When I was an undergrad at USC I chose to write a research paper on roadside vernacular architecture - fancy term for those oversized and usually outlandish buildings proprietors constructed along main thoroughfares to attract drivers to their businesses. A post WWII trend found families across the US taking to the country’s expanding highway system in their station wagons and airstream trailers set to explore our National Parks or venture cross-country on Route 66 (which would become known as ‘The Mother Road’.) And so it was, in the mid-twentieth century, that the burgeoning American car culture spurred the development of diners in the shape of enormous coffee pots, hotels with two-story teepee cottages and refreshment stands masquerading as giant oranges.

Coincidentally, during this same time period, major fossil discoveries ocurred creating ‘dinosaurs fever.’ These old bones captured the nation’s imagination and soon we saw everything from Godzilla stomping across the silver screen to enthusiasts building mini Brontosaurus in their backyards. Business owners anxious to capitalize on the craze installed large scale beasties at campgrounds, built dino theme parks, incorporated them into hotel signage and created plaster-over-chickenwire models on top of their truck stops.

Now more than fifty years later, many of these structures have disappeared from the landscape or fallen into disrepair. But they continue to generate a nostalgic fan base that have written guidebooks and compiled online archives to document and share the locations of those remaining.

One of the most extensive online resources I’ve seen has been compiled by a woman named Debra Jane Seltzer whose site RoadsideArchitecture.com categorizes these structures by theme (junk food, cows, figures, etc.) with a great section on dinosaurs (my favorite) subdivided by US states along with their specific locations. SO all of this to say, if you’re beginning to dream of summer vacations and have a junior paleontologist at home you may want to consider your own modern prehistoric advenure! Renting an RV for a week could provide an economical holiday and allow you to explore roadside dinos in your neck of the woods.

All images in this post are from RoadsideArchitecture.com and you can also find more of Debra Jane’s finds at her blog Roadside Nut. Below is a sampling of the brilliant dinos.

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