In 1926, the Ames Tourist Court at 318 East Lincoln Way was opened by John Ogle.  It was probably the earliest Iowa tourist court, and the 1932 Hobbs Guide said this was one of the finest tourist facilities on the Lincoln Highway.  Car parking was available inside the room.  The garage door was next to the people door and you drove right into your room.  The name Ames Tourist Court was used until 1958 when its name became Ames Tourist Motel. 

Some later postcards show painted on the office front the message: This is John Ogle's idea of a Tourist Camp.  This 1928 postcard, however, shows another slogan: I built this camp by the side of the road to be a friend to tourists adapted from the familiar line in the poem The House by the Side of the Road by Sam Walter Foss: Let me live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend to man.

This early 1950s postcard has printed on the back: Located on Highway 30, two blocks east of Junction 30-69, Ames, Iowa. Open year 'round, with finest accomodations in a restful setting.  Thirty heated rooms and thirty baths.