Motel for tourists along state route before construction of federal interstate highways, 1940. Wigwam Village Inn #2 in Cave City, Kentucky near Mammoth Cave National Park. The motel is located on the Dixie Highway, a highway constructed for automobiles between 1915 and 1927, before the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 authorized the construction of limited-access highways that bypassed many towns and tourist attractions. This motel is still open to visitors. There were seven original Wigwam Villages along tourist routes in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Arizona, and California; the other two operating motels are located on U.S. Route 66.
Photo by Marion Post Walcott. July 1940. Farm Security Administration – Office of War Information Photograph Collection. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)
This image is featured in Exploring Vacation and Etiquette Themes in Social Studies by Cynthia Resor
This is a very interesting picture. I would love to use this in my classroom because you can use this to connect the Farm Security Administration and students own experience because many students go to Cave City.
This source is useful for teachers and their students because it proves a primary source image of what hotel and attractions were available to tourists in the United States in the mid 20th Century.