My recent trip back “home” to the Philly area included a detour to one of my favorite childhood haunts, Valley Forge. It was the site of the Continental Army's challenging 1777-1778 winter encampment and known as the birthplace of the professional American military, where George Washington’s rag-tag soldiers morphed into a victorious fighting force in the Revolutionary War. At the edge of the now National Historical Park lies the Valley Forge Motor Court motel, as seen in this August 1959 image.
The Valley Forge Motor Court Motel is a classic mid-century roadside motel built around 1958 to accommodate visitors drawn to the area’s historical attractions and the nearby entertainment venue, The Valley Forge Music Fair (another story altogether). Below is a Google image of how the motel looks today.
In the below August 1961 shot you can see the neon sign that still stands out in my memory:
Meant to represent one of Washington’s soldiers, I don’t recall if the neon was still working at the time I was growing up. I have doubts that I ever saw it lit. I hope the sign survived, but my guess is that it ended up in a landfill.
Another Google image below shows how bland the property looks now, especially the sign. It seems that the stone base of the sign is the original one, as the stonework matches.
Interestingly enough, according to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission's fifty-year standard, the motor court officially qualifies as a historic property. However, despite meeting the age threshold, the structure lacks formal historic preservation protection, leading to ongoing local debates over whether to demolish the single-story motel for new multi-story hotel and senior living developments. I could make a guess as to which option would prevail, but that would just reveal my cynicism. In happier days, the Motor Court looked like this, as seen in a vintage postcard found on eBay:
They even had matchbooks!
If the tar and nicotine on the wall could only talk…
See more Valley Forge photos at my main website.
