bethlehem
 
Postcards circa 1960s
 
Bethlehem-Allentown, Pa. -- Rt 22 @ Airport Rd
 

Located adjacent to the local airport and only eight miles from an interchange allowing access to the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Northeastern Extension, this Motor Lodge along with its Restaurant opened in 1959. Bethlehem-Allentown was once part of a mini-chain of Howard Johnson's that were operated by an outfit called Interstate Motor Lodges, and Interstate touted all of its properties to be convenient to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. During the late 1960s the group of locations also included Breezewood, Carlisle, and Scranton. The facility at Bethlehem remained a Howard Johnson's until 1985, but by the 2000s had been razed and a Fairfield Inn sprang up to occupy its former site.

Postcard views indicate that the sprawling Motor Lodge featured all single story guest buildings which did not follow standard Howard Johnson's specifications, but its 120 guest rooms were nonetheless outfitted with typical interior furnishings. Moreover the Gate Lodge was curiously topped with a Simple Simon and the Pieman weather vane rather than a Lamplighter.

 
 
 
bradford
 
Photographs August, 2004 courtesy of Phil Edwards
 
Bradford, Pennsylvania -- 100 Davis St
 
Built in the mid 1960s as a 120 room three-story Holiday Inn, Bradford was converted into a Howard Johnson's in 1981 without a HoJo's Restaurant. The unit would have sorely disappointed anyone seeking a Howard Johnson's since it followed the typical Holiday Inn building design and room layout. It is only included in this list because it was the last Key Stone State HoJo's added before the company ceased to exist. By the early 2000s it had become a Best Western.
 
 
 
danville
 
Satellite view © Microsoft Corp.
 
Danville, Pennsylvania -- 15 Valley West Rd (15 McCracken--I-80 @ Rt 54)
 
With its Mansard lobby and Restaurant, the Danville complex opened in the fall of 1973 or early in 1974. The Motor Lodge offered guests the choice of 77 rooms in its two two-story standardized guest buildings. Believed to have been converted (and subsequently mutilated) into a Country Inn near the end of the 1990s, the site wore a Quality Inn badge by the middle 2000s.
 
 
Philadelphia
 
Aerial views © Microsoft Corp.
 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- 11580 Roosevelt Blvd (U.S. 1)
AKA North or Northeast
 

A fully standardized classic Motor Lodge and Restaurant complex, Philadelphia opened in 1963 with an A-frame Gate Lodge and Nims-type restaurant fronting U.S. 1--conveinant to the Pennsylvania Turnpike's nearby Philadelphia interchange. The Motor Lodge originally featured just two two-story guest buildings with a third added later creating the base of its 'L' layout. Eventually becoming a Best Western, the 104 room Motor Lodge relinquished the HJ name in 1991. However the Restaurant which is believed to have been converted into the short-lived Deli Baker Ice Cream Maker concept lasted well into the FAI era (at least until 1995) as a regular restaurant.

Above and Below: Aerial views reveal that in addition to recycled HJ signage, the restaurant had received FAI's circa 1991 capital arch! Unfortunately heavy-handed facade treatments prevent viewing the Restaurant's Nims-type roofline or the outline of the Gate Lodge from the ground or street level.