For the unrelated American production and distribution company, see
Roadside Attractions.
A roadside attraction is a feature along the side of a road meant to attract
tourists. In general, these are places one might stop on the way to somewhere, rather than being a destination. They are frequently advertised with
billboards. The modern tourist-oriented highway attraction originated as a
U.S. and
Canadian phenomenon in the 1940s to 1960s,[1] and subsequently caught on in
Australia.[2]
History
When long-distance road travel became practical and famous in the 1920s, entrepreneurs began building restaurants, motels, coffee shops, cafes, and unusual businesses to attract travelers.[3][4] Many of the buildings were attractions in themselves in the form of
novelty architecture, depicting everyday objects of enormous size, typically relating to the items sold there.[5] Some other types of roadside attractions include monuments and fictionalized-paranormal/illusionary amusements such as the
Mystery Spot near Santa Cruz, California,[6] or curiosities such as
The Thing? along
Interstate 10 in Arizona.[7]
With the construction of the U.S.
Interstate Highway System in the mid-1950s, many roadside attractions were bypassed and quickly went out of business.[4] Some remained attractive enough to divert travelers from the interstate for a brief respite and thus remain in business. The best example of this change is along
US Route 66, where in the southwest,
Interstate 40 provided for non-stop travel.[8][9] In 2017, the publication
Best Life listed 33 top roadside attractions in the U.S. Among those listed were
Lucy the Elephant, Margate, NJ;
Cabazon Dinosaurs, Cabazon, CA;
Oregon Vortex, Gold Hill, OR;
Jolly Green Giant, Blue Earth, MN; and Secret Caverns, Howes Cave, NY.[10]
Berger, Michael L. (2001). The American automobile in the 20th century : a reference guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
ISBN9780313245589.</ref>
Hollis, Tim (1999). Dixie before Disney: 100 years of roadside fun. University Press of Mississippi.
ISBN9781617033742.
Jakle, John A.; Sculle, Keith A. (2011). Remembering Roadside America Preserving the Recent Past as Landscape and Place. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.
ISBN9781572338333.
Kirby, Doug; Smith, Ken; Wilkins, Mike (1992). The new Roadside America: the modern traveler's guide to the wild and wonderful world of America's Tourist attractions. New York: Simon & Schuster.
ISBN9780671769314.