Text by Patrick Bell.
The Christmas holidays always bring travel of all kinds, so it is time for us to feature some more road traveling and the vintage motels that populated the roadside. We have a full itinerary, so let the tour begin.
We begin at a Western Motel in Clinton, Oklahoma. The signs advertise air conditioning and free TV. Outside the motel office, a lady was exiting a 1958 Chevrolet Delray 2-door sedan with a six-cylinder engine. In the background (under the “TV” sign), you can make out a 1962 Chevrolet Bel Air wagon.
I don’t have a location for this photo either, but the paved parking lot and the buildings in the background suggest that this very nice-looking motel was located in a city, probably somewhere in the Midwest. From left to right, we see a 1953 Ford with a Michigan license plate, a 1951 Packard from Missouri, a 1952 Buick from Ohio, a 1950 Oldsmobile, a 1949-1952 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery belonging to Mall Tool Co., and a 1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan. The 1953 license plate tag on the Ford narrows down the time, but not the locale.
Here’s another Western Hotel, this one in San Antonio, Texas. I believe the motel was the building in the background. The building nearest the camera had a barber shop and beauty salon to the left and what looks like a restaurant with a sign that reads “Westerner” in a stylized font. Parked out front was a 1953 Cadillac Series Sixty-Two Coupe de Ville.
This photo has no signage to tell us the name of the motel, but it was a big one, at least three stories tall. It looks like it was a cool day. There were a few hardy souls in the pool or about to get in, but everyone else was wearing sweaters. The parking lot was nearly full of 1950s iron, with the newest that I can see being 1957 models. Those included a Buick and Chevrolet (in the nearer row), a white Dodge convertible (in the farther row), and over at the right a Ford, a Chrysler, and an Oldsmobile. There were two 1956 Chevrolets and three Cadillac hardtop coupes, a 1955 and two 1956s. The black 1951 Studebaker 4-door sedan (third from the left in the farther row) appears to have been the oldest.
This six-cylinder 1955 Chevrolet was a 2-door sedan in the mid-level Two-Ten trim series. It was parked in front of another Western Motel, this one in DeQueen, Arkansas.
If you’re not in the mood for a White Christmas, why not meet up with Santa Claus on the beach in Panama Beach, Florida? This image from 1958 shows the Sandpiper Motel. To the right, just out of the shot, was the Beacon Motel next door. At some point, these two motels merged to become the Sandpiper Beacon Resort. It is still in business, although all of these businesses have been replaced. Parked out front was a nice selection of medium-priced American cars, including (from left to right) a DeSoto, a Dodge, a Buick, a Mercury, and a 1955 Oldsmobile 98.
This motel isn’t identified, but the selection of cars places it somewhere in Canada: From the left, we can see a 1958 Pontiac Strato-Chief 4-door sedan, a 1956 Monarch Custom 2-door sedan, a 1956 Chevrolet Two-Ten 4-door sedan, and a 1959 Ford Thunderbird 2-door hardtop. That appears to be a Pepsi-Cola machine in front of the motel office, and there was a very large antenna aerial on the roof.
Next, we are back in the USA, at the Tulane Motel in New Orleans, Louisiana. As best I can tell, this and the surrounding property are now a subdivision. In the driveway was a 1958 Chevrolet Delray 2-door sedan like the one in our lead image. (It probably wasn’t the same car, as the license plates were different.) At the right was a 1959 Plymouth.
The shade hides all the details that might tell us the locale of this photo, but it was a modern-looking establishment with a mountain range nearby. At the far left was a two-tone six-cylinder 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air 4-door sedan. Next to it was a 1958 Chevrolet Delray 2-door sedan — this one might be the same car seen in our lead shot, with a girl holding a doll standing next to it. To the right in this all-GM lineup were a V8-powered 1957 Chevrolet Two-Ten 2-door sedan with what might have been a 1961 Ohio license plate, and a 1958 Pontiac Bonneville with perhaps a 1961 Iowa license plate.
Berthoud Pass is in Colorado, and used to be a ski area, with a 993-foot drop from the summit to the base, but this photo was obviously not taken in the wintertime. The Berthoud Pass Lodge was built in 1949 and torn down in 2005. Judging by the cars out front, the photo was probably taken in the early ’60s. From the left, we see a 1957 DeSoto, a 1962 Ford Falcon Futura (the newest of the cars), a 1960 Cadillac 6-window four-door hardtop, a 1961 Pontiac Catalina or Ventura Sports Coupe, and a 1954 Ford Customline Tudor Sedan.
