Rockfish Gap, where the Afton Howard Johnson's Restaurant was sited, is historically significant, for it was a gateway to the West for Americans well into the 19th century. In fact, Meriwether Lewis (famous as the leader of the 1805 Corps of Discovery with William Clark) was born in Albemarle County, Virginia in 1774 within sight of the Gap! His trek to the Pacific helped set the stage which led to the United States of America being a continental nation.

Moreover the Gap was once site of the Rockfish Inn which in 1818 hosted James Monroe, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and 18 other notables who met to determine where to site the University of Virginia. Later, during the middle 19th century the Rockfish Inn was expanded and renamed as the Mountain Top Hotel. The site remained a popular place for tourists and travellers until the early 1900s. Unfortunately it burned to the ground, save for its stone walls, in the early part of the 20th century and it is believed that its ruins were subsequently removed either upon the opening of the Afton Howard Johnson's Restaurant or its adjacent motor Court. But it is perhaps more likely that the 19th century ruins were displaced by the construction of Interstate 64.

Also known as Waynesboro or Swannanoa, the Afton Howard Johnson's Restaurant is believed to have opened in late 1948. It was strategically located at the juncture of the Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway--a geographically important place for tourism through much of the 20th century. Moreover, to ensure a steady stream of patrons, Afton was sited on a major U.S. highway leading west through Rockfish Gap, about midway between Staunton and Charlottesville. The building itself was a Canton-type of neo-colonial design, so called because it followed the general plan of the Canton, Massachusetts Restaurant.