The final Howard Johnson’s in Lake George closes its doors, marking the end of a century of history.

The last Howard Johnson’s restaurant in Lake George, New York, has closed for good, bringing an end to a nearly 100-year-old American tradition.

Locals hoped the Howard Johnson’s would reopen around Memorial Day weekend, as the start of summer usually brings travelers to the historic location, but reality hit in as the restaurant’s doors remained locked.

‘Lake George is now dead,’ commented Alyssa Kelly of the HoJoLand fan club on Facebook, who has been following the restaurant’s suffering for years. ‘Plastic tables and chairs have been removed. All memorabilia has been removed (that is not original, that stays with building). The door is covered in cobwebs.’

The Lake George location was the one of three Howard Johnson’s that had survived into the 2010s, and although it was no longer affiliated with the franchise, it was the last to bear its name and iconic orange roof after the Lake Placid, New York, location closed in 2015 and the Bangor, Maine, site shut down in 2016.

The last Howard Johnson's restaurant in Lake George, New York, did not reopen after the Memorial Day weekend

The Lake George Howard Johnson’s opened in 1953 as the popular franchise enjoyed more than 1,000 locations nationwide, often seen as a popular stop for family’s taking summer road trips.

Located near the Adirondack Mountains, the Lake George Howard Johnson was the spot to stop for breakfast, lunch and dinner while on the way to tourist location, but the restaurants began waning in popularity by the end of the 1980s.

The New York location had eventually turned into the Lake George Family Restaurant in 2015 while still bearing the Howard Johnson name, but it ran into trouble when its operator, Johnathan LaRock, was charged with sexually harassing at least 15 female employees, some as young as 14.

As the restaurant changed ownership, it saw dwindling customer base and sporadic open hours until it was eventually put on the market. Exit Reality is currently listing the 7,500-square foot property at $10.

Many of those who frequented the restaurant throughout the decades lamented the closure and the end of the icon restaurant chain on Facebook.

The first Howard Johnson's opened in 1925, in Quincy Massachusetts, and the restaurant gained fame for its 28-flavor ice cream selection using butter fat

Deborah Fallon wrote: ‘This is a sad loss. They served so many people at an affordable price. Guess as an affluent society we’re no longer concerned about the average American family!’

Liz Knezvoich said she had been there in January, writing, ‘Had an amazing pot roast there at the end of this past January! Great service too!’

Dave Hood, lamented that he and his wife – who were both former Howard Johnson’s employees – couldn’t eat there one last time.

‘My wife and I stayed in Lake George a week ago and were hoping to eat there. We both used to work for Ron Butler at the Lake Placid HoJo’s, and I used to manage for the NY State division of the corporate restaurants in the 70s,’ he wrote.

David Robinson, another Howard Johnson’s regular, wrote: ‘So sad to see an end of an era. We used to eat there all the time when staying at my uncles lake house on Assembly Point, back in the 60s and 70s.’

Business, unfortunately, took a quick downturn for the business as McDonalds, Burger King and other fast-food franchises exploded, with many Howard Johnson’s shuttering down throughout the late 1970s.

By 1985, Marriot bought Howard Johnsons’ for $314 million, selling about 200 of its locations to Prime Motor Inn, which then had only 63 locations, for $235 million.

The locations were gutted and sold to other businesses, and more and more Howard Johnsons’ began to close down throughout the decades until only the Lake George location was left by 2016.