A Sign of Lost Times

They say that local history is best enjoyed by those who remember its past. That’s why an oversized sign of the 1937 Motel Gorman that was purchased for and donated to the SCV Historical Society is staying not too far from where it was found.
About 10 years ago, Frazier Park resident Joey Dillon – you’ll remember him as a gun slinger and quick shot featured at the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival several years ago – found the complete two-sided model sign in the weeds near the bungalows of the motel. The sign then consisted of two set of two pieces of tin sheet metal attached to a teel frame. The upper portion, reading MOTEL, measured 47×155 inches. The lower portion, reading GORMAN, measured 32,118 inches. The neon lights that used to illuminate the sign were long gone and the frame was unsalvageable.
Dillon displayed the most colorful MOTEL portion of the sign in his shop in Lebec and gave the other three pieces (one MOTEL and two GORMANs) to friends. In late 2023, when he was closing up his shop, he sold the sign to the SCVHS. But instead of bringing it down to Santa Clarita, SCVHS Vice President Leon Worden contacted Bonnie Kane, curator of the Ridge Route Communities Museum, who offered a prime viewing spot in their museum complex for displaying the sign. The Society’s board of directors approved a long-term loan.
On moving day, Dillon had a surprise for the museum; friend T.J. Dalrymple, an indie filmmaker who had one of the GORMAN signs, was willing to donate it to the museum. Now the two signs are on display together for all to see.
A little history: James “Lloyd” Ralphs (of the Ralphs supermarket family, which has owned Gorman since 1898) built the Gorman Motel in 1937. It consisted of a series of cabins on the south/east side of the Ridge Route at what is now 49771 Gorman Post Road. Initial plans called for five double units, according to the (Lancaster) Ledger Gazette. Los Angeles County Assessor records show a1937 construction date and a 1955 remodel date for 14 one-bedroom, one-bath cabins with a total square footage of 4,466. All seven of the cabins still stand. Lloyd Ralph (1902-1988) also built the more substantial Gorman Hotel and Coffee Shop across the road in 1925. It was demolished in 1972.