Postcards circa 1960s
 
Milford, Connecticut -- Wheelers Farm Road
AKA Merritt-Cross Parkway
 

Attesting to Howard Johnson's primacy as a provider of hospitality along the Nation's highways, the Milford or Merritt-Cross Parkway Motor Lodge and Restaurant opened in 1959 along one of the least commercial of roadways.

Since the Merritt ends at the Housatonic River, the HoJo's was technically sited along the beginning of the Wilbur Cross Parkway, which was an extension of the Merritt. Both were really one continuous highway which has been renowned for a park like setting devoid of nearly all commercial intrusion. Save for perhaps a glimpse of the Gleaming Orange Roofs of Milford's HoJo's, little roadside commercial activity could have been spotted from the Parkway.
 
 
USGS Satellite Image: © Microsoft Corporation
 
 
 
 
 
 
Brochure circa 1960s: Courtesy of Tim & Tom Bernert
 
 
The Motor Lodge itself consisted of 64 guest rooms in a completely non-standard back-to-back arrangement in the site's three guest buildings. Since it was built prior to the Howard Johnson Company's adoption of strict Motor Lodge design, it was a "one-off" affair not unlike like its unique sibling in Milford along the Connecticut Turnpike. Remarkable the complex retained the Howard Johnson's name until 1982 and remained standing until at least the later 1990s. By 2000 the site had been demolished.