The 69 room four-floor Baldwin Park Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge went into operation in the fall of 1967. The complex was sited for maximum visibility from I-10. The Interstate interchange serving the Howard Johnson's deposited eastward travelling motorists nearly immediately in front of the site. Potential patrons could not have missed the two brilliantly gleaming Orange Roofs!

The Motor Lodge retained the HJ name until 1995, and with its signature A-Frame Gate Lodge was the most recognizable of the original California locations well into the 2000s.