End Of An Era–Lake George Closes America’s Last HoJo’s

It truly is the end of an era, Berkshire County. One of America's oldest, most iconic restaurant chains has closed its last remaining location in the country. That location happens to be familiar to many Berkshire residents who made Lake George, New York their vacation destination.

I'm referring to Howard Johnson's, the restaurant known for its iconic orange-tiled roofs, which was a popular roadside dining spot that had thousands of locations throughout the 60s and 70s.

And longtime Berkshire County residents may recall that we had not one, but two HoJo's locations back in the day, one in Pittsfield and one in Williamstown, both of which opened their doors back in the 1940s.

The Pittsfield location, on Pittsfield-Lenox Road, became the Dakota Steakhouse in 1984, and the Williamstown location ended operations in the late 80s/early 90s, I believe.

Over the last several decades, HoJo's have been slowly dying out all across the country, never being able to keep up with the more popular fast-food franchises such as McDonald's and Burger King.

Sadly, America's final Howard Johnson's Restaurant in Lake George just closed its doors for good right before Memorial Day weekend. That location managed to survive for 70 years but was really struggling lately, only open part-time.

It's not all bad news though, folks. Sure, the restaurant is gone, however, the Howard Johnson hotel chain, which is owned by the Wyndham Hotels and Resorts company, is still doing quite well with around 300 locations.

For more on Howard Johnson's story, check out CNN Business' website here.

Before you run off, take a look at some of these other popular chains that no longer exist: