Stations Inn helps revive county history

It took a pair of motorcyle enthusiast/entrepeneurs from Iredell County to revive a set of landmarks that celebrate Laurel Springs' rich history.

Stations Inn was favorably mentioned recently in a travel guide entitled Travel North Carolina: Going Native in the Old North State. "This 1950s motor lodge has been wonderfully restored," wrote co-author Carolyn Sakowski.

Greg Stikeleather and Bruce Cook bought the Stations Inn three years ago. They remodeled the rooms and the restaurant with gas station memorabilia, hence the name. "Every room is a different station," Stikeleather said. "There's an Esso room, a Sinclair room."

Rooms are equipped with cable television but no telephones. "You come here to get away from phones," he explained. The view from the back balcony includes rolling hills and a stocked trout stream.

Each room also features pictures of Laurel Springs from decades past. Some of those pictures include one or the other of two brothers, Robert Myers and Johnny Myers, the businessmen who figure prominently in the history of both Stations Inn and the community.