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Postcard circa 1958 (detail below)
 
 
Hickory, North Carolina -- 483 Highway 70 & 321 (Motor Lodge address)
 
 
 
 

 
 
Postcard circa 1960s
In 1957 Hickory's stand-alone HoJo's Restaurant was built adjacent to the 81 unit Hickory Motel. A couple of years later during the summer of 1962, a Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge was opened to compliment the preexisting Restaurant that had been managed by W. C. Coggins.
 
 
Lobby card circa 2002
 
 

At some point during the 1970s, the original Nims inspired Restaurant building was replaced with the Mansard facility that was a Mexican eatery when Bob Venditti paid the site a visit back in 2003.

Bob said that he was surprised to find the old Motor Lodge well away from the heavily trafficked interstate interchange--in fact, he said that it was located in the "dead zone."

Photographs July, 2003: Courtesy of Bob Venditti
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Bob noted that when he arrived after dark, the place gave him the creeps, and that to register a clerk had to unlock the Gate Lodge for him.

Note the minimal exterior renovation to the 2-story building. Except for the "solid" railing on the parking lot side, the guest wing still looked very much original in 2003.

 
 
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