This motel was the Sea Otel in Nags Head, North Carolina. Judging by the people and the cars, it seemed to have family-friendly prices. Most of the cars are too far away to see very clearly, but I do spot two 1961 Oldsmobiles, two 1962 Ford Falcons, and an early Chevrolet Corvair club coupe.
Let’s head north to St. Ignace, Michigan, “Your Gateway to UP (Upper Peninsula) Adventures.” The car windows looked foggy, so it might have been a chilly spring or summer morning when the photo was taken. I can’t identify the car hiding behind the tree, but the rest of them were all GM models. From the left, there was a 1962 or 1963 Chevrolet Chevy II Nova 400, a 1964 Chevrolet Biscayne 2-door sedan, a 1964 Buick Wildcat 4-door sedan, and on the far right a 1957 Pontiac.
Our final stop is back in Colorado: The Ford/Mercury dealer across the street appears to be Ghent Motors in Fort Collins, which was located at 2601 S. College Avenue. The motel was a TraveLodge, and there was a Sinclair gas station was next door.
In the lot at the left, nearest the street was a 1969 Pontiac Tempest or LeMans Sports Coupe. Closer to the camera on the left were a white 1958 or 1959 Thunderbird hardtop, perhaps a gold 1967-1970 Ford Cortina Mk2 wagon, and a blue 1968 Ford Ranch Wagon or Country Sedan. Closer to the motel, we see a 1971 Imperial on the far end, a 1970-1972 Buick SportWagon, a Ford F-100 in Admiral TV livery, a 1963 Pontiac Catalina 4-door sedan, a 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 2-door hardtop, a 1966–1969 Volkswagen 1600 fastback, and a 1965 Ford Fairlane 500 Sports Coupe with no wheel covers. The Admiral TV repairman was probably servicing the motel’s televisions.
Thanks for touring with us and a Merry Christmas to all!
Note: If you wish to see your vintage photos featured at Curbside Classic, send them to us at [email protected].
Love these old photos. Growing up in an Air Force family we moved East Coast to West Coast many times, resulting in wonderful family road trips back in the 1950s. My childhood memories were stopping at motels that had a swimming pool. I had to go swimming every day. We never stopped overnight at a motel without a swimming pool.
I can help a bit with some of the “Western” Motel locations.
The lead picture is from Clinton, Oklahoma. The building is still (sort of) standing – it’s boarded-up, derelict, and part of the “U”-shaped motel has been demolished. But here’s a then-and-now view with what’s left standing. Google StreetView link below:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/XvnUyzxamaf1AqmaA
Picture #5 (also Western Motel) is from DeQueen, Arkansas. That building is still standing and functioning, though it appears to be used as apartments now.
Google StreetView link:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/VhLrvHYmLVYR4JuA6
Thanks! I’ve amended the text.
Motel in the 11th photo must have been listed in the “Green Book.”
An edit for your caption regarding the Sandpiper Motel:
“Parked out front was a nice selection of medium-priced American cars, including (from left to right) a DeSoto, a Dodge, a Buick, a Mercury, and an Oldsmobile.”
…. not just any Oldsmobile — Coulda been Dad’s 1955 Olds 98 Holiday.
I got nauseous on return from the beach.
Slowing to stop, Mom says, “Just lean your head out the window.” (No AC. No seatbelts. It was a ’55!)
But it *did* have power windows.
I threw up right into the slot where the window was …… and shorted out the mechanism.
For 70 years, I’ve wondered about the mechanic who had to clean up that jammed window.
That distinctive long vertical chrome piece down the trunk of the Olds appealed to me as a kid. A 98! Top of the line! The 55 was my favorite because my aunt and uncle got one of the first 55 four door hardtops, alas an 88. But it was yellow and black and had the first power antenna I can remember.
My Dad briefly worked for his friend’s car dealership in the 50’s and hated repairing power windows, the worst being the electro-hydraulic ones – they leaked fluid that corroded anything around them. Don’t remember him mentioning vomit as a problem but maybe he just omitted that detail. Fun story.
In the third photo, “Mr. Sterner” is actually “Westerner”; the style matches that of the sign on the right. I have no idea where it is, though.
The Westerner Hotel was in San Antonio – the original address was 1116 Austin Hwy.
It was a pretty large and sprawling complex; most of the buildings were demolished in the 1980s, however there’s one building one the former site that looks like it’s still standing (the current address of that particular structure is 1122 Austin Hwy., and I think the photo above was taken about 100 ft. to the east of it).
Thanks, I’ve amended that as well.
