The
Restaurant was sited in front of the Motor Lodge and enjoyed
excellent visibility with its perch high above the Pennsylvania
Turnpike's Wyoming Valley Interchange. The unit prospered and
by the 1980s was owned and operated by the Howard Johnson Company.
As a corporate location, Marriott acquired it along with more
than 400 others in 1985 when it purchased HJ from IMPS. Unlike
most of the units, Pittston was not converted and continued
to operate as a HoJo's. Thus after Marriott disposed of its
restaurant business, it was one of 17 remaining Howard Johnson's
restaurants that were transferred to Franchise Associates Incorporated
(FAI) in June of 1991.
Please
note that the circa 1965 Restaurant originally featured a Spire
cupola topped with a Simple Simon and the Pieman weather vane
which was replaced by the Beacon during the later 1970s.