Harbor View Motel Part 1

Since the early 1980s, I’ve been commuting to Cleveland each day. During most of those years, my trip to work has been on U.S. Route 6 – either by bus or in my own car. I’ve seen a lot of change along the highway during those decades, and watched the old roadside landmarks of yesteryear slowly disappear.

One of those landmarks was the Harbor View Motel in Rocky River. It was located on Route 6 a little east of Clague Road, and right next door to Bradstreet’s Landing.

The above vintage postcard shows the motel and two of its rooms.

You couldn’t see the motel from the highway, but it had this great sign out front to draw in the tourists (below).

(Dan Brady photo)

The back of the vintage postcard (published by the Ingall Studio in Findlay, Ohio) reads, “Greater Cleveland’s only Lake Front Motel. 15 minutes West of Cleveland, Ohio on U. S. 6 & State Route 2. Beautiful Rooms with Tub & Shower. Air Conditioning - Central Heating, Individually Controlled. Most Friendly Atmosphere. Phone ED-1-9440.”

I could only find one mention of the motel online – an ad in the East Liverpool Evening Review of July 8, 1957. The ad mentioned swimming, fishing, and boating from the motel's sandy beach.

The motel was still fairly new at that point. Using the resources of www.historicaerials.com, I determined that it was built after 1955.

Anyway, after driving by the motel for years, I decided that I wanted to spend a night there before it eventually closed. So in the early 1990s, I hornswoggled the spouse into doing exactly that.

In tomorrow's post, I'll tell you about our stay, and what the property looks like today.