Airline Highway, also known as the storied Route 61 or The Blues Highway, is dotted with motels. Some of them are known for their more sordid pasts.
As 225 details in a feature in its February issue, it was at one of these Airline inns that famous pastor and televangelist Jimmy Swaggart met with the disgrace that would cost him his career in 1987. Some of the highway’s motels were wildly popular in the mid- to late 1900s, characterized by sunny pools and striking architecture.
Three such motels—Oak Manor Hotel Court, The Shades Motel and the Watson Motel—were popular until the 1990s, but they now sit in disrepair, and some have been entirely replaced by facilities more suited to Baton Rouge’s growing urban culture.
Built by Lewis Construction Co., the Oak Manor Hotel Court was once described as “one of the most striking sights in the South” but now is entirely gone, having been replaced by a Home Depot.
“Oak Manor, with 200 rooms and 10 suites on 14 acres of tree-shaded land, continued to be a fancied destination until the shift of business to other areas of Baton Rouge at the end of the 20th century. The exact dates of the hotel’s demolition and the Home Depot’s construction are unknown,” writes 225.
Farther down on Airline is the Shades Motel. Old newspaper articles detail the arrest of a “Baton Rouge Bonnie and Clyde” there. The couple robbed a New Orleans man staying at the motel. Though dated and unassuming, the motel is still located and operating on Airline Highway.
“This one-story motel, originally owned by a Mr. Curtis Shade, is still fully functional and even has a website. But its once-sunny pool has been filled in with concrete,” 225 writes.
The Watson is another motel on Airline. Built in the 1960s, the motel reportedly had a reputation for prostitutes.
“The Watson Motel was built in the early 1960s and was slowly abandoned starting in the early ’90s,” writes 225.
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