Photographs June 2003: Courtesy of Phil Edwards
 
 
Alexandria, Virginia
 -- 825 Washington St
 

Alexandria and the Fairfax Restaurant were the first Howard Johnson's in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Both opened in the summer of 1939, but the Alexandria unit more closely followed the traditional colonial exterior that Howard Johnson's Restaurants were generally recognized by. However the Alexandria unit suffered the unique distinction of being the only HoJo's back in the early days to not have an Orange Roof since local onerous zoning laws forbade it!

Lasting as a Howard Johnson's until about 1984, the unit was remarkably long-lived. Amazingly the building was not demolished, but converted to become a Wendy's.

 
 
 
Below: Even considerably modified after its HJ days, evidence of Alexandria's early 1960s remodeling remained evident by the decorative concrete stone walls in front of planters that remained in place across the front of the building.