Tag Archives: Georgia Motels & Motor Courts

Thunderbird Inn, 1964, Savannah

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This neon sign, lit up along West Oglethorpe Avenue at night, may be the coolest thing about the Thunderbird Inn, but the whole place has an amazing retro vibe, harking back to the days of roadside motels. As American automobile ownership began to increase in the 1930s, quaint motor courts with numerous tiny cottages began to fill the need for travelers. By the end of World War II, motels began to replace them, because they were less expensive to build and maintain, and because tourists demanded more convenience. Motor hotels, or motels, popped up on busy state and national highways all across the country. The Thunderbird Inn opened on the Coastal Highway (US 17) in 1964 and quickly became a popular Savannah destination. The Jackson Five even stayed here on their rise to fame. Savannah has changed a lot since then, but the Thunderbird Inn has stayed true to its origins, thanks to restoration and updates over the past 20 years. I’ve stayed several times, and it’s one of my favorite locations.

Savannah Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Red Land Motel Sign, 1952, Washington

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Most of the old roadside motels that proliferated in the post-World War II years are long gone, but they once numbered in the thousands all over the country. Occasionally, their old signs can still be found and have taken on landmark status all their own. Washington has two of these signs: the Angus Motel, and this one, the Red Land Motel. Amazingly, the Red Land, while modernized, is still in business.

This annotated history is from their website: …Walton and Joanne Hardin built the Red Land Motel. The amenities in motels were spartan back then, but no expense was spared at the Red Land. [It] boasted of refrigerated air conditioning, private bathrooms in each room-equipped with showers, and each room was carpeted. Opening for business in 1952, the Red Land Motel quickly became a local landmark, and took her place in American history as a roadside motor lodge. Over the next 25 years…two of the original buildings were torn down, so as to make room for a pair of new two-story buildings…

The Red Land Motel borrows her name for famous (or infamous?) Georgia Red Clay. Among the locals there is a love-hate relationship with red clay. However, when one of our own moves away, they always know home is close by when the hills on the roadside have that familiar red hue.

Dudley Motel, 1958, Dublin

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This community landmark, while in sound condition, has been closed and vacant since the 1980s and was recently named, along with Dudley’s Retreat and Amoco Station No. 2, a 2023 Place in Peril by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. It’s an important resource and part of a larger story of an amazing family of entrepreneurs who provided travel options for the African-American community during the Jim Crow Era.

Mr. Herbert “Hub” Horatio Dudley (1892-1965) was the most successful Black businessman in Dublin during his lifetime and had numerous businesses in the neighborhood. As anyone who’s seen the movie Green Book would understand, travel from town to town was dangerous during the Jim Crow Era and African-Americans relied on publications to direct them to safe places.

Mr. Dudley’s entrepreneurial spirit, along with a genuine concern for his community, led him to establish this property, which opened in 1958.

The rear of the Amoco Station [at left in this photo] was adjacent to the motel, which featured 12 rooms in several units with all the modern amenities. The Retreat cafe was also on the same property, which allowed patrons to move about more freely at a time when just being on the street after dark could be ominous. The architecture is a type of vernacular commercial construction which is quite rare in Georgia. I’ve seen similar properties in older beach communities in Florida.

As the epicenter of black culture and business in Dublin, Dudley’s Motel hosted many luminaries of the day, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Andrew Young, Ralph David Abernathy, Maynard Jackson, and other prominent figures.

I hope the property survives and perhaps becomes a museum or community resource center.

REFERENCE: I’ve already linked these sources in my other posts about the Dudley family, but I’ll share a list here. They will provide more detailed information: Laurens County African-American History; Herbert Dudley; Dudley Funeral Home; and the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.

Gordon Motor Court, Circa 1950, Sylvester

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This was one of numerous motor courts along busy U.S. Highway 82 built between the 1930s and early 1960s. The wrought iron posts are obviously later additions, as they aren’t visible in the vintage postcard, below. Dr. Gordon Davis III writes: Gordon Motor Court opened in approximately 1950-1951. My family still owns the property. We closed the “motor court” in the 70’s after I-75 opened completely from Detroit to Tampa. Was named for my grandfather, Gordon Davis, Sr., my father, Gordon Davis, Jr., and me, Gordon Davis, III. Many fond memories !

Linen postcard, circa 1951. Courtesy The Tichnor Brothers Collection, Boston Public Library.

Waterwheel Motel, 1950s, Cuthbert

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The Settles brothers were the owners and managers of this motel.

Camellia Courts, 1940s, Jesup

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This is one of a few survivors of numerous motels located in and near Jesup on US 301, mostly from the 1940s-1960s. The two story building was a lounge and coffee shop (the upstairs was an office and/or residence).

Camellia Courts postcard. Mailed 1949. Collection of Brian Brown.

Carol C. Harper writes: “In its heyday, when 301 was a main thoroughfare, this was “Camellia Courts”, a popular motel owned and operated by Curtis and Mabel Harper of Jesup. The Harpers were my husband’s uncle and aunt. The motel offered a restaurant, swimming pool, and beautiful camellias cultivated by Mabel and shared with guests.“

It was later known as the Mary Ann Motel and was last used as apartments.

 

Eden Roc Motel & Restaurant, 1958, Wayne County

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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”.

Vintage postcard. 1958. Collection of Brian Brown.

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.

Danny Ross Motor Court, Tifton

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This sign was located on US 41 near ABAC. I’m not sure if it’s still standing, but it was erected in the late 1940s or early 1950s for the Danny Ross Motor Court.

Georgian Motor Court, 1940s, Cordele

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Though I’ve never shared the location of this property and never will, I understand that many people know it well; there are numerous images of this sign all over the internet. And while it’s completely legal to stop on the side of the road and make a photograph, I would ask you to avoid this location. The owner has contacted me suggesting that people are harassing his mother, who is in her 90s, and this makes me sick. This is why I do not share locations. It’s a shame to have to say it, but do not trespass here. The owner will involve law enforcement if anyone is found to be on the property. DO NOT STOP HERE.

Southern Motel, Cordele

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I first photographed this sign in 2008. The Southern Motel was owned and managed by Mr. & Mrs. Jack Kirk. It was a modern brick motel which, judging from a 1961 postcard, was likely built in the mid to late 1950s, It’s hard to imagine that highways like U. S. 41 were the interstates before we had interstates. I’m aware that many people consider these sorts of properties and old signage nothing more than eyesores. There are others who absolutely love them. I don’t think many of them will be saved, but they’re a nice reminder of the world before interstates.