Rest area Site Tour

Selecting an appropriate site was the first phase in the rest area development process. In choosing a site developers considered a number of factors; spacing distances between sites, the availability of drinking water, the ability to acquire the land adjacent to the Interstate, the scenic qualities of an area and the geological and historical features of an area. Each factor was weighed to determine suitable locations and further site development schemes.

The site plan was the combination of the circulation plan and the landscape plan, the objective of both was to create scenic and relaxing environments for those stopping to use rest areas. Circulation plans varied widely depending on the size and topography of a site. When space allowed winding walking paths would provide drivers the opportunity for moderate exercise. Walking paths often connected a series of picnic tables and shelters and provided access to scenic lookout points; providing users with freedom of movement even in moderately sized sites. Standardization guidelines recommended that developers retain natural plantings and landscape elements to provide a sense of local place. It became common practice for developers to enhance the existing landscape with additional plantings appropriate to the natural region. 

The toilet building was most often designed to be the architectural center piece of a rest area site. Early designs were modest in form and materials, growing ever larger over the decades. These buildings reflected the popular architectural trends of the mid-century period while functionally serving Interstate motorists.

Rest area structures include the constructed elements of a site designed to provide a functional service to stopping motorists. Picnic and information shelters were commonly designed to complement the architectural quality of the toilet building. However, in many examples picnic shelters grew into exaggerated and even whimsical designs that punctuated their sites in an entertaining manner.

During the 1960s and 70s colorful mosaic tile work was the most common decoration in toilet building interiors. Such decoration varied in detail and application, from simple designs to elaborate mosaics depicting scenes of local culture and landscape.  

The use of commemorative placards in rest area sites finds precedent in roadside parks of the 1940s. Their inclusion became one of the tenants of the site selection process for both roadside parks and safety rest areas. Rest area sites provided a highly visible venue for historical and commemorative signage which served as an educational way of engaging motorists using the sites. Large scale works of public art also began to find residence in rest areas in the 1960s. Used as a way of attracting the attention of motorists as they approached a site and as a form of amusement once inside.