The first American gasoline-powered car appeared in 1893, and by 1920 there were 10 million automobiles in the United States. Early drivers had to contend with a disorganized mishmash of local routes, and travelling any sort of long distance was, at best, a confusing nightmare.

The United States Numbered Highway System was officially launched in 1926, designating odd numbers to north/south routes, and even numbers to east/west routes. US Route 1 reaches from the US/Canada border at Fort Kent, Maine, to the Florida Keys. Serving most of the major US cities along the east coast, for decades it was the primary route by which vacationers from the north made their annual pilgrimage to Florida.

Hotels and restaurants were built in great numbers along both Routes 1 and 301, a spur of Route 1 that runs through the South Atlantic states and also bore a great deal of traffic from the 1930's to the 1960's.

Due to their convergence at Richmond, the largest concentration of hotels along Routes 1 and 301 occurred between Ashland and Petersburg, Virginia. Mr. O'Gorman explained that the best photographic record of these bygone establishments are postcards, which were a commonly used advertising medium of the period.

The interstate highway system was launched in 195, and by 1964 Interstate 95 connected Washington, DC to the North Carolina border. Routes 1 and 301 saw an immediate decline in traffic, which was the death knell for most of their roadside attractions. In the words of journalist Charles Kuralt: