Dutch Village Motor Court
Northern Delaware’s Mid-Megalopolitan location between Philadelphia and Baltimore helped make its section of US 40 a motel strip, especially after the opening of the Delaware Memorial Bridge to New Jersey in 1951.
At that time, Massachusetts-based Howard Johnson’s was the most popular roadside chain restaurant in the East, so popular in fact that motels would open next door knowing the HoJo’s lot would be filled at dinner time with travelers who would then look for a place to stay for the night.
This postcard view shows the orange-roofed Dutch Village Motor Court nearly surrounding one of Howard Johnson’s stock Georgian Revival units. Realizing the pirated opportunity, Howard Johnson’s expanded into the motel business in 1954.
See related article.