Founded 1958, in Memphis, Tennessee, the Downtowner Corporation built and operated all of its own motels. Every Dowtowner Motor Inn was located downtown and offered a no-fills, cheap place to stay for the night. The Downtowner locations were strategically placed near a large hotel or convention center in hopes that business would spill over in their direction. It worked.
The Rowntowner Motor Inn brand was introduced in 1967 to designate locations more in the suburbs than downtown.
American downtown life declined heavily in the late 1960/early 1970s. Businesses, hotels, everything was moving away from the downtown area. The hotels were struggling to stay afloat and so was the Downtowner chain.
This 1968 brochure was printed right at the beginning of the chain’s slow, downward turn.
The company was sold to Aetna Life and Casualty Insurance in 1971 and sold again the next year to Perkins Pancake House. The company’s headquarters moved west. In 1973 the company was sold again for a third time and two years later a fourth time.
Twenty plus locations remained open through the eighties when the company was sold yet again for a fifth and final time. By 1993 there were only two locations left. Now there are none.
The locations below are what was listed in the 1968 book. A red link means the building is gone and a blue link indicates that the motel still stands under a different name.
The postcards and clippings below will directly underneath the location posted.
ALABAMA
ANNISTON
4th and Quintard [torn down Fall 2013]
BIRMINGHAM
5th Ave. North & 23rd Street [torn down between 2003-2005]
DECATUR
440 Johnston St. SE
FLORENCE
400 S. Court St.
ARKANSAS
HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK
135 Central Ave.
LITTLE ROCK
6th & Center St. [torn down in early 2000s]
FLORIDA
ORLANDO
S. Orange Ave. & Jackson St.
Combined advantages of Motel and Hotel facilities in a Downtown location. 112 Spacious rooms – Color TV – Swimming Pool – Free Parking – Free Phone-A-Towner reservations to other Downtowner, Rowntowner Motor Inn and Royal Coach Inns.
GEORGIA
ALBANY
732 Oglethorpe [torn down in 2011]
ATHENS
Milledge and Lumpkin
ATLANTA
231 Ivy St. NE at Harris
COLUMBUS
Fourth & 14th Street
DALTON
609 Thornton Ave.
SAVANNAH
201 West Oglethorpe
ILLINOIS
SPRINGFIELD
400 North 9th St.
Restaurant – Free Parking – TV – HiFi – Free Reservation Service – Heated Swimming Pool – Private Meeting Rooms – Ultra Modern accommodations – In the Heart of Downtown
We are located between Lincoln’s Home and Lincoln’s Tomb.
KENTUCKY
LEXINGTON
347 E. Main St.
155 air-conditioned rooms with TV, Musak, pool, direct dial phones. In the center of town, 5 blocks from UK. Bar and restaurant.
LOUISIANA
LAFAYETTE – ROWNTOWNER
108 Frontage Rd.
NEW ORLEANS
Bourbon and Toulouse
NEW ORLEANS – ROWNTOWNER
3900 Tulane Avenue
SHREVEPORT
Market and Travis
MARYLAND
BALTIMORE – ROWNTOWNER
Franklin & Paca Sts.
MICHIGAN
MUSKEGON
381 West Muskegon Ave.
Downtown Muskegon, Michigan, northbound business route US-31, I-96 and M-46. 104 Rooms, dining, Cocktails, Swimming pool, Meeting and conference facilities, Color TV.
MISSISSIPPI
CLARKSDALE
305 East Second St.
COLUMBUS
321 Main St.
GREENVILLE
Washington and Poplar
GREENWOOD
Eleventh Street, Highway 49 and 82 By-Pass
76 Units – 1 1/2 Miles SW on US 49-82 By-Pass – Two-Story Motel – TV, A/C, Phones-Combination Baths – Pool – Dining Room and Cocktail Lounge.
JACKSON
225 East Capitol
MERIDIAN
1914 Eleventh Street
VICKSBURG
1315 Walnut Street
MISSOURI
COLUMBIA
111 East Broadway
KANSAS CITY
13th & Central
Luxurious travel – living in the center of things – Walking distance to business – shopping – entertainment facilities. Spacious rooms – Free TV – Swimming Pool – Free Park – Free Reservations Service to All Downtowners Nationwide.
ST. LOUIS
12th and Washington
NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE
717 Central, NW
On U.S. 66, 717 Central Avenue, NW
In the heart of downtown., PAT free reservation service, ultra modern accommodations, free parking, free tv – HiFi. Heated swimming pool, private meeting rooms, reasonable rates
SANTA FE
Don Gaspar at Alameda
NEW YORK
ROCHESTER
155 Broad Street East
The beautiful swimming pool at the Downtowner Motor Inn, in the heart of downtown Rochester, New York.
