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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NEON PRIDE

From the latest issue of the SCA Journal – “Neon Comes Out: San Francisco’s Neon Gay Bar Signs of the 1960s and 1970s.”

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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

NEON PRIDE

From the latest issue of the SCA Journal – “Neon Comes Out: San Francisco’s Neon Gay Bar Signs of the 1960s and 1970s.”

Read Article

SCA EVENTS

<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.
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Consuming Landscapes

ZOOM EVENT: Thomas Zeller – Consuming Landscapes: What We See When We Drive and Why It Matters

Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at 8:00pm EDT: Join Thomas Zeller as he presents a talk based on his book, “Consuming Landscapes: What We See When We Drive and Why It Matters,” as he explains how what we see while driving reflects our view of societies and ourselves. Register
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Mark Havens Out of Season

ZOOM RECORDING: Daniel Vieyra and Mark Havens – Wildwood: Looking Back to America’s Promised Future

Recorded Wednesday, May 17, 2023: Join architect and preservationist Daniel Vieyra and photographer Mark Havens as they present the rich midcentury modern motel architecture of Wildwood, New Jersey from two distinct viewpoints.
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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

Next Exit: Live Bait - Hayward, Wisconsin

Next Exit: Live Bait – Hayward, Wisconsin

Large fish advertise a fishing tackle shop in Hayward, Wisconsin.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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“Lumbering” Into the Past: Fantastic Chicago Ghost Signs Uncovered

“Lumbering” Into the Past: Fantastic Chicago Ghost Signs Uncovered

Last summer, Bob Behounek, a retired sign painter, discovered three ghost signs on wood-siding boards about eight inches in height. Advertisements on this material are rare, usually limited to fences and water tanks atop buildings. The signs were in remarkably fresh condition and exposed when a newer siding was removed as a step in the tear-down of a house built in the 1880s.
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Dr. Patrick’s Postcard Roadside

Blue and White Restaurant, Warren, Pennsylvania

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.
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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 ...
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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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