Aroadside 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]
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]
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