Queen City Motel
Charlotte, NC Photo courtesy Richard Weiss
The crown above Queen City Motel makes an appropriate landmark along Charlotte's Wilkinson Boulevard. It turns the city's familiar nickname into a roadside symbol, giving the marquee an identity that motorists can recognize before reading the lettering. 03-08
The motel follows the practical motor-court arrangement, with rooms facing the parking area and a prominent display beside the road. Wilkinson Boulevard retains several reminders of its earlier commercial travel years, and the crowned sign contributes to that collection of independent businesses and older highway architecture.
UPDATE: Queen City Motel appears to remain in business, and its crown-topped marquee survives. The property continues offering accommodations along Wilkinson Boulevard while retaining its recognizable roadside advertisement. That simple crown remains the detail that separates this motel from the more standardized signs found at newer hotels. 11-26
Papoose Motel (Demolished)
Cherokee, NC Photo courtesy Richard Weiss
The Papoose Motel marquee stood alone after the guest buildings disappeared, marking another former overnight stop along Cherokee's U.S. 19 corridor. By 2008, the sign had become the property's principal surviving feature, identifying accommodations that motorists could no longer book. 04-08
Like neighboring independent motels, the Papoose served visitors exploring Cherokee and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Its roadside advertisement helped distinguish the business along a route lined with lodging and tourist attractions. Once the buildings were demolished, the same sign became a marker of what had occupied the site.
UPDATE: Both Papoose Motel and its roadside sign are gone. The cleared property no longer retains that visible connection to its lodging history. Earlier views record the brief period when the marquee outlasted the rooms it had been built to advertise. 11-26
Hayes Motel (Closed)
Harmony, NC Photo courtesy Richard Weiss
Here is the Hayes Motel where it appears to have been before the interstate weekly rates were offered. This sign was almost too far gone to photograph yet had some interesting weathering. It apparently once stood straight but the base had rusted away and the sign fell onto the pole resting at this angle. Many thanks to Richard Weiss for info. 05-08
“Private Baths” remained an especially revealing detail, recalling when that convenience deserved prominent advertising. Weekly rates reflected another stage in the property's use, as longer stays supplemented or replaced the passing overnight trade. Together, the wording and damaged framework recorded different chapters of the motel's working life.
UPDATE: Hayes Motel remains closed, with the weathered marquee providing a lingering reminder of its lodging business. The sign's appeal comes from those surviving details rather than bright illumination. Its unusual angle and old amenities lettering preserve a particularly timeworn piece of North Carolina roadside advertising. 11-26
Baldwin Motel (Demolished)
Thornburg, VA Photo courtesy Tait Hilliard
Check out this photo of the Baldwin Motel marquee, which is all that is left of this motel on US 1 in Thornburg VA. The hotel lot is now covered in grass. Many thanks to Tait Hilliard for info. 08-08
The motel belonged to the independent accommodations serving East Coast motorists before Interstate 95 became the main through route. Its roadside display identified the entrance and helped distinguish the business along a highway filled with competing places to eat and sleep. After demolition, that advertisement took on a different role as the site's surviving landmark.
UPDATE: Baldwin Motel is gone, but its lone marquee remains beside old U.S. 1. The empty grounds make the contrast especially noticeable: the lodging business has disappeared while its announcement survives. The sign continues marking one small chapter of Virginia's pre-interstate travel landscape. 11-26
Old Motel (Closed)
Emporia, VA Photo courtesy Tait Hilliard
A row of weathered cottages and a faded marquee marked this unidentified Old Motel outside Emporia. The buildings retained their orderly roadside arrangement, but the empty parking area showed little sign of an operating business. With the motel name no longer clear, the surviving structures provided most of the clues to its earlier purpose. 08-08
Cottage-style courts offered travelers individual accommodations close to their automobiles. That arrangement developed before connected rows of motel rooms became the more familiar highway design. Separate entrances and nearby parking made unloading straightforward, while a roadside sign announced the business to motorists choosing a place to stop.
Old Motel marquee (Closed)
Emporia, VA Photo courtesy Tait Hilliard
Here, the cottages remained recognizable after the lodging operation ended. Their repeated shapes and relationship to the parking area preserved the property's original layout, even as paint and signage deteriorated. The setting recorded an ordinary type of highway accommodation that often disappeared without attracting the attention given to larger hotels or elaborate neon displays.
UPDATE: The motel remains closed, with its cottages and weathered marquee still marking the former overnight stop. Its name and operating dates have not been established, but the surviving layout offers a useful glimpse of Virginia's smaller tourist courts. The buildings preserve more of that roadside setting than a lone sign standing over an empty lot. 11-26
Dixie Motel (Demolished)
Emporia, VA Photo courtesy Tait Hilliard
Before the big travel plazas took over the Interstate, places like the Dixie Motel handled just about everything a traveler needed. Pull off U.S. 301, fill the gas tank at an old gas station, grab a bite to eat, and spend the night without ever leaving the property. The old marquee in this photo is a reminder of those days, still catching the eye of passing motorists long after the motel had seen its best years. Many thanks to Tait Hilliard for info. 08-08
The complex expanded during the 1960s and continued advertising to motorists on Interstate 95. Roadside notices encouraged drivers to leave the interstate for the Dixie, extending its reach beyond the older highway. Later, the closed motel, Carol's Diner, and Emporia Travel Plaza remained together as deteriorating reminders of that broader operation.
UPDATE: The remaining motel buildings were gone by summer 2011, with the restaurant and travel-plaza structures following. The familiar marquee has disappeared as well. The former complex no longer supplies the meal, fuel, and room combination that once made it a convenient stop along U.S. 301. 11-26
Queen City Motel
Papoose Motel (Demolished)
Hayes Motel (Closed)
Baldwin Motel (Demolished)
Old Motel (Closed)
Old Motel marquee (Closed)
Dixie Motel (Demolished)
