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Postcard circa 1960s
 
Perry, Florida -- 2277 S Byron Butler Parkway (U.S. 19, 27A, 98)
 
At a crossroads of once main routes, Perry came to play host to numerous gas, food, and lodging outlets. Attesting to the high traffic volume on its highways, both Holiday Inn and Howard Johnson's came to offer travelers standard chain quality on the south side of Perry. The 60 unit Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge opened in 1964 and outlasted its Holiday Inn competition by many years.
 
 
Photographs 1969: Courtesy of Larray Passaro
 
 
 
Back in the Summer of '69

What had been turbulent times of cultural upheaval for the people living through them, the late 1960s now seem tame in many ways to us. Back then the Orange Roofs of Howard Johnson's dotted the roadscape at every twist and turn providing a safe, reliable, and reassuring refuge from the problems of the day.

Representing orderly progress for Americans of the recent past, the roadside empire of Orange became a familiar constant in a world of flux.

For Larry Passaro, then a wee lad of nine, 1969 was a great time to be alive! He had the good fortune of being a frequent visitor to the Sunshine State, and even better, he got to experience the many wonders of Howard Johnson's on his vacation adventures. On one such trip, young Larry with camera in hand thoughtfully snapped the series of photographs seen here. They have come to document a long ago moment in time--way back in the summer of '69!

The Perry Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge and Restaurant complex was just a few years old when Larry and his family spent the night and was still at the top of its game!

Thanks Larry!
 
 
 
 
 
 
Brochure circa 1970s: Courtesy of Larry Passaro
 
 

Purged from the directory of Howard Johnson's Motor Lodges by 1990, Perry was subsequently converted into a Days Inn.

Largely intact, Perry's A-frame Gate Lodge remained in use well into the 2000s.

 
 
Photographs September 1999
 
 
 
 
Photographs 2002
 

Above: Note that the exposed brick on the Gate Lodge had been stuccoed between 1999 and 2002.

Below: Already damaged, the cantilevered canopy lost out to a large vehicle and was never rebuilt.
 
 
 
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