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Cabin court in 1940s Bennington, VT, Swiss Village

Pine Grove Cabins, Ostego Lake, Michigan, 1940s

their leisure the noise, grime, and chaos of urban life for the charging fees, which also helped to keep out the “riff-raff” or “tin can” tourists
serenity and beauty of the great outdoors. Those looking west to that passed through the country during the Great Depression.
find work and start a new life had a way to travel with their Rustic cabins were another early lodging option for autoists, providing
family and personal possessions. Visiting relatives and friends guests a roof over their heads for a fee, and then charging extra for the mattress
living far away was no longer an arduous journey but an and bedding. These bare-bones shelters could be found by chance scattered
experience, as was throwing your tent in the back seat and hitting along the rural highways of
the open road in search of a new adventure. America, especially west of
We were a country on the the Mississippi, but offered
move in the early 20th little comfort.
century, and the automo- During the Depression,
bile was destined to take homeowners “let” out
us where we were going, rooms in their homes or
on our own terms. turned them into lodging
establishments as a way to
Early Lodging bring in extra money.
Property owners whose
Options land fronted the highway,

By 1930, over 23 built cabins along the
million Americans had road to convert unprof-
climbed into the driver’s itable land into income.
seat. As they hit the open Creative options were
road to realize the American cropping up all over the
dream of seeing the country, country to accommo-
fundamental roadblocks date overnight motorists
impeded their journey and outside of a city or
threatened to derail an town, but availability,
emerging auto tourism suitability, and cost
market. One problem they were inconsistent, especially as
encountered was the condi- you traveled west. Lodging was more about shelter than a part of the
tion and lack of roads to Postcard for the first motel – travel experience. That was about to change with President Roosevelt’s second
accommodate automobile The Milestone Mo-Tel Inn round of his “New Deal” in the 1930s which funded half a million miles of
travel. Roads would need to road construction to support the country’s westward and rural expansion.
be built and paved to bring autoists into the country’s interior Regional guide books were published to help get auto tourists inspired to take
and help drive westward expansion. Another was that no road trips. But new roads and a guidebook only took the motor tourist so far.
national road system existed that linked the country coast-to- They would still need places to eat, stay, and get gas along the way.
coast, and connected states with their neighbors. As a result,
“autoists” had a difficult time navigating backroads and finding
direct routes to help them find their way. And, with no hospitality 1969 postcard of Bristol, Virginia Howard Johnson Motor Lodge and restaurant
and tourist infrastructure in place, motorists hit the open road
not knowing when they would next find gas, a place to eat, and
a suitable place to stay.
In the early days of auto touring people packed tents in their
cars and pitched them by the side of the road when they got
tired. By default, the farmer’s fields or lakeshores became known
as “tourist camps.”
In the early 1920s, the demand by property owners to get
auto tourists off of their land led to the creation of municipally-
owned auto camps that provided parking space and limited
services to autoists. Around 1923, the cost of providing attractive
grounds and services, such as water and kitchen facilities, and
eventually cottages, prompted municipal auto camps to begin

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