Building Permit Being Filed!

The Building Has Arrived!

The prefab building that will house the Museum of Unremarkable Objects has FINALLY arrived after a 2 month wait!!

The Unremarkable Road Map

April 5 is "National Read a Road Map Day". So let's take a look at the Unremarkable Road Map...

The Turin Papyrus Map is sometimes characterized as the earliest known road map. Drawn around 1160 BC, it depicts routes along dry river beds through a mining region east of Thebes in Ancient Egypt. The Dura-Europos Route map is the oldest known map of (a part of) Europe preserved in its original form.

In 1904, mapmaker Rand McNally had printed its first automobile road map,“New Automobile Road Map of New York City and Vicinity”.

Maps aren't just designed to provide geographic and navigational information. Since the early 1900s, road maps have been designed to advance capitalism, promoting the ventures of businesses and governments, and in the process, influencing where and how people travel.

Service station maps are the most common type of road map you can find. The first free road maps were handed out at the first modern service stations, in 1913. These maps did not actually become widespread until the 1920s. Free road maps were handed out by service stations until the 1973 oil embargo caused fuel shortages, higher prices, and increased competition among service stations. By the 1980s, most oil companies even stopped printing maps branded with their company's name.

Automobile associations produced maps for their members, but these are not commonly found until the 1940s. The American Automobile Association (AAA) maps are the most frequently encountered, and are especially abundant after 1970.

Another common road map you can find are the State Highway Department tourisms maps. These "Official" highway maps were often place at tourist centers on major highways to promote local attractions and the spending of tourist dollars. They also provided plenty of space for Governors to promote their accomplishments for their next election. These maps were most common during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.