1925 Howard Deering Johnson (below) takes over a drugstore with a soda fountain in Quincy’s Wollaston section (above). Doubles butterfat in ice cream and expands flavors, attracting repeat customers.

1929 Opens first restaurant in downtown Quincy; begins franchising other locations.

1935 Expands during the Great Depression. Johnson lends his name, now made popular by his 28 ice cream flavors, to a restaurant in Orleans in exchange for a fee and an agreement that the owner would buy his food from Johnson.

1940 Reaches 107 restaurants from New England to Florida. Johnson secures a contract to open 24 locations on the new Pennsylvania Turnpike.

1959 Johnson turns the business over to his 26-year-old son, Howard B. Johnson.

1960 The company hires French chef Jacques Pepin to oversee recipe development.

1961 The younger Johnson takes the company public with 605 restaurants, 10 Red Coach Grill restaurants, and 88 motor lodges. Net sales hit $95 million.

1980 Johnson sells the company to Imperial Group, a British conglomerate, for more than $630 million. Sales had dropped from $34 million in 1979 to $14.7 million in 1980.

1985 Imperial sells the company to Marriott, which keeps company-owned restaurants and sells licensed locations and brand name to Prime Motor Inns. Number of HoJo’s declines to 50 by 1991.

1990s and 2000s The group of franchisees tries a new prototype with healthier options, but it fails.

2016 After Bangor location (below) closes Tuesday, only one will remain — in Lake George, N.Y.

SOURCES: Hojo.com; Reference for Business; “A History of Howard Johnson’s: How a Massachusetts Soda Fountain Became an American Icon,’’ by Anthony Sammarco; Associated Press.