Perry Motor Lodge: The Abandoned Roadside Giant of Perry, Florida

Explore the abandoned Perry Motor Lodge in Perry, Florida, through an immersive 360-degree virtual tour that offers a fascinating look inside this once-operating roadside motel. The panoramic images below provide a unique perspective of the property’s abandoned spaces, allowing urban explorers and history enthusiasts to examine the building’s architecture, interior features, and the effects of time on this forgotten piece of Florida’s roadside history.

Once part of the hospitality landscape in North Florida, the Perry Motor Lodge now stands as a reminder of the many roadside motels that have faded from use over the years. Whether you’re interested in abandoned places in Florida, roadside history, or URBEX photography, this virtual tour offers an opportunity to experience the property from a different perspective. Explore the 360-degree panoramic images below and discover the abandoned Perry Motor Lodge without ever stepping foot inside.

Click here to view it in fullscreen.

Some abandoned places whisper. The Perry Motor Lodge shouts.

A travel blogger who rolled through town in 2016 stopped for its towering neon sign, which was sitting in someone’s front yard. That’s the kind of detail URBEX fans live for: a sign still standing long after the lodge stopped taking guests.

If you love urban exploring in Florida, you know the feeling. Faded paint, a quiet lot, a building with stories and nobody left to tell them. This is your field guide to the Perry Motor Lodge: where it sits, what we know about its past, why places like it disappear, and how to explore abandoned in Florida spots without getting hurt or fined.

Where Is the Perry Motor Lodge?

Perry is the county seat of Taylor County, in Florida’s Big Bend, where the Panhandle curls down into the peninsula.

It’s a true crossroads town. US 19, US 27, and US 98 all meet here. Before interstates pulled traffic off the old highways, that junction mattered. Road-trippers working their way north and south needed somewhere to sleep. A motor lodge on the edge of town was perfect: park at your door, drop your bags, hit the road at sunrise.

Today, national chains like Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express serve Perry’s visitors. The independent roadside lodge with its glowing neon sign belongs to a different era.

Perry Motor Lodge History: Built, Opened, and Left Behind

Small-town motels rarely get big historical write-ups. Their stories live in property records, old newspaper ads, and the memories of locals who stayed, worked, or cleaned rooms there. Here’s the timeline:

Built: 1956
Opened: Unknown
Years in operation: Unknown

What I can say for certain is that the lodge left a mark on the roadside. Its oversized neon sign was still around in 2016, and it still gets photographed and shared by people who love vintage Florida signage.

What Went On at a Roadside Motor Lodge

What did a motor lodge do all day? Mostly one thing: take care of travelers.

In Taylor County, that likely meant a mix of vacationers, traveling salesmen, timber crews, anglers headed for the Gulf, and hunters working the surrounding forests. Roadside lodges of the era sold convenience and modern comfort. That’s why so many old signs brag about air conditioning and television like they were wonders of the world. (Back then, they kind of were.)

Why Did the Perry Motor Lodge Close?

Even without the specifics, the Perry Motor Lodge fits a pattern you’ll see all over abandoned in Florida territory. Interstates pulled long-haul traffic away from the old U.S. highways. National chains offered predictable rooms and loyalty points. Independent owners aged out, and not every family wanted to keep the business going. Add humidity, termites, and hurricane season, and a building can go from open to overgrown fast.

The Bigger Story: Perry’s Long History of Putting Up Travelers

The Perry Motor Lodge didn’t appear out of nowhere. Perry has been housing visitors for well over a century.

A resort hotel built around a natural spring rose about five miles west of town, with its first section finished in 1908. The Perry Train Depot, dating to 1918, helped turn the town into an economic hub. Then came the Dixie Taylor Hotel in 1926, which kept renting third-floor rooms to overnight guests until 1966. By mid-century, State Archives of Florida photographs show motor courts and lodges welcoming drivers in Perry, one from around 1950 and another from around 1958.

Read in order, it’s a tidy arc: railroad-era resort, downtown hotel, roadside motor lodge. Each generation of travelers got the lodging that matched how they moved. The Perry Motor Lodge belongs to the car-and-highway chapter, and that makes it worth documenting before the story fades any further.

Why Florida Is an URBEX Playground

Florida’s abandoned places pile up for good reasons. Boom-and-bust development leaves half-finished dreams behind. Highway bypasses strand whole strips of businesses. Hurricanes finish off buildings that were already struggling. And Florida’s humidity starts reclaiming everything the moment people leave.

That’s what makes urban exploring in Florida so rewarding. In a single road trip you can go from a neon-lit motel sign to a collapsing roadside attraction to a forgotten resort. Perry is a great stop on that route, especially if you love vintage signage and the quiet, stubborn charm of old highway towns.

Urban Exploring in Florida: Safety and Etiquette

Good URBEX starts with good judgment. Before you go anywhere near the Perry Motor Lodge or any other abandoned site, keep these in mind:

Respect private property. Abandoned doesn’t mean ownerless. Florida takes trespassing seriously. Get permission, and honor every posted sign.
Shoot from public ground when you can. A neon sign is often visible from the roadside, and that’s the safest way to photograph it.
Assume the structure is weaker than it looks. The Big Bend has taken serious storm hits in recent years, including Hurricane Helene in 2024. Roofs, ceilings, and floors in old buildings can fail without warning.
Protect your lungs. Older buildings can hold mold and asbestos. If you’re anywhere near interiors, wear a proper respirator, not a dust mask.
Watch for locals with stingers and scales. Wasps, snakes, and spiders love empty buildings. Wear boots and long pants, and look before you reach.
Never explore alone. Bring a partner and tell someone where you’re headed and when you’ll be back.
Leave it as you found it. No tagging, no taking souvenirs, no breaking in. The best URBEX communities protect the places they love.

Final Thoughts: A Sign, a Story, and a Reason to Go Look

The Perry Motor Lodge is exactly the kind of place that keeps explorers hunting for the next one. It has a big neon personality, a story that’s still partly buried, and a spot on one of Florida’s classic crossroads. Every abandoned building is a chapter somebody forgot to finish, and part of the fun of URBEX is helping finish it.

So here’s my question: have you ever driven past the Perry Motor Lodge? YES or NO? If it’s a yes, tell me what you remember. A stay, a story, or a glimpse of that sign from the car window all count, because local memories are what keep places like this alive.

If you liked this blog post, you might be interested in learning about the Henry River Mill Village in North Carolina, the abandoned Sarasota house in Florida, or the Randall Park Mall in Ohio.

A 360-degree panoramic image captured at the abandoned Perry Motor Lodge in Perry, Florida. Photo by the Abandoned in 360 URBEX team.