This postcard shows a sign that once existed along Truesdale Drive, marking the entrance to the Mikado Inn. The card was published circa 1920 by the Photo & Art Postal Card Co. in New York, but it was doubtlessly commissioned by the inn’s proprietor, “Admiral” George T. Moto. The sign is long gone, but part of the low stone wall and entrance (under the green roof in the postcard) are still there today.
Want to learn more about the Mikado? See these previous posts:
- Oscar Levant Plays the Mikado
Oscar Levant, the quick-witted pianist, composer, actor, author and quiz-show panelist performed there as a teenager, sharing “sleeping quarters with twenty or thirty Japanese waiters in the cellar.” - What’s Cookin’ at the Mikado?
A tasty bit of Harmon history—a Mikado Inn menu featuring two Spring Lamb Chops for $1.50, Filet Mignon Mikado for $3.00 and a Porterhouse Steak for two for $5.00. - Mikado Inn “Real Photo” Postcard, circa 1920
See the beautiful Japanese gardens behind the Mikado Inn. - The Motorist’s Playground
An ad for the Mikado and two other Croton-area “road houses” from the June 12, 1921 issue of the New-York Tribune. The “Japanese gardens” highlighted in the ad are shown in the post above.
You might also be interested in the Nikko Inn across the street on Nordica Drive.
CROTON 
I lived on Morningside Drive just above the inn as a child of 9 or 10 in1947 or so ,used to explore the old stone buildings and passages of the inn. Creepy is my memory maby haunted. Used to fish below the old buildings on the Croton river.
I have a postcard of the ‘MOTO’S INN’. Owned by George T. ‘Admiral’ Moto. On the front it says -MOTO INN- By way of new concrete road to Croton Dam Spillway approach 32 miles from New York It was sent to my Husband ‘s Grandmother from May who was the Admiral’s Daughter-In-Law. We would love to know our family’s history. Ruthie Moto
I have been researching Geneology for my and my Husband’s families. My Husband did not know his Great-Grandfather George T. (Admiral) Moto or his Grandfather George T. Moto. We would appreciate any information. Ruthie Moto
Thanks for your comments on my blog posts about the Mikado and the Moto family. Email me at historian@crotonhistoricalsociety.org. Marc Cheshire, Village Historian, Croton-on-Hudson
George T. Moto was also my great grandfather. His daughter, Mabel Olander, is my grandmother. I met several f her brothers, Vic and George but not Bill. My Grandmother was the backbone to the inn and even paid for piano lessons for Oscar Levant.