Any discussion of roadside attractions along Summer Avenue usually mentions the first Holiday Inn, or the unusual architecture of the Alamo Plaza (mentioned many times here), or the old-fashioned funkiness of the Silver Horse Shoe Motel.
But another well-remembered establishment, in business from the 1940s through the 1960s, was the Crescent Lake Tourist Court (or Hotel) as it’s shown on the postcard here. The cluster of handsome little cottages was named after a rather small crescent-shaped pond that was, in fact, not very easy to see from the street. What most people remember about this place was the spectacular sign, which showed a bellboy, with his arm swinging by neon lighting, carrying a weary traveler’s suitcase to his room.
Of course, the fact that such a small establishment probably didn’t employ bellboys — most motels of the day didn’t — never bothered anybody. They just liked the sign, and so did I.
The Crescent Lake was in a great location, right next door to the original Summer Drive-In, and just down the street from the original Skateland. This was a busy part of town in the 1950s. But when the other attractions moved away (the drive-in farther east, and the skating rink across the street to Old Summer Road), the tiny little motel struggled to survive. Eventually someone decided the wooded, hilly site would be better suited to something more profitable, so they tore it down to build a shopping center.
