SOCIETY for
COMMERCIAL
ARCHEOLOGY
Advocates for
America’s
Roadside Heritage
The SCA is the oldest organization dedicated to preservation, appreciation and celebration of the American commercial landscape.
READ OUR ORIGIN STORY
SOCIETY for
COMMERCIAL
ARCHEOLOGY
Advocates for
America’s
Roadside Heritage
The SCA is the oldest organization dedicated to preservation, appreciation and celebration of the American commercial landscape.
READ OUR ORIGIN STORY
SOCIETY for
COMMERCIAL
ARCHEOLOGY
Where did this crazy journey begin?
The SCA is the oldest organization dedicated to preservation, appreciation and celebration of the American commercial landscape.
READ OUR ORIGIN STORY
Advocates for
America’s
Roadside Heritage
We invite you to join our group of offbeat academics, old sign junkies and quirky roadside attraction enthusiasts on a road trip through time.
The Society for Commercial Archeology is the oldest national organization devoted to the buildings, artifacts, structures, signs and symbols of the 20th-century commercial landscape.
Photo ©2018 Molly Block
We publish the prestigious SCA Journal and SCA News (online here and here). We also host annual events and conferences, bring attention to preservation challenges and opportunities, publish tour guides and maintain a very active Facebook page.
Read more about what we do, check out upcoming events and to subscribe to our free email newsletter.
Photo ©2018 Molly Block
We invite you to join our group of offbeat academics, old sign junkies and quirky roadside attraction enthusiasts on a road trip through time.
The Society for Commercial Archeology is the oldest national organization devoted to the buildings, artifacts, structures, signs and symbols of the 20th-century commercial landscape.
We publish the prestigious SCA Journal and SCA News (online here and here). We also host annual events and conferences, focus attention on preservation challenges and opportunities, publish tour guides and maintain a very active Facebook page.
Read more about what we do, check out upcoming events and to subscribe to our free email newsletter.
Upcoming Events
JOIN US JULY 13 – 15 FOR SCA @ BLOBFEST 2018!
Mod Betty of Retro Roadmap and SCA invite you to the Philadelphia area for our terrifyingly terrific 2018 tour! We’ll experience part of Blobfest, an annual festival commemorating the original 1958 camp classic, THE BLOB, before heading west to along the historic Lincoln Highway through Amish Country to the quirky Haines Shoe House. Our weekend will wrap up with a special SCA-exclusive tour of Philly’s best commercial architecture.
SCA Journal and SCA News
Motel Moderne: Yesterday’s Motels of Tomorrow
By Andrew Wood Early twentieth-century motels1 reflect an emerging Age of Mobility that promised perpetual motion through a fluid continuum of consumer experiences. Western Motel, Bethany, Oklahoma. — Photo by author. With their ersatz rustic cabins, Spanish haciendas, and native ...
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Mount Vernon: An Architectural Identity
By Justin Gunther Throughout the country, in small towns and big cities, Mount Vernon is a constant presence. Top: Stereo card view of Mount Vernon as it appeared in the 1850s before John Augustine Washington, Jr., sold the property. Mount ...
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Dinsmoor as Creative Catalyst: 100 Years of the Garden of Eden in Lucas, Kansas
By Erika Nelson Across the Midwest, rural communities are losing their population to out-migration as family farms close under pressure from an increasingly corporate agricultural industry and decreasing populations translate into loss of business opportunities in small towns. Small Midwestern ...
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SCA Makes History
By Irene Lule The SCA Archive documents the activities and business of the organization from its inception to the present, and is now available at Texas Archival Resources Online. A sampling of photographs documenting the American roadside from the SCA ...
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Behind the Story: The Blue Hole
Assistant Professor of Historic Preservation Christine Henry reveals some of the secrets behind her article in the Spring 2018 Issue of the SCA Journal, “Getting to the Bottom of Ohio’s Mysterious Blue Hole.” Q&A What inspired you to write this ...
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SCA Journal Online | SCA News Online
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SCA Journal Back Issues | SCA News Back Issues
Road Trip!
From the Black Hills of South Dakota to the Jersey Shore, with stops at just about every diner in between, we love our road trips! Join us, and join us on our next adventure.
Upcoming EventsJournal & More
Among the many benefits of SCA membership are our two outstanding printed publications, the SCA Journal and SCA Road Notes. Excerpts here, with full access for members.
Why You Should JoinGet Published!
The SCA offers quality publication opportunities for preservation professionals, academics, authors, independent scholars and enthusiasts. We can’t wait to publish you!
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News & Advocacy
Roadside News | July 2018
FEATURE STORY Eddie's Service Center in Oakley, Kansas. “Eddie’s Service Center is eye catching” —— Barb Glover Photos by Keith A. Sculle, July 2017. A main street where stores are busy with commerce on the Great Plains is often rare. More so a garage in an old gas station, awash with color as the product of recent restoration is even ...
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Roadside News | April 2018
In each issue of Roadside News, the SCA’s quarterly e-newsletter, we highlight stories of interest from around the web. Send your tips to enews@sca-roadside.org. Bringing back 'historic' Myrtle Beach: How Doo Wop motels could make a comeback. Myrtle Beach looks to Wildwood, N.J. as inspiration to restore its remaining Doo Wop motels. Attend a party for the Houston Astrodome. A free ...
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SCA Q&A with Corri Jimenez of Mid-Century Modern Reno
What is happening in Reno, Nevada? Reno’s wonderful collection of mid-century motels exists primarily because Reno was an automobile travel stop in the post war era. Reno is a transportation island, located more than 300 miles from Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Oakland, and is positioned at the intersection of two major roadways, U.S. Highway 40 and ...
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News & Advocacy