The restaurant was named for Nelle Munger, its original owner, and her second husband Emmett Moss. This name was retained after the business was sold to Pete and Jesse Hudson in 1945, relocated to the former Chicken Shanty site in Lebanon in September 1945 and expanded with tourist cabins in 1946. The current owners purchased the motel in June 1971. The lodgings were originally constructed as a 14-room
cabin court, an early motel-like accommodation in which each pair of rooms stood as a free-standing building with carports in the middle. Much as cabins and motor courts replaced the
campgrounds that had served
Depression-era motorists,
motels with multiple rooms in one building would replace individual cabins in the 1950s. Space initially allocated to individual
carports or open ground between cabins would soon be filled with additional rooms. While the post-war era brought a huge increase in tourism as
auto manufacturers returned to civilian production and
wartime rationing of
fuel and
tires ended, the 1950s would also bring increased competition both from other independents and from chains such as
Holiday Inn (founded 1952 in
Memphis, Tennessee). The aggressively-expanding motel would add elaborate
neon signage to rival the chain motel's
Great Sign, in-room televisions,
air conditioning and an outdoor swimming pool to remain competitive. Munger-Moss was more fortunate; its location was one where
Interstate 44 closely paralleled US 66 and the closest off-ramp was within a half-mile of the motel. While freeway construction represented disruption, the Munger Moss remained in continuous operation as an independent local motel and added 26 more units in 1961. It currently has 44 rooms and 16 efficiencies. In 2010, its neon signage was restored using a $10300
National Park Service matching grant as part of larger U.S. Route 66 historic corridor preservation efforts. ==See also==