.
Motels were a popular small business model, up until the mid ’70’s. If you were located on a major highway, in a vacation or tourist region, they were a sound business enterprise. Even if, you were outside an urban area. I recall remote motels that thrived, being located in popular vacation regions. Many were seasonal, of course.
If you wanted full-time jobs, for your whole family, this was a viable business to consider.
Still know various motels in my area, with the same architecture, now sixty or seventy years later.
It’s either Wichita, Kansas or Wichita Falls, Texas.
It’s TX, thanks. The text has been updated.
Thanks for the memories. In the 1950s-mid 60s, Dad was and Air Force officer and we moved coast to coast and country to country frequently. We always spent about 2-3 weeks road tripping between bases. Always staying at motels with a swimming pool. I always had to have a swimming pool and after a day ridding in the car I had to swim.
I was just in Socorro, NM last week. While I didn’t see the El Rio, I likely drove by its former site. That part of the country is rich in old roadside motels and I saw dozens of them in the past week. A few are still operating, some have been renovated into something more modern, but many more are just decrepit deteriorating structures often with their original signs (or some part of them) still standing.
What IS definitely still in Socorro – or technically about 50 miles outside of town – is the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. It’s a beautiful site and almost as cool as a 1950s motel 🙂
Your comments and articles, are always chock full of added fascinating info. Thank you!
You had me learning more about the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Photos of the facility, are iconic.
Thanks! The “Very Large Array” as you’ve probably now read figured prominently in the movie “Contact” featuring (imo, at least) Jodie Foster. Based on the novel by Carl Sagan. (Someday I’ll tell the story about the night I spent sleeping in his basement. He wasn’t there.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_(1997_American_film)
Even when they’ve fallen into disrepair, NM’s motels still have a certain visual charm.
Thank you Jeff! Very kind of you to share this additional info. The world dearly misses Mr. Sagan today. Looking forward to your story!
Such an awesome photo. I love that there is no heavy bylaw enforcement, requiring these old properties, and signage, be removed. Really does enrich the ambience.
I read almost all your articles, and try to spot your comments. You put so much heart, and TLC, into your work here. I know the comment section is not as active, as say, eight years ago. But the contributors, are so appreciated! Thank you!
The “Seacliff”, in “Laguna Beach, CA” seems to have a curiously crowded lot. The “Ambassador” in “Kenosha” looks brand spanking new.
I wanna stay in Slugs Roost Motel.
Yeah, something but that “moniker”. Too odd to stay, and or pass by. lol
I like what appears to be a C-124 Globemaster photobombing the very top of the picture in front of the Landmark Lodge Motel in Fort Worth.
La Jolla Biltmore permanently closed. Right on La Jolla Blvd. Know the area well. Passed by many times without it even registering on me.
Think the Landmark Lodge Motel in Fort Worth still stands, west side on US 80. Think I stayed there in 2012.
Referring to the comment on the Holiday Inn in Wichita Falls, I used to think there was a law or mandate that every Holiday Inn HAD to have a Gulf station near the front entrance! Then my family traveled to Kansas in 1974 to visit some of my dad’s relatives, and I discovered that there were NO Gulf stations in Kansas. The Holiday Inns there had Vickers gas stations.
When I got my first credit card from Gulf in 1972 it was accepted at Holiday Inns. Found this on the internet:
“In 1963, Holiday Inn signed a long-term deal with Gulf Oil Corporation where it agreed to accept Gulf credit cards to charge food and lodging at all of its American and Canadian hotels, in return for Gulf building service stations on many Holiday Inn properties, particularly near major U S and Interstate highways.”
Slugs Roost on US 11 also had a smorgasbord to die for. My father in law and myself use to try to out do one another.
I love how these ’50’s and ’60’s era motels, used so many architectural props, facades, and themes, to lure customers. Much like the car industry. lol
The Thunderbird Motor Lodge in Anderson, SC was abandoned for years, the pool being filled in some time before the turn of the century. Fortunately it was purchased and turned into apartments, preserving the building (can’t recall if they kept the sign).
The Thunderbird in Savannah was renovated as a 60’s themed retro motel.
Great to see my hometown (Kenosha) finally represented in one of these posts! The Midway Motor Lodge was apparently THE place to stay for a brief time. For a few years they hosted the Nash Car Club meets.
If I remember correctly, the owners somehow ran afoul of the law and lost the property; it sat empty for a while and was subsequently leveled. It is now, and has been for probably 30+ years, a large empty lot.
I too love the quirky older motels, sadly a few I’ve stayed at were _really_ bad, I don;t like sharing space with hookers and / or dope dealers, this is fairly common in and around Bakersfield, Ca., I can’t imagine why they don’t shut that down .
-Nate
I miss the old fashioned motel. They were everywhere and usually family run. Good rates, too.
Now we are stuck with a couple of multinationals owning most of the hospitality industry.
I love seeing these..on our family trips in 1960’s..it was a treat to find a motel with a swimming pool and a COLOR TV!!..not too many people had colorr TV’s then …it was the best!
Oh, the poor Hotel Elkhart. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an attempt to modernize an old downtown hotel that is so sad looking.
Thanks for these, which really bring back a flood of memories. Such as the smell of the rooms when we’d first enter (cleaning products, I imagine). Glasses wrapped in thin tissue paper (santized!) and the paper strip across the toilet seat (also sanitized!). And we’d always try to find a Howard Johnson’s for lunch or dinner as a special traveling treat.
I still have a HJ children’s menu saved from one of our trips to Florida in the 50’s.
Cover