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Lake George in the Twilight
 
Lake George Howard Johnson's Restaurant
Lake George, New York -- Route 9 Canada St.
 --Photos May 2010: Steven LJ Russo
 

Having reopened for possibly its final "season" at the end of May 2010 (the restaurant has been offered for sale), the Lake George Howard Johnson's Restaurant has incredibly been a fixture in Lake George, New York for nearly SIXTY years! Moreover of the many HUNDREDS of Orange Roofed Restaurants to have operated, the Lake George outlet became ONE of the last THREE to fly the HJ banner by 2010.

Alas, for at least a generation of Americans an era has all but come to a close...a way of life, its Landmarks, institutions, and seemingly enduring steadfastness proved to be ephemeral...

Below: Ever the HoJo's fan, Steven LJ Russo strikes a pose before the Lake George Howard Johnson's Restaurant. Very Special Thanks to Steven LJ Russo for his ongoing efforts to document Lake George whilst in its twilght!

 
 
 

 
Dayton Demolished
 
Dayton, Ohio Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge Demolished
Dayton, Ohio -- 2221 Wagner Ford Rd
 --Postcard detail ca. 1960s: Tim & Tom Bernert
 

Built in 1959, the Dayton Motor Lodge and Restaurant complex stood for a little more than 50 years. With its excellent location and sterling HoJo's reputation the site enjoyed a long run of prosperity, but after it ceased to be Orange Roofed its last years standing were marked by drug deals, prostitution, and finally a murder.

The once exemplar of all that was modern was declared a public nuisance and ordered closed in 2005. The boarded up former Motor Lodge found a new owner in 2008, but he failed to redevelop the site. Meanwhile local officials were not able to prevent all manner of criminal activity from occurring at the closed motel and determined to have it leveled. Cashed strapped and unable to collect property taxes from the site's 2008 purchaser much less demolition funding, Harrison Township was awarded a Federal Stimulus grant from Montgomery County to demolish the former Landmark. Officials hope to use much of the cleared property for a new I-75 off ramp.

Thanks to Doug C. who reported that by April 19, 2010 nothing remained of the Motor Lodge.

 
Screen capture from April 5, 2010 www.whiotv.com
 
 

 
Historyville HoJo's
 
Howard Johnson's Gettysburg Pennsylvania
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania -- Steinwehr Ave
 --Chromart slide ca. 1960s restored for viewing: Kummerlowe Archive
 

Described in 1960 as one of the best operated and most popular accommodations for sleepy and tired Americans in Southcentral Pennsylvania, the Gettysburg Restaurant and Motor Lodge complex was operating by the early 1960s within easy distance of the spot of perhaps the most telling battle of the American Civil War. Remarkable in so many ways the Gettysburg property continues to offer hospitably as a Franchise of America's Best Value Inns (alas the Restaurant was demolished and a Friendly's was built in its place).

Very special thanks to owners Paul & Dana Witt for providing both information and vintage views of the historic Howard Johnson's! Please visit their website for information concerning the current status of the property: www.abvigettysburg.com

 
Photo 1961: Paul & Dana Witt (www.abvigettysburg.com)
 
 

 
Revolutionary Design
 
Howard Johnson's Restaurant: Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida -- 5310 Florida Avenue (U.S. 41)
 --Image from Spotlight on Tampa and Florida's West Coast; Jan. 22, 1949
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Created at the behest of Howard D. Johnson in 1948, the architect Rufus Nims devised the general restaurant design seen above in just one night! With its Orange Roof and various cupola types the long-lived design became the ubiquitous identifier of the once great chain. Nims wrote Phil Langdon (Orange Roofs: Golden Arches) in 1984 that his aim was to create "a building [that] should express its function. People should see a restaurant and understand something of the nature of the food operation, price, etc." Working through the night the inspired architect "redesigned traffic-food flow etc. and the building itself, trying to make it do its job but not lose its identity." The result was an innovative new Restaurant type which served to reinvent and re-invigorate the chain propelling it into national prominence.

