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Book Cover for: Main Street to Miracle Mile: American Roadside Architecture, Chester Liebs

Main Street to Miracle Mile: American Roadside Architecture

Chester Liebs

Paperback
Out of stock

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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.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
  • Publish Date: Aug 1st, 1995
  • Pages: 269
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 10.19in - 8.50in - 0.54in - 1.47lb
  • EAN: 9780801850950
  • Recommended age: 18-UP
  • Categories: • Buildings - Public, Commercial & Industrial• History - General• General

About the Author

Liebs, Chester: - 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.

Praise for this book

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"

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 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"

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"