THE ARCHIVE / Themes
Motels.
A motel announces itself twice: first to the moving driver, then to the arriving guest. In these photographs, compare the sign with the rooms behind it. A flamboyant promise can stand beside remarkably modest buildings. Margolies also recorded the quieter details—entrances, office windows and repeated doors—that turn a roadside stop into a temporary address. Follow a state or year filter to see how similar arrangements acquired different local identities.
979 photographs
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Motel Inn (1925) ("first motel"), horizontal view, Route 101, San Luis Obispo, California
Motel Inn ("first motel"), vertical view, Route 101, San Luis Obispo, California
Host Ways Motel office & symbol, East Haven, Connecticut
It'll Do Motel office, Jonesborough, Tennessee
Ann's Motel Office, Barre, Vermont
Rock Log Motel office, Glendive, Montana
Cozy Modern Cabins office, Manistique, Michigan
Cozy Northern Lights Motor Court office, Route 3, Bar Harbor, Maine
Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts, diagonal view from right, Route 90, Gulfport, Mississippi
Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts, diagonal view from left, Route 90, Gulfport, Mississippi
Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts, sharp diagonal view from left, Route 90, Gulfport, Mississippi
Motel 36 box car room units, Route 36, Somerville, Texas
Log Cabin Motel Office, San Leandro, California
Sioux Chief Train Motel, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Dog Bark Park, front view 1, Route 95, Cottonwood, Idaho
Dog Bark Park, rear view, Route 95, Cottonwood, Idaho
Dog Bark Park, Route 95, Cottonwood, Idaho
Wigwam Lodge, two teepee cabins, Tempe, Arizona
Wigwam Village #2, office teepee and several teepee cabins, Route 31W, Cave City, Kentucky
Wigwam Village #6, Route 66, Holbrook, Arizona
Pemi Motor Court, diagonal view 1, Route 3, North Woodstock, New Hampshire
Pemi Motor Court, one cabin, Route 3, North Woodstock, New Hampshire
Motel Crystal Pier, entrance, Pacific Beach, California
