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.
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Teepees, Teepee Motel, Wharton, Texas
Heart's Desire Motel sign, Route 19A, Dunedin, Florida
Coachman Motel sign, Route 1A, Thermopolis, Wyoming
Hi Lo Motel sign, Route 26, Riverton, Wyoming
Melba Motor Court sign, Route29 & 70, Spencer, North Carolina
Romany Motel Courts sign, Route 29., Charlotte, North Carolina
Ancrest Motel sign, Route 29, Charlotte, North Carolina
Chief Motel sign, Route 19, Cherokee, North Carolina
Sedgefield Motel B&B, Routes 29A & 70A, Greensboro, North Carolina
Neill's Motel sign, Route 99, Junction City, Oregon
Pioneer Motel sign, Route 30, Kearney, Nebraska
Red Wood Motel sign, Route 6, Hastings, Nebraska
Chieftain Motel sign, Route 30, Ogallala, Nebraska
Lazy KT Motel sign, 1st Avenue North, Billings, Montana
Beach Carousel Motel sign, Virginia Beach, Virginia
Hitching Post Motel sign, Route 11, Roanoke, Virginia
Palms Motel sign, Royal Oak, Michigan
Lariat Motel sign, Route 50, Fallon, Nevada
Colonial Motel statue, Sunny Isles, A-1A, North Miami Beach, Florida
El Rancho Motel sign, Boulder City, Nevada
Central Motel sign, Idaho Street, Elko, Nevada
Frolics Motel sign, Route 1, Miami, Florida
Center Motel sign, Route 19, Clearwater, Florida
