SAAC Presents:
Connecticut Vintage Roadside Scenes-
Greg Mattesen's Visit to the "USA Motel," Berlin
Turnpike, Newington, CT, July 2004
(This page created 1/16/2005)
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Our
long-time old car friend Greg Mattesen wrote a note to us this
past fall, dated 9/3/04, and enclosed some interesting photos of
his beautiful white 1964 Volkswagen Beetle posing by a historic
roadside sign that, as last known, still stands on the old Berlin
Turnpike (CT Route 5/15), in Newington, Connecticut. This road
was a major north-south thoroghfare back in the days before
Interstate 91, and had many interesting old roadside motels and
eateries--most of which have long since disappeared...replaced by
big box stores and trendy restaurants. Quoting from the
applicable section of Greg's handwritten note:
"...I thought you'd enjoy the
enclosed photos. They were taken at the USA Motel on the Berlin
Turnpike. As part of my interest in old roadside architecture, I
love vintage neon signs. This one's been on the Turnpike since
the '40s. It's got to be one of the only surviving remnants of
the strip from that era. Incredibly, the guy who owns the motel
told me he might replace it soon. I'd hate to see it go. I'm glad
I finally got the opportunity to photograph the sign at
night..."
After reading Greg's note, I decided to see what
else might be able to found out about the USA Motel, by doing an
internet search. The first reference was found on a fantastic old
roadside signs reference page called "Super Signage,"
which is located at: http://www.agilitynut.com/signs2.html
(and the URL of the actual image is: http://www.agilitynut.com/p/usa904.jpg
- a reduced version of the image is presented at the upper right).
Make sure you go and visit the Super Signage page
to learn more about this unique & historic sign, and we also
strongly suggest visiting the creator's main page: "Roadside
Architecture," which is located at: http://www.agilitynut.com/roadside.html,where
you'll spend hours enjoying all sorts of old Roadside images and
descriptions.
Not much else mentioned about the USA Motel,
though, in my January 2005 internet search--couldn't even find a
street address or a phone listing--making me wonder if it's still
even in business? A lot more scanning of internet search engine
results, however, turned up one interesting mention of the USA
motel, on this Hartford Advocate "Bad Boys" page:
http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid:88178
- what do you think of that?!
It was a lot of fun learning more about this most
unique bit of historic Connecticut Roadside culture and we wish
to extend our sincere thanks to Greg Mattesen for sharing his
insights and knowledge with us!
Now, on to Greg's images...
BELOW: Greg's handwritten caption on the back of
this photo read: "'64 VW @ USA Motel, Berlin
Turnpike, Newington, CT, 7/04"
BELOW: And this was the other shot that Greg
enclosed--the caption on the back read: "'64 VW @
USA Motel, Berlin Turnpike, Rts 5/15, Newington, CT, 7/04"
BELOW: And for a very special treat, another
mutual old car friend of ours, Bill Silvestri did some
"photo magic" with the above image, applying an effect
called "Water Colors," which really yields even more of
an "old-timey" feel to the image. Nice work Bill!
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