I thought I’d share two postcards today, just to show you how confusing it can be for historians when they are trying to find an accurate image of a long-lost Memphis establishment. Or maybe it’s only confusing for me.
In the 1940s and 1950s, the intersection of Summer and White Station was a major gateway to our city, so owners opened quite a variety of attractions there that were designed to appeal to motorists — well, and Memphians, too. Nestled close to that corner were the Skateland roller-skating rink, the original Summer Drive-In (before it moved east and became the Twin, then the Quartet), a handful of small restaurants, and a rather interesting motel called the Crescent Lake Tourist Court.
The owner of the Crescent Lake was a fellow named Frank Ingalls, and he erected a row of handsome cottages around a small crescent-shaped pond. I have two postcards, and each one brags that the Crescent Lake was “recommended by Duncan Hines” and is “one of America’s finest.” The place featured steam heat and 100% air-conditioning, “each cottage with tile bath,” “attached garage with overhead locked doors,” radio and telephone, and Beautyrest mattresses and box springs. What’s more, the Crescent Lake was supposedly just “20 minutes from Main Street” (traveling at 60 mph, I imagine) and there was a restaurant “within two blocks.”
And what a bargain: A single room was just $4, and doubles went for $5 and $6.