Trava-Leers Motel
Tempe, AZ Photo courtesy Tony Craig
Rolling east from Tempe along Apache Boulevard, the road becomes Main Street and passes the Trava-Leers Motel in Mesa. Its big roadside sign looks like a product of the 1960s or 1970s, with chunky lettering and a large red arrow slicing through the cabinet to point travelers toward the driveway.
Look closely and the sign actually spells the name “Trava-Leers,” with an extra “e,” although the motel is usually listed as Travelers Motel. Whether this was intentional or simply a mistake is unknown, but it gives the sign a little extra roadside character.
Main Street follows the old route of U.S. 60, once shared here by U.S. 70, U.S. 80, and U.S. 89. The motel was originally listed as being in Tempe, probably because the road is a continuation of Apache Boulevard, but it actually sits within Mesa. Today, Valley Metro light-rail trains pass the same sign that once greeted highway travelers arriving by automobile.
UPDATE: The Trava-Leers remains open in Mesa, and its vintage roadside sign still stands. The current condition of its lighting is unknown. 09-26
Plainsman Motel
Mesa, AZ Photo courtesy Tony Craig
Here is another great old motel sign from the days when West Main Street was lined with places to spend the night. The Plainsman Motel marquee has a Western look, big lettering, an arrow aimed toward the rooms, and plenty of neon wrapped around its oddly shaped panels.
The motel was built in 1948 as the Franklin Motel and became the Plainsman during the 1950s or 1960s. Its later sign was designed by James Dix of the Young Electric Sign Company, better known as YESCO, the company responsible for countless neon landmarks across the West.
The sign does look a little like the famous Plainsman Restaurant sign in Holbrook, although the two were unrelated. Holbrook’s version featured a towering rifle and cowboy figure, while the Mesa sign took the more practical motel approach with arrows and a readerboard. Both were made to catch drivers traveling Arizona’s old highways.
UPDATE: The Plainsman Motel remains in operation as budget lodging. 09-26
Circle RB Lodge & RV Park (Closed)
Mesa, AZ Photo courtesy Tony Craig
The cowboy swinging a glowing lasso makes the Circle RB Lodge & RV Park sign one of the more memorable sights along East Main Street in Mesa. His rope forms a circle around the “RB,” turning the motel’s name into a complete piece of Western neon art.
The property opened in 1956 along the old Apache Trail and U.S. Highway 60 corridor. It combined traditional motel rooms with trailer and RV spaces, giving both automobile travelers and longer-term visitors a place to stop.
Western-themed signs were common across Arizona, but this one went beyond a painted cowboy or simple horseshoe. The rancher, rope, circle, and lettering were all designed to work together in neon. When fully illuminated, the cowboy appeared to be performing his trick above the highway.
The Circle RB stood on the eastern side of Mesa during the years when Main Street carried travelers toward Apache Junction, Globe, and the mountains beyond. A colorful cowboy sign was a good way to grab attention before motorists continued down the road.
Circle RB Lodge & RV Park
Mesa, AZ Photo courtesy Tony Craig
Over time, the property became less of a traditional roadside motel and more of a residential and RV community. Its old rooms and spaces eventually ceased regular commercial operation as plans emerged for another use.
A close up view of the RB Lodge Motel sign
UPDATE: The former Circle RB property is being redeveloped as Freedom Pointe, a supportive housing community planned with 58 modular units for military veterans. The landmark cowboy-and-lasso sign remains standing along East Main Street, although its current neon operation is uncertain. 09-26
Copa Inn (Demolished)
Phoenix, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The large sign outside the Copa Inn was one of the many roadside marquees competing for attention along East Van Buren Street. By the motel’s later years, the sign openly advertised adult movies along with its rooms.
The Copa Inn stood at 2834 East Van Buren Street, directly on the old highway corridor carrying U.S. Routes 60, 70, 80, 89, and 93 through Phoenix. Vintage postcards from the 1960s promoted that busy location to cross-country motorists.
When the interstate freeways redirected travelers away from Van Buren, the motel strip began a long decline. Properties that once catered to families and vacationers increasingly turned to weekly rentals, hourly rooms, and the adult trade to stay in business.
Copa Inn (Demolished)
Phoenix, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The Copa Inn’s sign became a very different kind of roadside advertisement from the swimming pools, refrigerated air, and family rates promoted during Van Buren’s tourist years. It was another sign of how much the old highway strip had changed.
UPDATE: The Copa Inn off of East Van Buren was demolished in 2007. Another of Van Buren's roadside motel treasures is now history. 12-08
UPDATE: The Copa Inn was demolished in 2007 after years of decline. Its large roadside marquee was removed with the motel and does not appear to have been preserved. 09-26
Sun Land Motel
Tucson, AZ Photo courtesy Bob Jagendorf
A city with as much sunshine as Tucson deserves a motel named the Sun
Land Motel. Its glowing red-and-yellow sign looked right at home along Miracle Mile, especially after dark when the neon outlines came alive.
The motel is often said to have opened in 1949, although county and historic-district records date the present motor court to 1952. Either way, the Sun Land belongs to Tucson’s great postwar motel era.
Its bright name and fiery neon colors were well suited for attracting winter visitors escaping colder parts of the country. A sign promising a sunny desert stay probably looked especially good to travelers who had left snow and ice behind.
Old postcards and matchbooks advertised air-conditioned rooms, telephones, vacancies, and a swimming pool. Those amenities gave motorists plenty of reasons to stop while traveling along U.S. Routes 80 and 89.
Sun Land Motel
Tucson, AZ Photo courtesy Bob Jagendorf
The opening of the interstate eventually took much of the tourist traffic away from Miracle Mile. Like several surviving motels along the strip, the Sun Land began offering weekly and extended-stay rates to keep its rooms occupied.
The motel sign has a neon look to it and is one of the gems located along Tucson's Miracle Mile.
UPDATE: The Sun Land Motel remains open at 465 West Miracle Mile as a budget and extended-stay property. Its landmark neon sign still stands, although portions of the lighting may no longer operate consistently. 09-26
Trava-Leers Motel
Plainsman Motel
Circle RB Lodge & RV Park (Closed)
Circle RB Lodge & RV Park
Copa Inn (Demolished)
Copa Inn (Demolished)
