SCA’s 1998 annual conference explored automobile tourism and its impact on the commercial-built environment in the South, emphasizing the Dixie Highway, an important early 20th century automobile route between Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and Miami, Florida.
Located between flashy Atlantic City and Victorian Cape May, the towns collectively called the Wildwoods are known for their open beaches, great rides, and flamboyant motels. Beginning in the 1950s, the Wildwoods saw a decade of unprecedented growth, with motels adapting the style of the time now referred to as Populuxe, Googie, or Doo-Wop.
Check out the great tour guide created for this conference in what many consider to be the holy grail of roadside architecture: Suburban Metropolis.