Hartford
 
Postcard circa 1960s
 
Hartford, Connecticut -- 7 Weston Street
 
USGS satellite image: © Microsoft Corp.
Hartford's Motor Lodge and Restaurant complex was the Constitution State's 6th. When it opened in 1963, it followed in Darien's lead to be a fully modern and standardized facility. Built along the North Meadows Expressway or I-91 on the north side of Hartford's downtown, the 80 guest room Lodge and Restaurant was visible from either direction on the highway.

Having relinquished the Howard Johnson's brand in about 1990, the Lodge lingered on briefly without its famous name. Meanwhile the Restaurant under the careful stewardship of long-time licensee Donald Christie (see Waterbury and Mystic) continued as a Howard Johnson's well into the middle 1990s. Cashing in after 1995 the entire site was razed and replaced with a Mercedes dealership. Reportedly Mr. Christie moved Hartford's backbar mirror to Mystic, but as far as anyone knows it too has been lost.
 
 
 
Brochure circa 1980s: Courtesy of Dan Donahue
 
 
RockyHill
 
Photograph circa 1970s: Courtesy of Dan Donahue
 
Rocky Hill, Connecticut
 -- 1499 Silas Deane Highway
 

Opened in early 1966, the Rocky Hill complex featured a classic Motor Lodge and Restaurant layout even thought the property was oddly shaped. The Motor Lodge was listed as a Howard Johnson's until 1985, and then reappeared as a HoJo's from 1991 to 1994. In its final directory listing it was said to offer 127 rooms with 40 set up for long term stays.

Right: By the late 1990s, Rocky Hill's Gate Lodge and one of its guest buildings had been demolished along with its adjacent Restaurant. Set closer to Silas Deane Highway than the Lodge, the restaurant's site came to be occupied by an On the Boarder and a nearby Dakota Steakhouse.
 
USGS satellite image: © Microsoft Corp.
 
 
Howard Johnson's, Rocky Hill, Connecticut
Photographs August 31, 2004
 
 
Howard Johnson's Ames Department Store, Rocky Hill, Connecticut

2006 Internet records indicated that the remains of the Motor Lodge became the Great Meadow Inn which only offered 15 rooms.
PLEASE DO NOT CONFUSE

the 2006 Howard Johnson Express Inn at 1760 Silas Deane Hwy. with the original Howard Johnson's that immediately faced I-91. That HoJo's Express Inn was converted from an existing motel called the Highway Travelers Motor Lodge, and is down and across from where the authentic HoJo's was located.


Left: The recycled Howard Johnson's highway sign included one for the nearby but closed Rocky Hill Ames Store. For more information about Ames, please visit: www.amesfanclub.com
 
 
Howard Johnson's, Rocky Hill, Connecticut
 
 
Danbury
 
Photograph courtesy of Bob Venditti
 
Danbury, Connecticut -- 78 Federal Road (I-84 @ U.S. 7)
 

Danbury's first HoJo's was a circa 1940 stand-alone colonial style Restaurant that had been licensed to Carroll Tallam. It lasted into the 1960s, and was likely demolished.

Picking up the slack, the Danbury Motor Lodge and Restaurant complex opened in 1966. The Lodge offered 72 rooms in its single three floor guest building with the Lodge remaining a Howard Johnson's until 1990.
 
 
Photographs May 2001
 
 

Unfortunately but not surprisingly the motor Lodge lost its Gate Lodge along the way, and had been stuccoed with the loss of its balconies.

By the 2000s, the former Howard Johnson's complex had endured many changes. It's restaurant had been significantly altered, and had been vacated by 2001. Meanwhile the former Motor Lodge operated as a Days Inn, and then a Best Inn & Suites before becoming a Quality Inn & Suites by the middle 2000s.