End of an era: One of the last Howard Johnson's eateries to close

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - One of the three remaining Howard Johnson's restaurants still in business has been sold and will close after a nearly 60-year run in a New York village.

Mike Butler, owner of the HoJo's in Lake Placid, says his family-run eatery was purchased by local restaurant owners who plan to move their business to the property after the Howard Johnson's closes March 31.

Butler's father, Ron, opened the restaurant with the chain's signature orange roof 58 years ago.

There were once hundreds of Howard Johnson's restaurants in the U.S.

Two are still operating. One is attached to a hotel in Bangor, Maine, and the other is in Lake George, a tourist destination 60 miles south of Lake Placid. The Lake George HoJo's reopened in January after being closed for three years.