Vehicles and Road Transportation

The largest of our exhibits discusses the history of road vehicles through time.  From literal horse power to the streamlined automobile!

When walking visitors through the exhibits, pay attention to the use of wagon bells and the various sounds that were frequent on the road, wooden wagon wheels, the importance of bicycles to the Good Roads movement, and the economic impact of the automobile industry.

At the end, the exhibit touches on the growth of the automobile industry, concluding with automobile designs of the jet age.

Tying into the automobile portion of the Vehicles through Time exhibit, our tour touches on the advent of the Eisenhower Interstate System.

These highways replaced roads like US 40/The National Road as main thoroughfares by demand, and changed the road trip and roadside tourism landscape forever.

Included in this exhibit is a summary of the 1919 Cross-Country Motor Convoy, a military convoy which young future-President Dwight Eisenhower had participated and which gave him insight into the need for reliable roads.

Phase II

A rendering of the Phase II Vehicles and Interstates exhibits.

This area is slated to be among the most drastically changed exhibit when funds are raised for Phase II.

New walls will be constructed to support additional exhibit information, interactive and multimedia elements, and several additional artifacts.