Organization Details

emmons Wilson, a resident of Memphis, Tennessee, was inspired to build a motel after being disappointed by the poor quality of roadside accommodations during a family road trip to Washington, D.C.[4] During construction, the name "Holiday Inn" was coined by Wilson's architect Eddie Bluestein as a joking reference to the 1942 musical film Holiday Inn. Their first hotel/motel opened in August 1952 as "Holiday Inn Hotel Courts" at 4941 Summer Avenue in Memphis, then the main highway (U.S. Hwy. 64/70/79) to Nashville. It was demolished in 1994. Wilson partnered with Wallace E. Johnson to build additional motels on the roads entering Memphis.[5] In 1953, three more Holiday Inns were built on U.S. 51 South, Highway 51 North, and U.S. 61.