Sunset Court at sunset

vintagemxr

A couple of miles from my home in Casa Grande, AZ, is the Sunset Court motor hotel, a left-over from the 1930's and similar to the many places along the more famous Route 66.

Closed now, the Sunset was still in operation, more or less, just a few years ago. I was out doing some general shooting and experimentation with my new Nikon D90 and decided to shoot around the remains of the old motel. My curiosity piqued, I did a web search later and came up with some photos of the place in it's glory days. See the last photos. Traveling across the US with my parents in the 1950s before the Interstate highway system I remember well stopping at such places for the night.

I hesitated to upload these because I don't think these are my best photos but I thought you guys might enjoy the "then and now" aspect of them as much as anything. Larger copies are on SM. I experiemented a lot with PP, converted to B&W from jpg or NEF. The 5th image is my favorite of the bunch but they are all a little soft at orginal size, I think. Guess I'm getting shaky in my old age and need to drag out the tripod!

Doug


1: the old Texaco station at the front.

2: front cabin on Highway 87

3: the deluxe cabin with TV!

4: the old wishing well.

five: the back cabins

6: cover parking. windows closed with corrugated steel.

"Built in 1930 by Gertrude and Earl Osborne, Sr., Sunset Court had the amenities that most every traveler wanted: comfort, convenience, cleanliness and cordial proprietors. Every season, the parks and flower beds put forth a grand display of colors to greet the travelers. Crisp, clean linens – fresh from the outdoor clothesline - provided another scent that delighted visitors."

Skippy

vintagemxr wrote:

A couple of miles from my home in Casa Grande, AZ, is the Sunset Court motor hotel, a left-over from the 1930's and similar to the many places along the more famous Route 66.

Closed now, the Sunset was still in operation, more or less, just a few years ago. I was out doing some general shooting and experimentation with my new Nikon D90 and decided to shoot around the remains of the old motel. My curiosity piqued, I did a web search later and came up with some photos of the place in it's glory days. See the last photos. Traveling across the US with my parents in the 1950s before the Interstate highway system I remember well stopping at such places for the night.

I hesitated to upload these because I don't think these are my best photos but I thought you guys might enjoy the "then and now" aspect of them as much as anything. Larger copies are on SM. I experiemented a lot with PP, converted to B&W from jpg or NEF. The 5th image is my favorite of the bunch but they are all a little soft at orginal size, I think. Guess I'm getting shaky in my old age and need to drag out the tripod!

Doug

1: the old Texaco station at the front.

2: front cabin on Highway 87
3: the deluxe cabin with TV!
4: the old wishing well.
five: the back cabins
6: cover parking. windows closed with corrugated steel.



"Built in 1930 by Gertrude and Earl Osborne, Sr., Sunset Court had the amenities that most every traveler wanted: comfort, convenience, cleanliness and cordial proprietors. Every season, the parks and flower beds put forth a grand display of colors to greet the travelers. Crisp, clean linens – fresh from the outdoor clothesline - provided another scent that delighted visitors."

Hi Doug, interesting time line sequence, sad to see these places go under.
The cabins look quite small.

The wishing well looks like it will stand for many more years to come.

Thank you for sharing this piece of history,
I enjoy these type of posts .... Skippy
.

vintagemxr

Skippy wrote:

Hi Doug, interesting time line sequence, sad to see these places go under.
The cabins look quite small.

The wishing well looks like it will stand for many more years to come.

Thank you for sharing this piece of history,
I enjoy these type of posts .... Skippy
.


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Thanks, Skippy. Glad you enjoyed the photos.

Doug

dlplumer

Hey Doug, you are just up the road from me. Nice series of photos and history

vintagemxr

dlplumer wrote:

Hey Doug, you are just up the road from me. Nice series of photos and history

Thanks, Dan. Yes, we're not that far apart. I've looked at many of your wildlife shots on DG and thought that I needed to get down that way to try my hand at shooting wildlife. Near here, Picacho Reservoir normally has an abundance of critters but at the moment it's as dry as a bone so the larger birds have wandered off for more suitable living quarters. I'm hoping with some rain this winter they might see fit to wander back.

Perhaps we can meet up one of these days for a shoot.

Doug