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1966 Brookland Cayce High School Yearbook:
Kirsten Davis
Columbia-West, SC
AKA Cayce
 -- 500 Knox Abbott Dr (U.S. 321, 21, 176)
 

Columbia's first Howard Johnson's complex was opened in about 1963. The attractive classically designed Motor Lodge was built across from a pre-existing Restaurant and featured about 70 guest rooms in two-story buildings arranged in a 'U' behind its signature A-frame Gate Lodge.

 
The playground at Cayce caught the eye of more than a few children and even some local high schoolers who used the Pumpkin Coach for their yearbook photo-shoot!
 
Left & Lower: Many Motor Lodges prominently featured playgrounds with fanciful equipment meant to attract children who's influence was often a powerful factor with where their parents decided to lodge for the night.
 
 

 
 
Postcard ca 1960s: Kummerlowe Archive
 
 
6Photo July 6, 2006s: Kummerlowe Archive
 
 
Photos 2002 : Kevin Cannon
 
Reminiscent of better Days ... Even near its end, and long after the Motor Lodge had ceased being a Howard Johnson's, the property continued to feature its highly visible playground complete with the fanciful Landmark Pumpkin Coach that had made the place all the more special in the minds of children.
 
 
 
Photo October 2002 : Phil Edwards
 
 

 
 
Photographs 2005: Tom Elmore

HoJo's Legacy
In 2005, the City of Cayce acquired the Coach, restored it, and rededicated the whimsical symbol of childhood delight placing it in the city's Granby Gardens Park. Children and people of any age can once again take an imaginary ride of wonder in the Pumpkin Coach.

 
Left & Below: Tom Elmore, who tracked down the coach, noted that not long after its placement in the park that it served as a prop for photos just as it had for the highschoolers of 40 years earlier!
 
 
 
 
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