Main Street to Miracle Mile: American Roadside Architecture / Edition 1

by Chester Liebs

Overview

First published in 1985, Chester Liebs' Main Street to Miracle Mile established the twentieth-century roadside landscape as a subject for serious study. Liebs traces the transformation of commercial development as it has moved from centralized main streets, out along the street car lines, to form the "miracle miles" and shopping malls of today. He also explores the evolution of roadside buildings, from supermarkets and motels to automobile showrooms and drive-in theaters. Both an historical survey and invaluable guide for reading highway landscapes, this classic work—which has inspired numerous studies, museum exhibits, and preservation efforts—is now back in print with new commentary by the author.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801850950
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	08/01/1995
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	269
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Chester H. Liebs is professor of history and was founding director of the Historic Preservation Program at the University of Vermont. He has published widely in areas ranging from reading everyday landscapes to the study of heritage transportation corridors. A Fulbright Scholar, his most recent research involves reading the everyday landscape of Japan.

What People are Saying About This

"Main Street to Miracle Mile is the first book I have found that treats our contemporary American roadside architecture with the serious attention it deserves. Every traveller will relish the insights Liebs provides, and urbanists and architectural historians will welcome the treatment of the strip as a form of contemporary vernacular."

J. B. Jackson

Main Street to Miracle Mile is the first book I have found that treats our contemporary American roadside architecture with the serious attention it deserves. Every traveller will relish the insights Liebs provides, and urbanists and architectural historians will welcome the treatment of the strip as a form of contemporary vernacular.

Editorial Reviews

When Mr. Liebs analyzes the commercial environment as 'a visual medium containing dozens of exhibits that mirror swings in the national mood' he brings us up against ourselves. This is history you can pick out in your own life in your own town.

New York Times Book Review - Denise Scott Brown

Main Street to Miracle Mile is a classic study and will probably remain the standard history of roadside architecture for years to come.

Historic Preservation - Philip Langdon

A serious book but what fun! . . . Combining great pictures with lucid, insightful, and often witty text, it tells the story of what has been growing up along the nation's highways over the last 80 years as the commerce of the cities expanded into the countrysides.

Chicago Tribune - Clarence Petersen

A wonderful, ground-breaking book . . . A serious cultural history by the leading authority in the field, who views his topic with wit and irony.

Boston Globe - Robert Campbell

Main Street to Miracle Mile is a classic study and will probably remain the standard history of roadside architecture for years to come.

— Philip Langdon

Historic Preservation

A serious book but what fun!... Combining great pictures with lucid, insightful, and often witty text, it tells the story of what has been growing up along the nation's highways over the last 80 years as the commerce of the cities expanded into the countrysides.

— Clarence Petersen

Chicago Tribune

When Mr. Liebs analyzes the commercial environment as 'a visual medium containing dozens of exhibits that mirror swings in the national mood' he brings us up against ourselves. This is history you can pick out in your own life in your own town.

— Denise Scott Brown

New York Times Book Review

A wonderful, ground-breaking book... A serious cultural history by the leading authority in the field, who views his topic with wit and irony.

— Robert Campbell

Boston Globe