Reports, news, and stories on quirky roadside attractions! Not all tips verified -- call ahead! Submit your own tip.
Results 11 to 15 of 189...[Previous 5 items] Page of 38 [Next 5 items]
- Washington, DC - 34-Foot-Tall Tower of 6,800 Fake Lincoln Books
Part of the perhaps-too-slick-for-its-own-good Ford's Theatre Center for Education and Leadership. The books are aluminum replicas. Also here: a replica of Booth's death barn.
Roadsideamerica.com Report...
Ford's Theatre Center for Education and Leadership
- Address:
- 514 10th St. NW, Washington, DC
- Directions:
- Ford's Theatre Center for Education and Leadership. Across the street from Ford's Theatre (where Lincoln was shot) and next to to the Petersen House (where Lincoln died). Part of the Ford's Theatre tour; tickets required in advance.
- Hours:
- Daily 9-4 (Call to verify) Local health policies may affect hours and access.
- Phone:
- 202-347-4833
- Admission:
- Adults $3.75, or $9.75 w/audio tour.
- RA Rates:
- Worth a Detour
Elaborate, permanent photo-op features an old-fashioned camera and pose-with-me statues of Abe Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Brady was famous for his photos of the Civil War and 19th century celebrities.
Roadsideamerica.com Report...
Congressional Cemetery
- Address:
- 1801 E St. SE, Washington, DC
- Directions:
- Walk into the cemetery at the intersection of Potomac Ave. SE and E St. SE. Walk to the first cross path and turn right. Walk about 100 feet and look to the left. You'll see a life-size statue of Abe Lincoln; that's Brady's grave.
- Hours:
- Daylight daily; gated after hours. Office M-F 9-5. (Call to verify) Local health policies may affect hours and access.
- Phone:
- 202-543-0539
- RA Rates:
- Worth a Detour
Tragedy in U.S. History Museum Dies
How Do You Spell Tragedy? C-L-O-S-E-D.
The Tragedy in U.S. History Museum, a thorn in the side of image-conscious St. Augustine, FL, for over 30 years, is no more.
A museum with a theme this twisted could only be the work of a visionary, and it was: L.H. "Buddy" Hough, who got the idea after watching TV news reports of the Kennedy assassination. He opened the museum in 1965 and was immediately thrown in jail for zoning violations. His little house, covered with big signs screaming, " See Jayne Mansfield's death car -- learn the truth!" and, " See human skeletons inside Old Spanish Jail!" didn't fit into St. Augustine's neat tourist package (inc. Oldest Schoolhouse in the US, Fountain of Youth, Spanish Fort).
For the next 20 years Buddy battled the St. Augustine Chamber of Commerce, until the issue was finally resolved in his favor by the Florida Supreme Court. Even then, although Buddy had won the right to keep his museum open, the Chamber of Commerce would insist it was closed whenever we called to check. Buddy, perhaps justifiably leery of the press, wasn't much help, either -- he never answered his phone. We had to travel to the Tragedy in U.S. History Museum repeatedly to make sure that it was still open. It always was, and this claustrophobic nightmare of an attraction was one of our favorites. Where else in America could you eat a picnic lunch next to displays of celebrity death cars and human skeletons?
Buddy died in 1996. His widow, Debra, valiantly kept the museum open, but the responsibility of selling tragedy to carefree Florida vacationers proved too much for her. She closed the museum in March and on Saturday, April 4, Buddy's unique collection of tragedabilia went on the auction block.
Some of the items:
- A 2000-year-old mummy in a coffin.
- Lee Harvey Oswald's bedroom furniture.
- A bad photocopy of Elvis Presley's will.
- An 18th century Spanish jail cell with two human skeletons.
- A forked barbeque utensil, allegedly used by a woman to murder her husband.
- The white Lincoln Continental used by President Kennedy only hours before he was shot in Dallas.
- Bonnie and Clyde's death car, riddled with 137 bullet holes. (There is a rival Bonnie and Clyde death car in Primm, Nevada.)
- The Buick Electra 225 in which actress Jayne Mansfield supposedly was decapitated in 1967. (Photos of the crash scene, also part of the Museum collection, show that she died in a Cadillac.)
Buddy's treasures were expected to sell quickly, according to a family spokesperson. "People like tragedy."
[04/05/1998]- Hours:
- 1998 - closed.
- Status:
- Gone
- Tallahassee, Florida - Automobile Museum - Lincoln Funeral Carriage
This is a great place. The entry fee is a little steep for my blood.. $10 or so, but it's a great place for those who like cars. It's full of all sorts of rare cars, including the Batmobile, the Penguin's Duckmobile, a Tucker, and the carriage that [allegedly] carried the coffin of old Abe Lincoln.
[ann huskey, 11/03/2002]Tallahassee Automobile Museum:RoadsideAmerica.com Team Field Report
- Address:
- 6800 Mahan Drive, Tallahassee, FL
- Directions:
- Tallahassee Automobile Museum. I-10 Exit 209A, southwest side.
- Hours:
- M-F 8-5, Sa 10-5, Su 11-5. Gated after hours. (Call to verify) Local health policies may affect hours and access.
- Phone:
- 850-942-0137
- Admission:
- Adults $17.50
- RA Rates:
- Worth a Detour
Found this vintage postcard, reconsidered our policy to not publish tips about trees shaped like people or animals (sorry, we still aren't interested in cloud shapes). After 50 years, we wonder whether the tree still has any resemblance to Lincoln (or is it now the "Lincoln With Acromegaly Oak"). Did the town attempt to trim the tree every year to maintain the claim?
The postcard caption reminds us that Albany, GA was also the Bird Dog Capital of the World, and the World's Greatest Paper Shell Pecan Center.
[Roadside America Team, 11/24/2000]Tree Shaped like Abe Lincoln's Head:- Hours:
- Gone
- Status:
- Gone
[Previous 5 items] Page of 38 [Next 5 items]