Postcard Memories is a weekly series of historic postcard views and photos submitted by Marcel Rousseau.
Some were previously published by the Orillia Museum of Art and History and in the book Postcard Memories Orillia.
“Drive right to your bedroom,” reads the Motel advertisement in a 1959 Bell Telephone phone book.
The Oak Ridge Motel was a popular tourist stop located three miles south of Orillia on Highway 11.
Close inspection of this photo postcard shows a large Orange Kist advertising clock on the wall of the two-storey building. A 1955 Buick sits in front of one of the modern motel units just past the Texaco Sky Chief Gas pump.
The back of this undated postcard reads: Your hosts: Irvin and Ruth DeGraw. 7 units and 4 modern cabins, hot water heating, tasty meals served in our breakfast room. Phone Fairview 5-5274.
By the 1960s, the property was owned by Percy and Evelyn Greer and later by Al and Mary Bilous, who renovated the interior in 1967.
Purchased in June 1973 by Carmine and “Texaco” Joe Bisson, the business continued to prosper and in the late 1980s the Bissons built a new restaurant and service centre before demolishing the original Oak Ridge Motel.
