E-Z Inn Cabins and Cafe

21755 Teardrop Rd, Devils Elbow, MO
Phone:

East < GO > West

This was originally the E-Z (Ernie & Zada's) Inn Cabins and Cafe opened in 1932 and became a popular nightspot. It was also a Sinclair gas station. The main building has been significantly altered with an addition on the east (right) side. The long gone original four stone cabins would have been off to the right in this photo.

The canopy/roof over the sidewalk in this photo replaced a gabled canopy that projected out and covered the entrance and the pump island with its two visible gas pumps. The name Sinclair was located on the eves of the original canopy. Some reports say the covered drive was enclosed, but if you look carefully you can see the scars on the stone wall where the canopy was attached to the main building

Legend has it that Ernie and Zada built this place to provide a bit of semi-retirement income. They advertised the Inn on postcards that they provided dancing, fishing, hunting, a shady trailer camp, dinners, lunches, beer, and modern cabins with innerspring mattresses. I'm guessing that by the time they sold the place they were just plain tired.

In 1947 they sold the place to R. C. Swaney from Dixon, IL who renamed it the Oak Park Court, still selling Sinclair gas. A pair of visible pumps under the canopy were still in place at the time. A postcard from the time promoted the place as having private baths and being state approved, quiet, and clean. The Swaney's didn't stay long and in 1949 they sold the place to James Bullock from Chicago.

I'm not sure if it was the Swaney's or the bullocks, but one of them remodeled the canopy over the entrance and pump island. They did that by adding a gable roof to the canopy and wrapping the support posts in stone. That was a significant improvement.

In 1958 Ervan Clinton bought the property from the Bullock's. Clinton changed the name to Clinton's Cabins and more or less converted the place to a trailer camp/park advertising mobile home rentals apparently with less focus on the cabins.

Somewhere along the line the spaces between the four original cabins were filled in, apparently to make more guest units. That wasn't an especially attractive remodeling. The cabins were razed in 2010 and replaced with mobile homes.

It was later known in the 1970s as the Grandview Courts and/or Grandview Trailer Courts and/or Grandview Apartments.

As of 2018 there were still several mobile homes on the property but no sign indicating the nature of any business venture there.

Photo(s): 2018