Vintage Postcard – La Mar Motel – St. Petersburg

La Mar Motel
8840 Fourth Street North, St. Petersburg, Florida
All tile baths, automatic heat, instant hot water, air conditioning optional, Glamor [sic] rest beds. Convenient to restaurants, dog races, Sunken Gardens, fishing docks, Million Dollar Pier, etc.
Overnight and efficiencies — Reasonable
Mr. and Mrs. John Greenwalt, Managers

Genuine Natural Color Made by Dexter Press, Inc., West Nyack, N.Y.
Pub. by Florida Photo Products
St. Petersburg Beach, Florida
71809

This lovely vintage postcard was mailed January 9, 1956 using a red two cent Jefferson stamp. It was mailed to Mr & Mrs. J.H. Baker, Bon Aire Motel, Dixon Ill. It reads:

We are having a grand time & enjoying the scenery & nice weather. Dick enjoyed the trip & returned to camp last Wed night. Will be back Feb. 7th. Still don’t know where [?] goes. Mrs. Price

You’ll be surprised to know that the old building still stands, though the roof-line has changed and the porch on the long portion of the ‘L’ has been filled in. Look at the front section of this photo (Google Street View), and you can see the original hipped roof incorporated into the new line:

I found a listing in the 1955 city directory for John and Ruth Greenwalt at this address. John and Ruth moved to St. Petersburg from Centralia, Ill in 1950. He was a mechanic, served in WWII, and for a time, they managed this little motel. Ruth passed away in 1982 and John died in 2001.

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