Located just off of the Delaware Turnpike at the first exit south of the Pennsylvania state line, the Claymont stand alone Restaurant opened in 1969. An excellent location, it was built adjacent to a bustling commercial roadside strip that included a large parcel of land for possible Motor Lodge construction. The land was eventually developed with a Home Depot and several out-parcel establishments--no Motor Lodge was ever built.

The Restaurant was owned by the Bissell family which also had an interest is several other HoJo's Restaurants and most notably the New Castle Motor Lodge. In the end the family patriarch, Harry Bissell, owned Claymont and the Wilmington-Kirkwood location.

During its last years as a Howard Johnson's Restaurant, the site featured an unusual "retro" road sign. The location ceased being a Howard Johnson's in the 1980s when it was converted into a Big Boy Restaurant, and lost its original signage. The retro-sign was installed when the site was converted back into a HoJo's in the early 1990s.

Note that even as the Restaurant had lost its distinctive trademark Orange Roof, Mr. Bissell had at the least trimmed the roof in orange and highlighted its significance with the retro-sign.