NORTH TONAWANDA
84 Sweeney Street
NORTH CAROLINA
ASHEVILLE
120 Patton Avenue
CHARLOTTE
West Trade & Mint
DURHAM
309 W. Chapel Hill Street
FAYETTEVILLE
134 Rowan Street
GOLDSBORO
210 South Center
RALEIGH
Hillsboro and Dawson
WINSTOM-SALEM
128 North Cherry
OHIO
CANTON
621 Market Street, NW
CLEVELAND
1800 Euclid
OKLAHOMA
OKLAHOMA CITY – ROWNTOWNER
U.S. 66 Across From Penn Square Shopping Center
TULSA
Fourth and Cheyenne
93 Guest Rooms – Swimming Pool – Restaurant and Meeting Rooms.
Located in the Heart of the Oil Capitol
Phone LU 3-6251
All Color TV – Free Parking
SOUTH CAROLINA
CHARLESTON
157 Calhounmai
COLUMBIA
Main and Lady
FLORENCE
Irby at Palmetto St.
GREENVILLE
Main and Oak.
MANNING – ROWNTOWNER
I-95 and U.S. 301
Jct. I-95 & U.S. 301, Manning, S.C.
100 rooms, connecting units, individually controlled heat and air conditioning. Color TV in every room. Direct dial phones, 2 heated pools, restaurant and lounge. Credit cards welcome. Near Lake Marion.
ROCK HILL
333 Oakland Ave.
SUMTER
Main at Loring
TENNESSEE
CHATTANOOGA
9th and Carter St.
JACKSON
Baltimore and Highland
KINGSPORT
Shelby and Center
MEMPHIS
160 Union Avenue
126 Ultra Modern Rooms, Free Parking
Two Restaurants, Swimming Pool
All in the Heart of Downtown Memphis
NASHVILLE
7th and Union Avenue
The Tennessean – December 12, 1968
TEXAS
ABILENE
Pine and North Fifth
AMARILLO
4th and Polk St.
AUSTIN
Eleventh and San Jacinto
CORPUS CHRISTI
Shoreline and Schatzel
EL PASO
Main and Kansas St.
FORT WORTH
10th and Houston Streets
HOUSTON
Texas and Fannin Streets
LONGVIEW
215 East Methvin
MIDLAND
401 West Missouri
WACO
Eleventh and Austin
UTAH
SALT LAKE CITY – ROWNTOWNER
1500 West Temple
VIRGINIA
CHARLOTTESVILLE
NW Highways 250 and 29
MANASSAS
105 North Main Street
RICHMOND
Seventh and Marshall
ROANOKE
Bullitt and Jefferson
WEST VIRGINIA
WHEELING
10th and Main Street
WYOMING
CHEYENNE
1719 Central Ave.
Cheyenne’s newest and most modern motor hotel – 88 air conditioned units – Famous Pancake House Restaurant – Dining room – Bar and lounge – Heated Garage – Parking free – Enclosed year around swimming pool – Banquet & meeting rooms & free television and Hi Fi. In the heart of Downtown Cheyenne, 1719 Central Ave.
MEXICO
ACAPULCO
Downtowner Sao Paulo
Costera-Miguel – Aleman No. 44
MEXICO CITY
Aristos Downtowner
Reforma 276
DOWNTOWNER/ROWNTOWNER MOTOR INNS UNDER CONSTRUCTION (With Opening Date)
Biloxi, Mississippi – (September, 1969)
Denver, Colorado – (Spring, 1969)
Gatlinburg, Tennessee – (addition) (June, 1969)
McKeesport, Pennsylvania – (May, 1969)
Memphis, Tennessee – (addition) (Spring 1969)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin – (Spring, 1969)
Newark, New Jersey – (January, 1970)
PLANNED:
Gallup, New Mexico
Greensboro, North Carolina
Gulfport, Mississippi
Knoxville, Tennessee
Louisville, Kentucky
Madison, Wisconsin [West Washington and N. Broom St.]
Mobile, Alabama
Monroe, Louisiana
Tallahassee, Florida
Wichita, Kansas
OTHER LOCATIONS THAT EXISTED AFTER THIS BOOKLET WAS PUBLISHED:
Rochester, New York – ROWNTOWNER
800 Jefferson Road
Cincinnati, Ohio – ROWNTOWNER
I-75 at Buttermilk in Northern Kentucky
Would any one know who the original owner of the Sumter location was?
My family stayed in the Charleston SC Downtowner on a vacation. The last time I was in Charleston, I looked up the address. The building hasn’t changed that much, but it now belongs to the College of Charleston and houses students.
I worked at the Downtowner in Athens, GA in the early 90’s. Back then it was one of three surviving; the other two being in Hot Springs, AR (the last surviving bathhouse there) and Lake Charles, LA (strangely not listed on this site). The Downtowner was at Five Points, and was popular with international students at UGA, and as a one-night stand joint. The Boar’s Head lounge in the hotel was very popular, and moved downtown after the hotel closed. The building was eventually torn down to make room for a new fire station.
Thank you foor writing this