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
169–192 / 979
Jet Motel sign, B-90, Moses Lake, Washington
Gem Motel sign, B-90, Moses Lake, Washington
Hills Motor Court sign, Alexandria Bay, New York
Pine Crest Motel sign, Route 5, New Hartford, New York
Windmill Motor Inn sign, Route 37, Morristown, New York
Lake View Motel sign, Route 7, Shelburne, Vermont
Saugus Pines Motor Court sign, Route 1, Saugus, Massachusetts
Pine Tree Motor Court, Route 20, Wilbraham, Massachusetts
Siesta Motel sign, Route 1, Saugus, Massachusetts
Chief Motel sign, Route 2, Mohawk Trail, North Adams, Massachusetts
Totem Motel sign, Route 15B, Shelby, Montana
Rainbow Motel sign, B-90, Livingston, Montana
Bel Aire Motel sign, Broadway, Missoula, Montana
Bee Motel sign, Route 2, Havre, Montana
Rock Lodge Motel sign, Merrill Avenue, Glendive, Montana
Palomar Motel, Shreveport, Louisiana
Old motel, West Monroe, Louisiana
Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts, Shreveport, Louisiana
Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts, Shreveport, Louisiana
Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts, Shreveport, Louisiana
Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts, Shreveport, Louisiana
Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts, Shreveport, Louisiana
Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts, Savannah, Georgia
