OK, So I’m a loser…
One of the things that fascinates me is finding relics of what once was. One thing I like to do is drive old Highways and look for buildings and hints of how important the road used to be. In the days before Interstate Highways and their Canadian equivalent, the roads that are now secondary highways were the vital link to other cities.
Many times now, we zoom by in our cars without giving a second thought or glance to the radidly vanishing history in front of us. Take Michigan Ave. for example. Once you pass Dearborn heading west (this was once the main highway to Chicago from Detroit) there are clusters of motels all over the place for no rime or reason. What was the big tourist attraction that once drew hundreds of tourists to Inkster & Taylor? Was it spill over from Greenfield Village (sorry, I just can’t call it “The Henry Ford”), or was it motels for Air travelers?
The “Tourist Motel” neon sign in my Photograph was taken in St. Joachim, Ontario, that is near…. well nothing. It’s about 25 miles out of Windsor with nothing around. It is located on the old Highway #2 that was first laid out in the 1920’s, and fell into disuse in the 1950’s when Highway 401 became the Highway of choice to Toronto & Montreal.
So take the time to look around and take in the history all around you next time your driving on a former highway. You might be surprised at what you see.
