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Postcard circa 1960s
 
 
Satellite image © Microsoft Corp

Fredericksburg was one of only two Motor Lodges in Virginia to feature a canopy A-Frame Gate Lodge. Its use was a clever architectural tactic that allowed Motor Lodges to employ the important HoJo's visual cue, but also allowed for much larger and more versatile lobby space. Only a select few Motor Lodges featured the A-frame drive under structure, Fredericksburg's canopy was demolished during the middle 1990s, and by 2007 only Southington's remained.

Unfortunately the Lodge sits across U.S. 1 from the Exxon station where, the sniper, Lee Boyd Malvo murdered Kenneth Bridges as he filled his car with gas on October 11, 2002. The D.C. sniper rampage left people feeling scared and helpless so they avoided travel which caused financial harm to the Howard Johnson and other businesses that served the motoring public.
 
 
 
 
Brochure circa 1960s: Courtesy of Dan Donahue
 
 
 
 
Rack card circa 1994
 
 
Photograph August 1999
 
Above and Below: The canopy A-frame Gate Lodge had been replaced by a "modern" canopy and the Motor Lodge's front had been stuccoed by the end of the 1990s. Also note that between 1999 and 2004 "Howard Johnson" in blue non-illuminated letters at the center of the building had been replaced with illuminated red letters including a wave underline and half-moon shaped setting sunburst.
 
Photographs January 31, 2004
 
 
 
 
 
Photograph courtesy of Bob Venditti
 
 
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