Signature Inn Kokomo, Indiana

aerial imagery courtesy of Bing maps

map graphic courtesy of signature-inns.com at archive.org

Signature Inn built five hotels in 1985, four of them in Indiana.  Three were built in the vicinity of the Indianapolis beltway; this one was built in Kokomo off of what was at the time, US 31.  Interestingly, this appears to the only property that doesn't have an interstate in the vicinity (the closest is 30 miles away).

the front of the building

the building's canopy

Like the other Indiana hotels built in 1985, this hotel had 101 rooms.  I don't know if the enclosed pool was original to the hotel...neither historicaerials.com nor the property records were much help.

looking toward the pool enclosure

Not mentioned in my History Part Two post, but something I stumbled upon while doing some fine-tuning research for this article is that this appears to be another hotel that kept the Signature Inn into the Jameson era.

Though the hotel appears on the Jameson Inns website until 2011, property records show the hotel being transferred to another owner in April 2007 and then again in January 2011.  A Google search on the address turns up the names Best Western and Ramada Inn, along with its current name, Garden Inn.  It's the only still-surviving location that is no longer affiliated with a national brand.

the rear of the building

This is one of a handful of hotels that still retains its original Signature Inn look.

a drive-by shot of the building

sources for this post include the Howard County, Indiana, auditor's website, imagery found on historicaerials.com, signature-inns.com archived at archive.org, jamesoninns.com archived at archive.org, and imagery found through Google Maps and Bing Maps.

Photographs not accredited in their captions were taken by me.  These and additional photos can be found here: Formerly Signature Inn by Ryan on Flickr

Looking at the past 13 months...

This post has nothing to do with the hotels themselves, but as I was preparing the next update, I realized it's been at least a year sine I embarked on this journey.  I went to my photo archives to see exactly how long it had been.

I had known of two locations since the early 1990s, but was never fully aware of how far-reaching the chain was until I saw a billboard one evening as I was driving home from work.

A billboard???

Many billboards back in the day were glued on or painted on; today's are largely some sort of vinyl wrap.  This particular billboard usually advertises a furniture store, but the wrap was missing, uncovering its original message:

The date of the photo was December 3, 2014.  After I found the billboard, I decided to start searching for other locations and what information I could find on the chain.  That made three I knew of, there HAD to be more...

In the months that followed, I found their old website on archive.org, leading me to 24 more of their locations.  A simple "Signature Inn" search online led me to many of the same locations, plus a 28th that wasn't on their site.  I began searching by address to find what the hotels are now and what other names they carried.  I learned that for the most part, county auditor sites are a great source of information (some charge a fee or have limited information; others are a wealth of knowledge).  I eventually decided to begin this blog in order to present what I've learned.  The History of Signature Inn made its debut on June 9, 2015.

As of mid-June 2015, I visited and photographed 17 of 28 locations.  Of the remaining 11, there are seven within a few hours' drive from me that I hope to get to, two that I may never get to, and two that have been demolished.

Also since beginning this project, I managed to find some memorabilia as well.  I ended up with a packet of matches from eBay, and a set of Do Not Disturb signs from a collector of DND signs.

At this point, I am about one third of the way through posting the locations on this blog.  I still expect to feature a new location every two to three weeks, along with any updates as I run across them.

To those that have followed me thus far, thank you!  I hope you have enjoyed what you have seen so far!