Mount Vernon Motel (now Americas Best Value Inn)
c. 1950, Mount Vernon Motel.
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2019 Note: This Mount Vernon-themed motel opened next door to a now-demolished Howard Johnson’s (580 Columbia Turnpike). As Justin Gunther wrote in his article, “Mount Vernon: An Architectural Identity,” in the Fall 2006 issue of the SCA Journal, this was a common practice between the late 1940 and early 1950s, as motel owners associated their brands with the popular restaurants. Taking note, Howard Johnson’s opened its first branded motor lodge in 1954 in Savannah, Georgia.
Janet Witbeck, left, takes a photo of her mom, Mabel Witbeck, 92, of East Greenbush, as crews work to demolish a building along Routes 9 and 20 on Wednesday, June 1, 2016, in East Greenbush, N.Y. The building was originally a Howard Johnson’s and then it was the Weathervane and then Fisherman’s Cove. Mabel, who was born and raised in East Greenbush, grew up in a home just across the street and watched as the Howard Johnson’s was built. Mabel held her 1946 wedding reception in the Pine Room of the Howard Johnson’s, the section of the building on the right. Paul Buckowski / Times Union