Along Chapman Avenue in Orange, the Angel Motel features a colorful marquee that deserves a second look. Its layered shapes and flowing lettering recall an older era of roadside lodging, when a distinctive sign helped travelers choose a place to spend the night.
Reportedly built in 1930, the motel began as a low-slung motor court long before freeways reshaped the drive through Orange County. Its single-story layout reflects those early roadside stops, with rooms close to the car rather than tucked inside a large hotel.
The arrival of the Orange Freeway changed the surroundings, leaving the Angel near the Chapman Avenue off-ramp. What began along a local travel corridor became a small reminder of the pre-freeway landscape beside a much busier road.
Later accounts describe considerable deterioration, sometimes calling it a “ghost motel.” That description refers to its rundown appearance rather than a documented haunting. The colorful marquee offered a more cheerful face to passing traffic.
UPDATE: The Angel Motel is on West Chapman Avenue, correcting the earlier Glassell Street location. Recent accounts mention room renovations, but the reported Motel 6 conversion has not been confirmed. 10-26
Americana Motel
Anaheim, CA Photo courtesy Georg Balandran
Check out the triangular marquee at the Americana Motel in Anaheim. Rising above Beach Boulevard, the sign had a shape that made it easy to pick out among the roadside businesses. When the neon lit up in full, there was even more reason to take another look.
Built in 1958, the 44-room motel joined the growing collection of overnight stops serving Orange County’s post-war automobile and tourism boom. Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm brought travelers to the area, and places like the Americana offered a room with a little roadside style out front.
The towering Googie marquee was a memorable part of the property, giving motorists something more distinctive than a simple vacancy sign. Nearby, the Silver Moon Motel added its own grinning neon face to the boulevard until its demolition in 2002.
Anaheim purchased the Americana property in 2018 as part of its effort to revitalize the Beach Boulevard corridor. By then, the motel had deteriorated considerably from its early years as a travelers’ stop.
UPDATE: The Americana Motel was demolished in October 2021. The city preserved its distinctive neon marquee during the demolition for future preservation efforts. The earlier update stating that the motel remained open was incorrect. 10-26
Anchor Inn Motel
Anaheim, CA Photo courtesy Georg Balandran
An anchor marks the spot at the Anchor Inn Motel in Anaheim. The tri-colored marquee carries the nautical theme out to the roadside, giving passing motorists something a little different to check out along East Lincoln Avenue.
Opened in 1957, the 20-room motel arrived just two years after Disneyland began welcoming visitors. Anaheim’s growing tourism trade brought more cars into town, and small motor courts like the Anchor offered budget-conscious travelers a convenient overnight stop.
The anchor helped distinguish this property from the other lodging choices along the road. Earlier photographs show that the marquee once had a different appearance, a reminder that even familiar roadside signs received a makeover as the years passed.
Unlike many of Anaheim’s mid-century motels, the Anchor avoided the wrecking ball. Its modest layout continues to recall the days when a room near the car and a distinctive sign out front were enough to get a traveler’s attention.
UPDATE: The Anchor Inn Motel remains in operation at 1538 E. Lincoln Avenue. Dating to 1957, it survives as a small reminder of Anaheim’s post-war motel boom. 10-26
Silver Moon Motel (Demolished)
Anaheim, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
When it comes to marquees, there are few better than the Silver
Moon Motel in Anaheim, CA. With its sign depicting a grinning "silver"
moon and large neon lettering, the Silver Moon is a Beach Boulevard landmark.
At least until the bulldozer got to it in 2002. Many thanks to Karen and others for original alert
on the Silver Moon demolition.
Opened in the late 1950s, the motel at 212 S. Beach Boulevard joined Anaheim’s growing collection of roadside lodging. Its Googie styling and Space Age sign fit right into an era when bold shapes helped catch the attention of vacationing families.
By 1960, postcards promoted the Silver Moon as a modern stop with a large heated swimming pool, television, tubs or full-tile showers, and selected suites with kitchens. Those comforts gave guests something to look forward to after a day on the road. For passing sign hunters, the smiling moon was reason enough to check out the place.
Silver Moon Motel (Demolished)
Anaheim, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The motel later deteriorated as travel patterns and the boulevard changed. Anaheim acquired and demolished it in 2002, beginning what would become a much longer effort to redevelop older motel properties along Beach Boulevard.
UPDATE: The Silver Moon Motel was demolished in 2002, but city workers saved its neon marquee. After twenty years in municipal storage, Anaheim donated the sign to the Museum of Neon Art in 2022. The rooms are gone, though the grinning moon escaped the bulldozer. 10-26
Angel Motel
Americana Motel
