Roadside America
Several years ago, I discovered the John Margolies Roadside America Photograph Archive from the Library of Congress — a collection of roadside attractions photographed between 1968 and 2008.
I wanted an easy way to use these images on websites, so I built a simple API that returns a random photo from the archive along with its description.
I also created a demo site that shows a random image from the collection.
It started as a small experiment — making historic archival photos easier to explore and reuse.
AI Disclosure
This project was originally developed without the use of AI. It has since been updated to a more modern stack with the help of AI.
Links
- Project on GitHub: jeremehancock/Roadside-America-API
- Original Archive: loc.gov/free-to-use/john-margolies...
- Roadside America API: roadside-america.dumbprojects.com
- Demo Site: roadside-america.dumbprojects.com/demo