Term of Award

Spring 1997

Degree Name

Master of Arts in History

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (open access)

Department

Department of History

Committee Chair

Craig H. Roell

Committee Member 1

Barbara Hendry

Committee Member 2

Jonathon Bryant

Abstract

The history of the automobile is a vital part of the history of the twentieth century United States The automobile began to significantly reshape America following the second World War. The construction of the enormous National Interstate and Defense Highway System assured the dominance of personally-owned automobile as the mode of transportation in the United States. Improved highways made far-flung suburban communities possible and the 41,000 miles of Interstate highway traversing our nation and entering our metropolitan areas assured crowded city streets and time-consuming traffic jams.

What however, has the Interstate system done to the rural areas of our nation? This examination of Statesboro, Georgia gives some insight The invasion of Interstate 95 down the eastern coastal area of Georgia radically altered the existing traffic and tourism patterns that had slowly developed since the 1920s and rose to its highest levels in the 1950s and 1960s. Statesboro—as its Police shoulder badges attested—was known as the "Tourist City" and relied upon Northeastemers visiting Florida for a significant portion of its yearly income. The main travel artery that carried this traffic before the Interstate system was U. S Highway 301, which ran through the heart of downtown Statesboro. The Interstate system could have a profound effect upon rural communities, depending upon where the highway was routed. In Statesboro's case. Interstate 95 was constructed fifty miles away, effectively cutting the community off from the traffic that would use the newer road The loss of tourist traffic, due to I-95's construction was an additional hardship upon Statesboro.

Statesboro's tourism memory and the reaction to the Interstate are the heart of this work, as well as a look at where Statesboro is today and efforts to revitalize some tourist traffic on the old regional highway. Along the way, the changing world of highway travel will also be examined, paying special attention to the "homogenization" of the roadside experience, from chain restaurants, to impersonal motels, to the death of small towns.

OCLC Number

1029734304

Copyright

This work is archived and distributed under the repository's standard copyright and reuse license for Theses and Dissertations authored 2005 and prior, available here. Under this license, end-users may copy, store, and distribute this work without restriction. For questions related to additional reuse of this work, please contact the copyright owner. Copyright owners who wish to review or revise the terms of this license, please contact digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu.

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