Today in Automotive History
1998 Last Day For Roadside America
This day marks the end of the summer season for Roadside America, one of the highway's shrines to roadside culture. The American landscape is dotted with these marvels - giant ketchup bottles, toaster museums, and beer gardens. However, Roadside America is among the most impressive of these projects. Laurence Gieringer spent almost 50 years assembling this miniature replica of the growth of rural America. Model trains race across tiny tracks, mechanical figures turn and wave, and a recording of Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" fills the air every evening at sunset. The entire structure, located in Shartlesville, Pennsylvania, off of U.S. 22, covers 8,800 square feet and is housed in its own roadside structure.