SOCIETY for

COMMERCIAL

ARCHEOLOGY

Advocates for America’s
Roadside Heritage

SOCIETY for

COMMERCIAL

ARCHEOLOGY

Advocates for America’s
Roadside Heritage

SOCIETY for

COMMERCIAL

ARCHEOLOGY

Advocates for
America’s
Roadside Heritage

On the Road Since 1977

Join us as we explore the 20th-century landscape of drive-ins, diners, neon signs and roadside attractions.

An SCA membership buys a world of adventure. A full calendar of tours, conferences and online presentations. Subscriptions to our celebrated semi-annual journal and quarterly newsletter. Free access to our website and vast digital library … and so much more.

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Anne of Green Gables
Literary Pilgrimage

From the latest issue of the SCA Journal – “How Anne of Green Gables Transformed an Island Community”

Read Article

Anne of Green Gables

Literary Pilgrimage

From the latest issue of the SCA Journal – “How Anne of Green Gables Transformed an Island Community”

Read Article

On the Road Since 1977

Join us as we explore the 20th-century landscape of drive-ins, diners, neon signs and roadside attractions.

An SCA membership buys a world of adventure.
Join Now

Anne of Green Gables

Literary Pilgrimage

From the latest issue of the SCA Journal – “How Anne of Green Gables Transformed an Island Community”

Read Article

SCA EVENTS

Printed Motel Fan

ZOOM EVENT: Cara Rodway – America Hobnobs at the Tourist Camp: Social Change and the Roadside in the Interwar Years

Join Cara Rodway, Head of Research Development at the British Library as she delves into the motivations driving this rapid expansion and its implications for consumer behavior. We will explore why motels thrived during this era, shedding light on business strategies and shifts in consumer preferences. Register
Columbia River Highway

ZOOM RECORDING: Robert W. Hadlow, Ph.D. – Drive to Oregon Down the Famed Columbia River Highway

Recorded Wednesday, September 20th: Come along for a ride down the Columbia River Highway, America’s First Highway. This route was constructed from 1913 to 1922 east of Portland, Oregon, along the south shore of the Columbia River. In nearly 80 miles, it offered motorists magnificent views of a wonderful collection of waterfalls and many scenic vistas. Register
<span style="color: red">ZOOM RECORDING:</span> Mike Walker - Imagined Exotica and Atom Futures

ZOOM RECORDING: Mike Walker – Imagined Exotica and Atom Futures

Recorded Wednesday, August 16, 2023: Wednesday, August 16 at 8:00pm EDT: Join journalist Mike Walker as he examines the mid-twentieth century American beachside hotel and motel architecture which brought forth a fusion of California Googie futurism, the exoticism of the South Pacific and other distant locales.
<span style="color: red">RECAP:</span> SCA’s 46th Annual Conference and Tour – Amused in the Alleghenies

RECAP: SCA’s 46th Annual Conference and Tour – Amused in the Alleghenies

Whether you were on the bus or not, join tour guide extraordinaire, Kevin Patrick, as he retraces our whacky and wonderful journey along historic U.S. Route 6.

EVENT RECORDINGS

ROADSIDE NEWS

NEW! THE JIM SEELEN MOTEL IMAGES COLLECTION

14,000 MOTELS

SCA member Jim “Motel King” Seelen’s motel images collection is now part of our library. This database contains more than 23,000 images with details on more than 14,000 motels that once operated in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

View Database

NEW! THE JIM SEELEN MOTEL IMAGES COLLECTION

14,000 MOTELS

SCA member Jim “Motel King” Seelen’s motel images collection is part of our library. This database contains more than 23,000 images with details on more than 14,000 motels that once operated in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

View Database

SCA ARTICLES

Literary Pilgrimage - How Anne of Green Gables Transformed an Island Community

Literary Pilgrimage – How Anne of Green Gables Transformed an Island Community

Anne of Green Gables was published in 1908 and achieved instant acclaim. Much of the appeal was the creation of Anne Shirley — a spunky, independent, and intelligent heroine with a fertile imagination. No fictional character has ever contributed so dominantly to a province’s tourism as red-haired, pig-tailed Anne.
Next Exit: Live Bait - Hayward, Wisconsin

Next Exit: Live Bait – Hayward, Wisconsin

Large fish advertise a fishing tackle shop in Hayward, Wisconsin.
Neon Comes Out: San Francisco’s Neon Gay Bar Signs of the 1960s and 1970s

Neon Comes Out: San Francisco’s Neon Gay Bar Signs of the 1960s and 1970s

FULL ARTICLE by Jim Van Buskirk and Al Barna – Gay bars were usually hidden, unmarked enclaves for only those in the know. Marginalized, they were frequently found in underdeveloped or industrial sections of a town or well off the beaten path. Often veiled behind tinted glass, the bars tended to hide the goings-on within from the general public—and the police.
Phoenix’s Mid-Century, Medieval Dining Experience: Green Gables

Phoenix’s Mid-Century, Medieval Dining Experience: Green Gables

By Douglas Towne – Once upon a time, an extraordinary restaurant magically transported a generation of Phoenicians back through time and space to King Arthur’s court in medieval England. Beckoned by flaming torches along stone walls, motorists entered the compound through a gate and were led to the castle door by a knight in shining armor atop a white horse.
FIVE FAVES – U.S. ROUTE 40

FIVE FAVES – U.S. ROUTE 40

More than a half-century ago, I discovered George Stewart’s 1953 book, U.S. 40. That landmark publication about pre-Interstate road travel and a slice of American life contained 115 brilliant photographs and about 100 essays about everyday life along what is perhaps the greatest highway in the nation.
Dining in Transit: Holidays Aloft

Dining in Transit: Holidays Aloft

From the New-York Historical Society Museum & Library Blog: Airlines began serving special holiday meals in the late 1930s. Since a meal would be served inflight anyway, why not add a bit of fun and festiveness to the service, especially on days when people would prefer not to fly?

Dr. Patrick’s Postcard Roadside

Blue and White Restaurant, Warren, Pennsylvania, vintage postcard

DR. PATRICK’S POSTCARD ROADSIDE: The Blue and White Restaurant

Constantine Spiridon and his two brothers opened the Blue and White Restaurant at 211 Liberty Street in downtown Warren, PA, in 1925. It was one and a half blocks north of US 6, certainly the coast-to-coast reference on this postcard showing its 1937 Art Moderne remodel.
Transatlantic Steamship Terminal postcard

DR. PATRICK’S POSTCARD ROADSIDE: New York City’s West Side Piers

A circa-1960 postcard shows New York City’s Transatlantic Steamship Terminal in the Hudson River between 44th and 54th streets ...
DR. PATRICK’S POSTCARD ROADSIDE: Cedar Tourist Court

DR. PATRICK’S POSTCARD ROADSIDE: Cedar Tourist Court

Westward across the plains of Kansas, US 40 originally split at Manhattan with the south branch following the Victory Highway through Salina (current US 40), and the north branch following the Midland Trail through Clay Center.

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