Grandview Motel

A few weeks ago (back here), I mentioned my fascination with the Mom & Pop motels along US Route 6 (West Erie Avenue) on the western approach to the city. I guess you can attribute it to my fondness for the heyday of American automobile travel, back in the 1950's and 1960's.

Here's another one of those local motels that is still in business: the Parkview Motel, which is located just west of the undercut where Route 611 meets West Erie. It has gone through several name changes over the decades, but for most of those years it was known as the Grandview Motel.

The Grandview Motel first appeared in the Lorain phone book in 1949 as Grandview Court, and listed its address as W. Lake and Fullmer Roads.

It's interesting that motels were originally called 'motor courts' or 'motor lodges'. Anyway, Grandview Court quickly became Grandview Motel in the phone book in 1951.

Here's a postcard from the early days.

As the years went by, there seemed to be several owners. Later, the buildings received a makeover of sorts as shown in this newer postcard.

The makeover included a new paint job and the addition of large MOTEL signs on the roof at both ends of the building.

Here's a 1963 phone book ad that corresponds with the new look.

The Grandview Motel briefly became the Lakeview Motel around 1989, before settling in with its current name, the Parkview Motel, sometime in the late 1990's.

And here's how it looks today, photographed from the former Garwell's parking lot.

With the Ohio Turnpike and Route 2 siphoning off most of the east-west traffic, things are a lot slower on US Route 6 these days. But it's good to see that apparently there are still enough travelers and customers to keep the Parkview Motel open for business in the new millennium.