Mayflower Motel (Gone)
Phoenix, AZ Photo courtesy Elgin MacMillan
This sign is located along E. Van Buren in Phoenix, just kiddy corner from
Bill Johnson's Original Big Apple Restaurant.
Not quite sure what the name or type of business that was once a this
location, but this sign is still rather eye-catching. Many thanks to Elgin MacMillanfor info. 10-05
The sign was later identified as belonging to the Mayflower Motel, also known as the Mayflower Motel & Apartments. The property operated during the 1950s and 1960s, offering a mixture of overnight motel rooms and longer-term apartment accommodations.
The Mayflower was part of the long motel row that served travelers following U.S. Routes 60, 70, and 80 through Phoenix. Its location across from Bill Johnson’s placed it near one of the liveliest stops on Van Buren, where diners once found sawdust on the floor, pistol-packing waitresses, and country music playing near the old radio broadcast stage.
Mayflower Motel
Phoenix, AZ Photo courtesy Elgin MacMillan
By the time this photograph was taken, the Mayflower name and neon had already been stripped from the marquee. The empty metal shell remained beside the road for several more years, looking like a sign waiting for a business that was never coming back.
UPDATE: The former name of this motel is the Mayflower Motel. According to the website on old Phoenix, this now blank sign may have also been showing off the home of a prior motel. 12-08
UPDATE: The mystery sign was confirmed as the former Mayflower Motel marquee. The motel, apartments, and blank sign were subsequently demolished and removed. Bill Johnson’s Original Big Apple across the street closed in 2015 and is also gone, leaving both corners without their familiar roadside eye-catching landmarks. 08-26
Torch Lite Lodge
Yuma, AZ Photo courtesy Bill Herzog
The Torch Lite Lodge is another vintage motel survivor along Yuma’s South Fourth Avenue. Its roadside marquee and sharp A-frame office make the place easy to recognize, while the “Bubba’s” lettering adds a little local flavor. Grab a hearty meal, then settle into a room. How does that rate? 12-06
The 39-room motor court belongs to the days when Fourth Avenue offered travelers a lineup of independent motels, swimming pools, and glowing signs. Its rooms surround a courtyard pool, with parking nearby and laundry facilities for longer stays. The steep office roof provided another way to catch motorists before they reached the next vacancy sign.
Grab a hearty meal at Bubba's then spend then night at the Torch Lite. How does that rate?
UPDATE: Here are more photos of the Torch Lite Lodge in Yuma, Arizona. This old roadside motel with the A-frame architecture still stands and is still in business along S. 4th Avenue. 11-20
UPDATE: The Torch Lite Lodge remains open, retaining its A-frame office, courtyard pool, and roadside marquee. It has also been advertised as Bubba’s Torch Lite Lodge over the years. Whatever name appears on the reservation, that pointed roof still gives this old Yuma stop plenty of roadside personality. 11-26
Torch Lite Lodge
Yuma, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Torch Lite Lodge
Yuma, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Moonlight Motel (Rem.)
Coolidge, AZ Photo courtesy Gorb70
Check out the crown above the Moonlight Motel sign in Coolidge. What royalty had to do with moonlight was anyone’s guess, but the combination certainly caught the eye. Apparently, the sign had kept a souvenir from an earlier chapter. 03-06
The property reportedly operated as an Imperial Motel before becoming the Moonlight, explaining the royal decoration. Built in 1952, the small motor court served travelers along Arizona Boulevard and State Route 87. A replacement panel updated the name while leaving the crown perched above it, giving the newer lettering an unusually grand introduction.
UPDATE: The Moonlight remains a small budget and extended-stay property, but the crown seen here disappeared years ago. Its low-rise rooms and parking-area layout survive, although the marquee has lost much of its earlier character. The motel kept going, but its royal treatment did not. 11-26
Tropicana Motel (Closed)
Yuma, AZ Postcard courtesy Bill Herzog
Opened in 1958, the Tropicana offered the roadside comforts travelers expected during the period, including kitchenettes, color television, low rates, and a swimming pool. The tropical name and neon palm tree probably looked especially inviting after a long drive through the desert.
The old motel marquee had featured neon at one time not to mention low rates, kitchenettes and a working pool.
Tropicana Motel (Closed) - 1999
Yuma, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The motel was part of the busy 4th Avenue lodging strip, where independent motor courts competed for travelers with colorful signs and promises of refrigerated air. Although the Tropicana’s buildings were fairly simple, that big palm-tree marquee gave the place plenty of roadside presence.
UPDATE: The Tropicana Motel is closed and no longer rents rooms. Its roadside sign structure survives, but the neon palm tree and other tubing were removed and the colorful sign face repainted. The current use of the former motel rooms is uncertain. 08-26
UPDATE: The Tropicana Motel is also along S. 4th Avenue in Yuma, Arizona. The motel is now permanently closed. Word is the motel opened its doors back in 1958 as a popular roadside motel on Yuma's main drag. 11-20
Mayflower Motel (Gone)
Mayflower Motel
Moonlight Motel (Rem.)
