Former Winslow’s Family Motel, Okemos: 1930s-?

Winslow's Family Motel in Okemos is not a motel anymore. It is a mobile home park.

Its genesis goes back pre-1950s, possibly as far as the 1920s or 1930s. The motel was owned and created by Orson Winslow; it should have been called ‘Winslow’s Cabins’, as travelers stayed in cabins, not motel rooms.

The cabins were extremely small – big enough for a bed but that’s about it. I stayed in one of those cabins decades ago and it seems the head and foot of the bed each touched separate walls.....we’re talking small. I don’ t recall a bathroom, so I assume there was a public restroom of some sort somewhere on the property. Either that, or you had to go into a bucket or jar so you wouldn’t have to leave the room. Remember, this was a long time ago.

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Other cabins were bigger, so maybe they were the deluxe “with toilet” cabins.

In the 2020s it is now called Winslow's Mobile Home Park located at 734 West Grand River Avenue, and some of the original old cabins are still on the grounds. See the gallery below.