“On the Road Again”: Don’t Forget the Small Towns! – Prescott Valley

As the mode of transportation changed from wagons to trains to the affordable automobile and roads were built across the country, families began a process of “leisure travel” that the automobile could provide. The “new tourist” was no longer restricted by a train’s timetable or its set route. The wide open spaces and the off-the-beaten path were theirs to explore. As roads turned into superhighways, small town America got left behind. Working with local artistic talent and others, communities worked to attract these tourists to their towns and/or make it inviting to potential settlers. This presentation will chronologically show communities using roadside architecture, murals, amusement parks, local historic reenactments to week long festivals of folk heroes/tall tale characters, to the longest garage sale to attract tourist.

Dr. Jaquay has a B.A degree in Anthropology, a M.A. in Geography and a PhD. in Historical Geography. She has traveled extensively visiting all seven continents, over forty countries, hiked parts of the Bhutanese Himalayas, the Inca trail in Peru, and walked a section of the Great Wall of China. Jaquay has visited many out-of-the way islands such as: Robinson Crusoe, Easter, Tahiti and the Galapagos for their archaeological, historical and geographical mysteries. Her travels and research is compiled into a variety of presentations which she shares with students and adults in Arizona and across the country. She has published about Arizona’s Native Americans and Bed and Breakfasts in Costa Rica.