TAKE A LOOK AROUND
Roadside America
Browse John Margolies’s photographs of motels, diners, neon signs and roadside landmarks. Explore by place, year or theme, and read the stories behind the stops.
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Get to know this siteTHE IDEA
About This Site
Roadside America turns a photographic archive into a road trip through places built to catch your eye. John Margolies photographed teapot gas stations, oversized signs, modest diners and elaborate motel entrances, recording the character of the roadside over several decades. Follow a familiar state, explore a theme such as miniature golf or neon signs, or linger over a single photograph. Stories add context to selected stops, while photo pages keep the location, date and original archive record close at hand. It is a place to notice the details of everyday buildings, including the wonderfully impractical ones.
How to Explore
Open Explore to browse the photographs, then enter a search term or choose a state or province, city, year, decade or theme. Press Apply filters to narrow the results. Select a photograph to see its location, date and archive details, with a link to the original Library of Congress record. Follow a related theme to continue browsing, or open Stories for a closer look at selected places.
GOOD TO KNOW
FAQ
- What kinds of places can I explore?
- The themes include motels, restaurants, gas stations, movie theaters, miniature golf, neon signs and unusually shaped buildings.
- Where do the photographs come from?
- They are John Margolies photographs from the Library of Congress. Photo pages include archive details and links to the original records.
- Can I browse by location or date?
- Yes. Explore lets you filter by state or province, city, year and decade, alongside keywords and themes.
- Do the photographs show what these places look like today?
- They are historical photographs, with dates shown on individual records. A photograph documents a place at that time and does not confirm its present condition.