Located five miles south of Jesup on US 301, the Eden Roc was a motel and restaurant owned and operated by Bill and Lila O’Leary. Thanks to Sandra Crawn for the identification; she notes that it was “a landmark indeed”.
The swimming pool (the outline of which is visible in the first photograph) as seen on a postcard from 1958, the year the motel was built.
Many such properties were located on US 301 near Jesup when it was a major north-south artery to Florida. Most thrived until the late 1960s when the construction of I-95 made them obsolete.
the “Landmark” was a different motel entirely…
Any idea what the name of the motel was across the street from this one? I was down there on vacation on my way between Maryland and Florida using US 301 to find places like this. Thanks for any info…
I came through here enroute to Florida in 1976, a lot of traffic, tons of billboards and roadside businesses. What an adventure. I think I-95 was completed sometime in 1978 to 1980 and it looks like this area was hit really bad with the loss of traffic. Glad to see the documentation of this way of life from the 1960s and 70s.
This place was also used as apartments as little as 10-12 years ago…if it was that long. I lived there as a teenager and actually helped other tenants clean and refill the pool. Management wouldn’t maintain it so it went south pretty quick.
It is so cool to see all this stuff so close to where I live.
There are many abandoned properties along US 41 due to I75. There was a Stuckeys(sp?) just north of Unadilla on 41 where my aunt use to buy me ice cream cones.