Hotel Palomar Courts, 3975 Greenwood Road, Shreveport, Caddo Parish, LA

2003 Charles E. Peterson Prize, Second Place
Significance: The Hotel Palomar Courts (currently known as the Palomar Motel) is an early example of a motor court (or tourist court) building type. Motor courts are one of the most significant architectural contributions to the early automobile age in the United States. Between 1908 with the introduction of the Model "T" and 1941 with America's entry into World War II, over 20,000 motor courts or camps were built in this country. Subsequent changes in culture, lifestyle, and taste have caused the near extinction of this authentic building type from the American landscape. As such, typological examples such as the Palomar are relatively rare. The Palomar is one of only three known examples of a cottage style tourist court remaining in Louisiana. The state's other extant tourist courts, the Teche Motel in New Iberia and the Three V Courts in St. Francisville, differ from the Palomar in that their cottages are linked by intervening carports and/or garages. In contrast, the Palomar is mostly comprised of totally unlinked freestanding cottages - unique in Louisiana and rare in the United States of surviving tourist courts.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N923
Survey number: HABS LA-1308
Building/structure dates: ca. 1937- 1939 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: after 1944 Subsequent Work