AmarilloWest |
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Photograph
2004: Courtesy of Phil Edwards |
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Amarillo-West,
Texas -- 2801 I-40
West |
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The
West location was the first of two Howard Johnson's complexes opened
in the Amarillo area (Amarillo-East
was the second). Likely opened in the summer of 1968, the 120 room
Motor Lodge ceased being a HoJo's in the middle of 1988. For about
five years it was a Quality Inn -- was listed as a Travelodge in
the 1993 AAA Tourbook, and then apparently became a Quality
Inn again. It likely suffered from neglect, and declined as newer
motels siphoned away its business. Finally the entire site was erased.
By Phil's mid 2000s visit a restaurant-box had recently been built
on part of the former Motor Lodge's site. |
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USGS
satellite image: © Microsoft Corp |
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DallasNorthCentral |
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Dallas-North
Central, Texas -- 10333
North Central Expsy |
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North
Central was opened in about 1966, and was a sprawling classic Motor
Lodge and Restaurant complex. The artist's rendering in the postcard
indicates that the Restaurant may have been built in the rarely
used style that was like Tempe
or Claremont
with unusual cupola placement and altered floor plans. With fond
memories, Jane Watkins wrote me that she stayed at the Dallas-North
Central Motor Lodge back in May of 1984, and said that "it
was old but nice." The whole place was leveled in the late
1980s, and a Residence Inn and Courtyard were built on the expansive
site. |
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FortWorth |
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Rack
card circa 1970s: Courtesy of Dan Donahue |
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Fort
Worth, Texas -- 5825
S Freeway |
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USGS
satellite image: © Microsoft Corp |
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Fort
Worth's Motor Lodge and Restaurant complex had quite a location!
The classically configured facility was opened in the spring
of 1967 and survived as a HoJo's until the first half of
1982.
Highway
realignment and newer nearby lodging locations likely served
to undermine its one steady stream of patrons. By the 2000s,
the site had been razed leaving scarred earth and nothing
else. |
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HoustonSouthwest |
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Photograph
2004: Courtesy of Phil Edwards |
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Houston-Southwest,
Texas -- 7901
Southwest Freeway |
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Not
joining the list as a Howard Johnson's until 1979 directories,
Houston's Southwest location was a conversion. That is to say
that the location had been called the Harvest House Hotel and
then converted into a HoJo. Short lived, within five years it
had ceased flying the HJ banner. When Phil Edwards was traveling
through the Houston area, he found no evidence of it. The satellite
view below is believed to show the one-time Howard Johnson's conversion.
Kenneth
Chapman, a one-time nearby resident to the Southwest site, reported
that the property seen in the view from space (believed to have
been the Harvest House Hotel/HoJo's) had been an assisted living
center prior to its demolition. He added that it as well as the
adjacent but former Toys R Us store were acquired by a nearby
hospital which will use the site for a new professional building
and its Heart & Vascular Institute.
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USGS
satellite image: © Microsoft Corp |
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Lubbock |
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Photograph
2004: Courtesy of Phil Edwards |
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Lubbock,
Texas -- 60111
Avenue H |
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Built
in 1966, the Lubbock complex offered guests "76 Beautiful Rooms,
Bedside Controlled TV and Lighting, Private Patios, Playground,
Renown (sic) Restaurant, Beautiful Lamplight Club and Optional Color
TV."
The
Motor Lodge and Restaurant were purged from the List of Orange in
the middle 1980s. By the time Phil Edwards made it out West, the
place was long gone with no physical evidence of its existence remaining
at its site. |
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Scan
provided by Phil Edwards |
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