Supplanting the Canton Type and short-lived Hillside Type--both neo-colonials, the Nims' design was initially dubbed, the Southern Canton Type. Seen in vintage views and in the few remaining extant buildings, the Southern Cantons can be quickly recognized by their exaggerated cupola bases. By the latter 1950s the newer Nims inspired restaurants became known as the Series 77-E Type and featured minimalist cupola bases.

 

 
Spotlight on Tampa and Florida's West Coast
V. II--Num. 16, Jan. 22, 1949:
     You can see the kitchen from the sidewalk at the new Howard Johnson's at 5310 Florida Ave. in Tampa. Glassed from ceiling to the floor, the $160,000 restaurant and ice cream shop is not only shiny as a new nickel but is the last word in architecture, decoration and equipment
     The walls are of tile and glass, the equipment stainless steel, furniture plastic and the acoustical ceiling has hidden speakers which transmit soft music. There also is the latest in refrigeration as well as electrically heated shelves to keep food warm. A 171/2 to air conditioning unit enables perfect temperatures. Seating capacity is 108 persons.
     Color scheme features soft tropical colors as lemon, gray-green, Chartreuse, aqua and peach. The special drapery motif depicts the various ice cream flavors and was inspiration for the chain's latest ice cream creation, "Tropicana." a treat of tropical fruit flavors. Synonymous with other HJ structures is the orange glass tile roof and blue-green cupelo.
     The recent opening of the new Tampa HJ goes well over the 250 figure for the number of restaurants and ice cream shops bearing the famous name of Howard Johnson. The Tampa establishment is the fifth HJ to be opened in Florida in the past month.
     "Feeding the public on wheels," has been the motto of Howard Johnson since he first opened his first shop in Wollaston, Mass. almost 20 years ago. Today, his skyrocketing business not only includes a reputation of providing ice cream of high butter fat content, but also fine food, candy, pastries, marmalades and jellies.
     Vice-president of Howard Johnson's is Tracy Ryan and general manager of the Florida Corp. is Howard P. Cummings. A. E. Miller is engineer and manager of the Tampa restaurant is R. L. Moore.
 

Above & Below: Florida units exemplifying Howard Johnson's sleek circa 1950s restaurant buildings as created by Rufus Nims--New England meets Prairie with a touch of deco and space age moderne!

Note the MANY Howard Johnson's products on display at the Dairy Bar--Mouse over for another view.

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Vintage Views
 
Asheville, NC Howard Johnson's Restaurant
-- Photo courtesy of the GE Archives at the Schenectady Museum, Schenectady, NY; Chris Hunter, Director of Archives and Collections (Special thanks to Steven LJ Russo who identified the photo and secured its use).
 
Above: Believed to be a photograph of the original Asheville, North Carolina Howard Johnson's Restaurant which was adjacent to Motor Lodge number four, the image shows the site with non-standard General Electric "post-mounted luminaires." The photo was created shortly after the Restaurant received its space-age spire cupola topped with a Simple Simon and the Pieman weather vane and was likely experimenting with the light fixtures. Note that the Howard Johnson Company did not adopt use of GE's luminaires but instead continued to use and perfect spot lighting which highlighted the chain's gleaming Orange Roofs! aerial view
 

 
Below: The thoroughly modern middle 1960s complex built in East Ridge, Tennessee welcomed travelers as they entered the Volunteer State from Georgia. The site featured a classic highway style layout and its Restaurant was an early example of the once ubiquitous A-frame design which had been derived from the chain's ambitious "Concept '65" prototype. While well sited to capture the attention of motorists, the site was reportedly ill-suited for construction of any sort due to subsidence conditions and the entire complex was eventually demolished. aerial view
 
East Ridge, Tennessee Howard Johnson's
-- Photo courtesy of The East Ridge History Center (Special Thanks to Bill Peterson who enlisted the mayor of East Ridge among others to discover the vintage HoJo's image and then secured permission for its use).
 
