Candlelight Motel (Gone)
Columbus, GA Photo courtesy Kevin Powers
The giant candleholder at Candlelight Motel gave Victory Drive one of its more unusual roadside advertisements. A glowing neon candle rose above the marquee, turning the motel's name into a display that motorists could recognize before reading the lettering. 01-09
The property served the busy corridor between Columbus and Fort Benning during the mid-century travel years. Air-conditioned rooms, a restaurant, and a swimming pool supplied practical attractions, while AAA identification appeared in its postcard advertising. The towering candle gave those familiar motel amenities a memorable introduction.
UPDATE: Candlelight Motel has closed, and its distinctive sign has been removed. The giant candle no longer marks the entrance along Victory Drive. Earlier views preserve a particularly imaginative example of the themed advertising that helped independent motels distinguish themselves from their neighbors. 11-26
The Wigwam Motel
Cherokee, NC Photo courtesy Kevin Powers
Here's a photo of the Wigwam Motel in Cherokee, North Carolina.
This part of the Smoky Mountains is big on Indian themes. There is an
Indian casino as well as museum and plenty of opportunities to have your
picture taken with a chief. A small white sign out front says "We
are not high!" Hopefully, they meant the prices. Many thanks to Steve/Back on Tack for info.
The teepee-shaped neon marquee at Wigwam Motel gives motorists along U.S. 441 a recognizable welcome to Cherokee. Its colorful outline and prominent lettering belong to the imaginative roadside advertising that helped individual motels stand apart. For travelers approaching Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it became one more memorable sight before the highway climbed into the mountains. 11-98
James Morris, an early figure in Cherokee's tourism business, built the motel. Despite its name, guests stayed in conventional rooms rather than the concrete teepees associated with the separate Wigwam Village properties. Here, the theme appeared principally in the sign and neighboring gift-shop attractions, giving an otherwise traditional motor court a distinctive roadside identity.
Wigwam Motel
Cherokee, NC Photo courtesy Steve/Back on Tack
For years, the adjacent shop offered souvenir shopping and opportunities to pose beside decorative teepees. Those attractions connected the property with Cherokee's broader tourism trade, where lodging, crafts, and roadside displays often shared the same grounds. A smaller sign announcing “We Are Not High!” added another memorable detail, apparently reassuring passing motorists about the room rates.
UPDATE: Wigwam Motel and its associated craft shop continue to appear in local business listings, and the vintage teepee marquee survives beside the highway. The sign remains the property's best-known feature, preserving an older chapter of Cherokee's roadside tourism. Good to see this distinctive display still marking the route into the Smokies. 11-26
Budget Motel
Dillon, SC Photo courtesy Steve/Back on Tack
The Budget Motel with its pretty tall vertical neon marquee is
located on 301 in Dillon, South Carolina. It is just a few feet from South
of the Border. You can see one of their florescent billboards in the background. Many thanks to Steve/Back on Tack for info.
The motel occupies a corridor long associated with north–south vacation traffic. Before Interstate 95 became the preferred route, independent accommodations depended heavily on passing motorists and signs visible from a distance. Budget's vertical lettering follows that familiar approach, identifying a smaller lodging property near the North Carolina state line.
UPDATE: Budget Motel remains open, offering overnight and weekly accommodations near U.S. 301 and I-95. Its towering sign continues marking the property close to South of the Border. The combination preserves a recognizable piece of the area's older highway lodging landscape. 11-26
Pink Motel Cherokee, NC Photo courtesy Kevin Powers
The fairy waving her wand above Pink
Motel gives Cherokee one of its most whimsical roadside welcomes. Combined with the arrow, colorful lettering, and matching buildings, the sign makes the property's name part of the entire setting. Along U.S. 441, it is a particularly recognizable reminder of the years when independent motels competed with imaginative displays.
Lois Queen Farthing opened the motel in 1953. According to the family story, pink sheets helped prevent the laundry from mixing her linens with those from other properties. The color spread throughout the motel, appearing in its furnishings, bathrooms, and promotional material. What began as a practical distinction became an identity that visitors could recognize immediately.
Farthing's young daughter Lyna supplied the inspiration for the fairy after enjoying Disney's newly released Peter Pan. Behind the roadside display, the Oconaluftee River offered another attraction, with outdoor space where guests could picnic and relax beside the water. Pink-and-black bathroom tile added to the period appearance, carrying the color scheme inside as well as outside.
Pink Motel from 2010
Cherokee, NC Photo courtesy Don Milne
UPDATE: The Pink Motel is located on the Oconaluftee River on US- 441 in Cherokee, NC. It was still operating in April, 2010 with that beautiful pink sign. Many thanks to Don Milne http://www.roadtrip62.com for info. 10-13
UPDATE: The Pink Motel property and its familiar fairy sign survive, although its lodging arrangements have changed from the traditional nightly vacation business. The riverfront setting and pink buildings retain much of the identity established more than seventy years ago. The marquee remains a distinctive piece of Cherokee's roadside scenery, even as the property's use evolves. 11-26
Crystal River Tourist Court
Cave City, AR Photo courtesy Stewart Isbell
The roadside figure at Crystal River Tourist Court points toward an attraction with more beneath it than motorists might expect. Behind the sign stand historic stone cabins, while below the property lies the cave that helped give Cave City its name. 09-10
Established in 1934, the tourist camp combined overnight lodging with underground sightseeing. Its advertising promoted electric lights, an underground river, and a temperature of fifty-five degrees. The surviving buildings preserve an early Arkansas motor court, although overnight accommodations eventually ended and cave tours experienced several interruptions.
UPDATE: Tours returned in 2023 after roughly twenty years, followed by another reopening in July 2025 after tornado damage. Restoration of the historic sign was reported in August 2026. The cabins no longer house overnight guests, but the property continues introducing visitors to Cave City's underground history. 11-26
Candlelight Motel (Gone)
The Wigwam Motel
Wigwam Motel
Budget Motel
Crystal River Tourist Court
