Seattle Adult Entertainment: Why are there so many motels on Aurora Avenue?
If a street could get an award for most motels, it would likely go to Aurora Avenue. Why? From at least 1913, Aurora Avenue was the major north-south arterial through Seattle for travelers en route north to Canada and south to California. In the 1920s, roadhouses and inns for weary car travelers became the most familiar feature of the strip. But the motel-ificication really took off in 1962 when the world was beating a path to Seattle’s door to see the wonders of Century 21, otherwise known as the Seattle World’s Fair. With Mom, Dad and the kids packed into the station wagon, and dog-tired from crossing the plains on the nation’s primitive interstate system, the motels on Aurora with their kitschy neon signs and ample parking seemed like a home-away-from home. In later years, the same motels have welcomed prostitutes and the temporarily homeless along with other travelers, and Aurora Avenue continues to be a well-traveled route and a well-worn place to rest for the night.
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