 

 
An Arch Too Far
 
Howard Johnson's Restaurant: Canton, Massachusetts
Canton, Massachusetts -- Photo March 25, 2001: Kummerlowe Archive
 

Twice a prototype, the Canton Restaurant was acquired by Franchise Associates Incorporated (FAI) in the late 1980s and served as their showpiece HoJo's. Having met an ignominious fate, Canton was quietly closed and sold by 2000.

Be sure to check out A Postcard from Canton in the Canton History Blogspot. The blog's author has posted a film clip showing the Canton Howard Johnson's and several of its patrons and employees during the Restaurant's prime just prior to WWII.

Special thanks to Geo. C. for sharing his thoughts and the film!

 
 

 
A HoJo-a-GoGo
 
Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge Restaurant and Red Coach Gril Hartford-Windsor Locks Connecticut
Hartford-Windsor Locks, CT -- Photo Sept. 4, 2006: Kummerlowe Archive
 

Located near Bradley International Airport along I-91, the Windsor Locks Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge complex featured both a Red Coach Grill and traditional albeit small Howard Johnson's Restaurant. The property's facade was an unusual mansard design set off by two orange roofed pagoda-like structures. Its original developers had high hopes for the large full-service property, but its site was less than perfect never allowing the complex to reach its fully planned potential. Nonetheless the Motor Lodge retained the Howard Johnson's name from early 1974 until about the end of 1991.

Unbranded, Windsor Locks lingered on until May of 2004 when the property was purchased by Sharok Jacobi and Jaklin Mecanik. The new owners spent over $5.5 million dollars renovating the site and rebranded it as a Howard Johnson. However the property's new lease on life as a HoJo was brief, for by 2008 it had become unbranded yet again. Known as the Beverly Hills Suites, the site had sunk to new lows by the end of 2008. The former Motor Lodge was turned into a refuge for swingers. An undercover police operation in November of 2008 resulted in several arrests including that of Sharok Jacobi. According to an article in the Journal Inquirer, "an arrest affidavit said liquor-law violations found at the hotel's Club 91 included smoking inside a public building, nudity, sex acts, not serving food, and improper use of a service bar." Moreover the affidavit indicated "that swingers' groups had been renting out the Beverly Hills Suites on weekends [prior to the sting] for the past several months."

Thanks to Dan Doanhue for keeping us up-to-date about Windsor Locks

 
 

 
Perry: re-View
 
Howard Johnson's Restaurant and Motor Lodge Perry Florida
Perry, Florida -- Photo December 16, 2008: Kummerlowe Archive
 

Below & Above: Even as late as 1989 the many intact and well maintained vestiges of the Orange Roofed chain continued to highlight the roadscape lulling HoJo's fans into complacency.

By late 2008, the property was still recognizable, but had seen much stucco and many other alterations including an oversized "carport" for the Patels.

 
Howard Johnson's Restaurant and Motel Lodge Perry Florida
Photo May 1989: Bob Venditti
 
 


 
 
Bangor, ME
336 Odin Rd. (207) 947-3464
 
Lake George, NY
Rte 9 Canada St. (518) 668-5418
 
Lake Placid, NY
98 Saranac Ave. (518) 523-2241
Hard to Believe but
ONLY Three Howard Johnson's Restaurants Remain:
 
 
 

At the onset of my endeavor/adventure to document Howard Johnson's in 1998, I never could have imagined that I was witness to the end of an era. It is difficult to believe that an institution so ingrained in our culture could vanish almost without a trace. For it would seem that with each passing day another HoJo's is closed and demolished. Not that long ago Howard Johnson's was the largest hospitality chain in the world. But now this once ubiquitous roadside landmark fades from America's rear-view mirror, and as we speed off into the uncharted future fewer and fewer orange roofed Restaurants and Motor Lodges remain to serve the hungry and sleepy motoring public.

This site commemorates the Roadside Empire created by Howard D. Johnson, and chronicles with photographs and commentary the story of a once vast organization and its legacy to the American roadscape, and to the hospitality industry. Please browse and enjoy the photographs, and I hope that they rekindle many memories.

 
 
"Howard Johnson's -- An American way of life -- convenience, comfort and hospitality for the entire family, at home and away from home." 
 

 

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