Are We There Yet? A History of Roadside Motels & Cabin Colonies

The word 'motel' has been around since the 1920s but didn't become a regular roadside fixture until the early 1950s. The earliest motels in the New England area were cabins built by homeowners and boarding houses to accommodate the roadside traveler. Soon pre-fabricated cabin colonies and motor courts of the 1930s-1940s paved way for the more modern motels situated along major tourist routes and highways. By 1964, there were an estimated 61,000 roadside lodging sites across the country.

With her talk "Are We There Yet? A History Of Roadside Motels And Cabin Colonies," Jennifer Carroll-Plante will chronicle the development of roadside accommodations and the factors that account for the rise and fall of these architectural attractions.

Jennifer Carroll-Plante is the Executive Director of the Laconia Historical & Museum Society. She has a BA in American History and Women's Studies from UNH and an MA History Museum Administration from Eastern Illinois University. With 15 years of museum experience, she is the former Curator of Canterbury Shaker Village and has also worked for Historic New England, Strawbery Banke, Moffit-Ladd House, Saco Museum (ME), and Sandwich Historical Society (NH). She is currently the Vice President of the Association of Historical Societies of New Hampshire. She lives in Sanbornton.

Thursday, June 9, 7PM
Admission free; donations appreciated
Tuck Museum