You wouldn't know it when driving around Toronto these days, but the city and its surrounding areas used to be well populated by motels. Two areas in particular were hotbeds for these humble accommodations: Kingston Rd. in Scarborough and Lakeshore Rd. in Etobicoke (use of the "Lake Shore Boulevard" designation came after the heyday of these motels).
Along with these two suburban motel strips, at various points in the past one might have also encountered a collection of motels around the airport, immediately north of the city on Yonge St., and even at 415 Jarvis St., where the Four Seasons Motor Hotel gave birth to what would eventually become a luxury hotel chain with global reach back in 1961.
Most people who've lived in the city for more than a decade have encountered the last remains of motel culture in Toronto. You can still spot a few that remain spread along Kingston Rd. from Brimley Rd. through to West Hill, including the iconic Hav-A-Nap Motel, which announces what's left of the strip when approaching from the west.
The last of the Lake Shore motels were finally demolished in 2012 to make way for massive condo development along the western waterfront, drawing a conclusion to a history with origins that stretch back to the late 1910s when the first tourist camps were erected in Etobicoke. Yes, the rise of the motel dates all the way back to popularization of the automobile.
The decline of the motor court in Toronto begins shortly after most of the photos and postcards below were printed. Havens for cheap accommodation and lakeside leisure in the '50s and '60s, with the rise of the 401 and the QEW, tourists were gradually led off of Highway 2. The car gave birth to the motel, but the interstate and superhighway eventually killed it.
There are other reasons, of course, not the least of which was the rise of major corporate chains. Mom-and-pop businesses on secondary roads just couldn't compete. Outdoor swimming pools, once such a draw, lost most of their allure when they become common in suburban homes.
From the 1980s on, Toronto's motels became progressively more seedy. Those that remain are often rented by the month, and on occasion used by the city of Toronto as makeshift homeless shelters. The handful that still dot Scarborough will be gone in a decade.
Even as these structures slowly fade from the landscape, evidence of their former existence can, however, be spotted everywhere. The non-architecture of suburban box stores, strip plazas, and gas stations all trace their origins to the humble motor court, where a blazing neon sign was always more important that an ostentatious building.
In a sprawling city like Toronto, where so much happens outside of the most dense areas, the motel continues to leave its mark on our urban geography -- for better or worse.
PHOTOS
Etobicoke tourist camp ca. 1918
Pine Court, Auto Court in West Hill (Scarborough), 1948
Log Cabin Auto Court in West Hill, 1950s
Arcadian Cabins on Kingston Rd., 1950s
Coronation Cabins on Lakeshore Rd., 1950s
Motel Alda on Highway 2
Casa Loma Motel on Lakeshore Rd.
Trans Canada Motel on Lakeshore Rd., 1950s
The Dutch Sisters Motel & Restaurant on Lakeshore Rd.
Rainbow Motel on Lakeshore Rd., 1960s
The Lakeshore motel strip in the 1960s
Scarboro Motel postcard ca. 1950s
Universal Motel postcard ca. 1950s
Montoro Motel on Kingston Rd., 1950s
White Swan Motel on Lakeshore Rd., 1960s
Four Seasons Motor Hotel on Jarvis St., 1961
Merry Macs Motel, Kingston Rd. and Lawrence area
Plaza Motel, 4585 Kingston Rd.
LA Plaza Motel on Highway 27
Chancellor Motel on Lakeshore Rd.
Canadianna Motel on Lakeshore Rd.
Sunshine Motor Court on Lakeshore Rd. mid 1960s
Looking east along Lakeshore from Park Lawn in 1966 (motel strip in background)
North American Motel on Lakeshore Rd.
West Point Motel in Mimico ca. 1965
Avion Motel on Airport Rd.
Andrews Motel on Kingston Rd. (demolished last summer)
King St. Travelodge in 2009
The Shore Breeze on the eve of destruction
For more motel nostalgia and thoughts on the slow fade of these humble structures from the urban landscape, check out Motel Register.
Lots of gratitude goes to the various sources of theses photos, which include Andrew Williamson (lead), Chuckman's blog, the Vintage Toronto Facebook group, Patrick Cummins, Rick McGinnis, and the Toronto Archives.
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