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Postcard
circa 1958 (detail below) |
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Hickory,
North Carolina --
483 Highway 70 & 321 (Motor
Lodge address) |
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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. |
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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." |
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Photographs
July, 2003: Courtesy of Bob Venditti |
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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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