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Tarrymore Motel (Gone)
Jackson, MS
Photo courtesy Tony Craig

Cruising along old Highway 80, the vintage sign for the Tarrymore Motel is the kind of thing that makes you glance twice. The arrow still points the way, even if it's hard to tell whether the sign ever lit up or had been dark for years by the time this photo was taken. Either way, it has all the character of a classic roadside motel sign.

The Tarrymore welcomed travelers along one of Jackson's busiest highway corridors for many years and even had Johnny's Restaurant nearby for folks looking to grab a bite before settling in for the night. By the early 2000s the motel was nearing the end of its run, and today it serves as another reminder of the days when Highway 80 was lined with independent motels competing for passing motorists.

UPDATE: The motel has long been abandoned, and the vintage roadside sign is long gone. 08-26

Motel Sign
AR
Photo courtesy Stewart Isbell

A tall billboard and directional arrow advertised this unidentified Arkansas Motel, with a row of small cabins set back from the highway. The arrangement gave travelers a straightforward invitation to turn in, while the separate buildings offered the appearance of a traditional tourist court.

Cabin-style accommodations were an important stage between automobile camps and the connected motel buildings that followed. This property's individual units and prominent roadside advertisement reflect that older approach to lodging. Without a confirmed name or location, the visible layout provides the most useful clues to its history.

UPDATE: The property's later history has not been traced. This view preserves both the simple billboard and the cabins it advertised, recording a smaller roadside establishment that might otherwise have left little documentation. Its appeal rests in that uncomplicated combination of a sign, a driveway, and rooms waiting beyond the road.

King Motel (Gone)
Little Rock, AR
Photo courtesy Stewart Isbell

A swimming pool and prominent roadside sign helped King Motel attract motorists along Little Rock's New Benton Highway. The property advertised thirty rooms, including family accommodations, giving travelers several reasons to consider stopping before continuing through Arkansas.

Vintage promotional material listed air conditioning, room telephones, television, wall-to-wall carpeting, and room service. A restaurant completed the offering, while AAA approval supplied another reassurance for unfamiliar guests. The advertising identified Mr. and Mrs. G. B. King as owners and Tommy King as manager, giving the motel's name a direct family connection.

UPDATE: King Motel has closed, and its vintage roadside sign is gone. The former advertisement records a property that offered considerably more than a basic bed beside the highway. Its pool, restaurant, and room amenities capture what independent motel owners promoted during the busy years of automobile travel. 11-26

Warrior Motel (Gone)
Whittier, NC
Photo courtesy Steve/Back on Tack

By all accounts, it looks like the Warrior Motel in Whittier, NC has gotten the chop. A drive through the parking lot revealed vacant motel rooms and a registration office that had become a ghost rider in the sky. Hopefully, the classic motel along US 19 is just undergoing renovations. When its majestic sign was lit, the Indian yielded a neon tomahawk that bobbed up and down. Many thanks to Steve/Back on Tack for info.

Jimmy Colville built the motel around 1960, adding to his other lodging and restaurant businesses in the area. The property advertised the “largest guest pool” in the Smoky Mountains, pairing an eye-catching attraction outside with another selling point inside the grounds. Its towering mascot became a particularly recognizable part of the local tourist corridor.

UPDATE: Warrior Motel closed in 2009, but the sign remained for another fifteen years. It was sold and removed in summer 2024, ending its long presence beside U.S. 19. The removal took away one of the Smokies' most distinctive animated motel advertisements. 11-26

Lookout Lodge (Demolished)
Chattanooga, TN
Photo courtesy Tony Craig

The weathered sign at Lookout Mountain Tourist Lodge advertised Beautyrest mattresses and free television to motorists along Cummings Highway. Later known simply as Lookout Lodge, the property occupied a convenient approach to Lookout Mountain's attractions before years of vacancy gave its buildings an eerie appearance.

Dating to the 1940s, the lodge stood on ground crossed by troops during the November 1863 Battle of Lookout Mountain. That connection eventually determined the property's future. The American Battlefield Trust acquired the site to restore part of the battlefield, replacing the abandoned motel grounds with open space.

UPDATE: The lodge was demolished in June 2023, and the land was cleared and sodded. Fortunately, the Trust retained the mid-century sign featuring a rider on horseback, although its eventual display had not been decided. The motel disappeared, but its unusual roadside advertisement was spared during the battlefield restoration. 11-26

Etowah Motel (Demolished)
Etowah, TN
Photo courtesy Tony Craig

Faded aqua panels, distinctive lettering, and a pointed spire gave Etowah Motel a memorable marquee along U.S. 411. Even in its weathered condition, the sign retained enough mid-century character to distinguish the former property from newer businesses nearby.

The motel combined overnight accommodations with a restaurant, offering travelers a convenient stop along Tennessee Avenue. Its stone office and roadside display survived beyond much of the lodging operation, preserving the outline of a business that once depended on highway traffic. For a time, those remnants provided the clearest indication of what had stood behind them.

UPDATE: Local reporting recorded demolition at the old motel in July 2012. The guest buildings disappeared, and the vintage marquee was subsequently removed. The sign had outlasted much of the business, but its departure ended another chapter of Etowah's roadside lodging history. 11-26

Birmingham Motel (Gone)
Birmingham, AL
Photo courtesy Tony Craig

The diving woman above Motel Birmingham advertised one of the most appealing extras a roadside property could offer: a swimming pool. Standing along U.S. 78 near the Eastwood area, the marquee gave travelers a recognizable landmark beyond the motel's name.

Opened in the mid-1950s, the property served motorists arriving during Birmingham's expanding automobile-travel years. Its diving figure belonged to a popular advertising tradition that communicated recreation at a glance. In 2006, the business became Delux Inn & Suites, and alterations to the upper sign changed its familiar appearance.

UPDATE: The former motel has been converted into housing, and the vintage roadside display has been removed. The property found another use, but the diving woman no longer marks the entrance. Earlier views preserve a distinctive advertisement from Birmingham's independent motel era. 11-26