The final photo is the most recent, taken no earlier than Fall 1970. It’s the only one of this set with any foreign cars. That Mk II Cortina is a very rare car in the US. Paul showed us a sedan in 2015, and I think that’s the only instance on CC. Ford only sold the Mk II in the US for 4 model years, and the best estimates I can find are approximately 70,000 units. Even if half of them were wagons (doubtful) that makes the Cortina at the Colorado TraveLodge a very rare beast!
Good eye to spot the Cortina wagon! Certainly rare now, but not uncommon in its time. My sister had a Mk2 for several years, until it succumbed to terminal rust after moving to Canada in 1976. And quite a few friends had them … by the mid-70’s a used Cortina GT was a discount alternative to a 2002 and or even a Datsun 510. But the wagon was certainly less common.
The Nags Head motel is the “Sea Otel” (an odd name). It seems to have existed until about 2004 when it was demolished. It’s said that the building was in quite bad shape due to hurricane damage. In it’s prime, it was a Quality Inn and had a popular restaurant called the “Dareolina” (Nags Head is in Dare County, North Carolina).
Here are additional (earlier than the post card image in this post) photos of other parts of the facility – https://digital.ncdcr.gov/Documents/Detail/sea-oatel/6259536?item=6259539
I’d agree with Jim Randall above that it should have been listed in the Green Book (as motels publicizing service to African Americans in the early 1960s in North Carolina would be somewhat unusual)…but I’ve checked and cannot find a listing there…in the rather slim Green Book sections on North Carolina.
Here’s another set of images – which includes what may be the same image in Rich’s post, only flipped – of the Sea Otel. This from the UNC Digital Collections repository.
I should note that I may be quite wrong about the people featured in the photo being African Americans. My apologies for making visual assumptions.
If you’re curious about the name, the Sea Oatel was named after sea oats, which are wild oats that grow on the Outer Banks. The owners originally used the wild oats as decorations throughout the motel, such as in bouquets (apparently the keep for a long time), and figured the name would be catchy and distinctive.
Sea Oats’ scientific name = Uniola paniculata
The topic of my doctoral dissertation in Botany.
Wow! I bet you didn’t expect that topic to come up on Curbside Classic today.
You just never know where things might go here on CC…or that there would be someone with a PhD in Botany reading the site. So cool.
Eric & Jeff —
See? who would ever have thought that a car guy might also be a plant guy……. with many other facets as well ! Happy Holidays !!
This is a fun assortment of photos, and lots to dig into!
The tool company Sedan Delivery in Picture #2 appears to be from Mall Tool Co. Mall was headquartered in Chicago, but sold tools nationwide, and according to ads like the one below, employed hundreds of traveling salesmen. The motel guest must have been one of those salesmen.
Mall Tool was bought by Remington Arms in the mid 1950s, and its name faded afterwards.
My Dad had an electric Mall chainsaw. You had to have a generator and miles of extension cord to use it!
Pic 2 is in Missouri, they had maroon plates in ’53 and if you blow it up you can see Missouri at the top.
Pic 7 has a gray and white Chevy 210 sedan exactly like Dad’s, it might even be a Six (ugh) like ours that burned oil almost from the get-go. Traded for a ’57 Country sedan with a 292 V8, much better!
The Fort Collins one (the last photo) shows Ghent’s Motors actually at 2601 S. College not W. College Avenue, this is also Hwy 287 that you can basically take all the way to Laramie and beyond (and south to Denver and beyond), which plenty of people prefer to I-25.
Ghent Ford is no longer there, but Ghent currently has a large Chevy dealership in sort of nearby Greeley. The dealer in this space was Spradley-Barr Mazda from at least 2010 to just last year when they were bought out and moved (Spradley also owned the Ford dealer in town, they must have bought it from Ghent, but sold all their holdings to Ken Garff of Utah (I think Utah) a couple of years ago. This dealership is now empty and currently holds a Christmas Tree sales lot, the building is quite interesting/imposing visually with a huge front wall of glass.
The Travelodge and the Sinclair gas station are both also long gone, there’s a Walgreen’s drug store there now. The surrounding area is generally suburban homes and was mostly developed in the late 60s and early 70s, I drive by there numerous times a week.
Ahh, I got the address from a 2024 Coloradoan article, and didn’t think to double-check it.
Sweet ;
When we traveled in the 1960’s we always camped, I envied those who got to stay in nice places like these .
-Nate
In the Nag’s Head photo, the remaining cars appear to be a ’61 Pontiac Star Chief or Bonneville at the rear, and a ’62 Galaxie 500 Hardtop to the right.
In the second from the last photo, the car behind the tree is a 1964 Chevrolet. It is not an Impala because it has four taillights instead of six. However, I can’t make out what model it is.
AI tells me that photo of a modern-looking establishment with a mountain range nearby was the Midway Service Plaza on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.