top of page

Tiny Tavern Auto Court (Site)

GPS Coordinates: 38.7562432, -77.0842485
Closest Address: 7412 Richmond Highway, Alexandria, VA 22306

Tiny Tavern Auto Court (Site)

These coordinates mark the exact spot where the motel once stood. Today, no visible remains exist.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

Here follows an excerpt from Chris Barbuschak's presentation, "The History of Motels on Route 1 in Fairfax County" on behalf of the Mount Vernon Regional Historical Society:

When the MVRHS first asked me to talk about motels, I thought there's probably 20 tops on Route 1. Boy was I wrong, there are 62! So, a little context about hotels and motels on Richmond Highway. Route 1 is over 2,400 miles long. It's known as America's first main street and it stretches from Maine to Florida and its chock full of mom and pop shacks and businesses, diners, fortune tellers, truck stops and motels. U.S. Route 1 between Washington and Fredericksburg more or less followed the Potomac Path, which was a Native American route along the Potomac River. And when the Europeans came and settled it, they chose the shortest route along the bank of the Potomac as well.

In 1918, the state designated State Route One, which is part of the old Jefferson Davis Highway, and it was called SR1 in 1923. It became State Route 30 in 1926. In less than a year by 1927, the entire stretch of roadway was paved and motels practically popped up overnight. From the 1920s and 1930s, there were tourist ports which were individual cabins that you could stay in. They were arranged in a horseshoe fashion, usually around an office or a picnic area or a restaurant. Then in the 1940s and 1950s, you get into the low slung ranch style motels. And then in the 1960s and 1970s we get a couple of chain motels that come in.

So, Route 1 was the main north and south artery for many years, almost 50 years until Interstate Highway 95 opened up. That connected to Fredericksburg in 1964 and almost overnight all the businesses in the Richmond Highway corridor went downhill and continued to do so. Route 1 kind of had this "no tell" motel vibe to it. Ever since the 1960s, the county tried to get those motels to close and one by one they did. As of today, only nine of those original motels still exist. A couple of them are already on the chopping block.

So buckle up, and lets look at them all:

TINY TAVERN AUTO COURT -- 7412 RICHMOND HIGHWAY
A lot of people came to this motel, also known as the Tiny Tavern Drive-In. In the early 1940s you could park your car, order a hamburger or a barbeque sandwich or even a steak dinner and it would get delivered to your car as you sat in it. William McKinley Simmons opened this up in the early 1940s and he later added fourteen cabins behind the restaurant. Each unit had a private bath and a Beauty Rest mattress and a television. In 1950, he renamed it the Simmons Modern Auto Court and by that point he tore down the Tiny Tavern and replaced it with the picnic table. That motel was demolished in the 1980s and today the property is home to a Subaru dealership.

ABOUT ME

Award-winning local historian and tour guide in Franconia and the greater Alexandria area of Virginia.

  • Facebook
  • X
  • LinkedIn
  • Amazon

ADDRESS

Nathaniel Lee

c/o Franconia Museum

6121 Franconia Road

Alexandria, VA 22310

franconiahistory@gmail.com

SUBSCRIBE FOR EMAILS

Thanks for submitting!

© 2024 by Franconia History L.L.C.

bottom of page