Roadside America
I've had my eye on Roadside America, billed as the "World's Greatest Indoor Miniature Village," for a while. It's about two hours west of New York City in Shartlesville, PA and has been operating in its current site since 1953. The village is entirely the vision of one man, Laurence Gieringer, who started making miniature models when he was about five years old. As an adult, he became a carpenter and a painter, and started getting recognized for his miniature work, leading him to move his display to Carsonia amusement park in 1939. In 1941 he began to construct the current warehouse that houses his collection, which is remains how he left it when he passed away in 1963.
Roadside America is currently operated by Gieringer's great-granddaughter and her family and is open every day but Christmas. It is everything that a classic roadside attraction should be and I'm shocked but incredibly grateful that it's still alive after all these years. We arrived later in the day, but there were only a few other people viewing the attraction.
Saying that Roadside America is an indoor miniature village is technically correct, but it definitely doesn't capture the scope and scale of the whole thing accurately. If numbers mean anything to you, RA occupies 8,000 sq feet and includes more than 300 structures, 18 trains, 10,000 hand-made trees, 4,000 miniature people and 21,500 feet of electrical wiring. It has flowing water, 600 lightbulbs and nearly a hundred animations that are controlled by patrons pushing buttons around the display.
The hand-painted signs are wonderful and the entire room is painted to blend in with the scenes. Since the display hasn't been updated since the 60s, everything has a very idyllic, pro-America feel, from the large Statue of Liberty and American flag that loom over the towns, to the streets and shops of SmallTown USA. The level of detail is really mind-blowing—there are zoos, a circus, mountain-top ice skaters, working farms and even a few churchyard cemeteries, that of course I love.
Next door to Roadside America is the Pennsylvania Dutch Haus, which wins the distinction of being the oddest gift shop I've ever been in. It's definitely worth a stop just for the experience, although I was disappointed that neither gift shop had a squished penny machine. Everyone and everything at Roadside America feels stuck in time, which is exactly how I want my roadside attractions to stay. And if nothing else, definitely go to experience the "night scene," which I won't describe because they request that you not take photos because it's "an experience exclusively for our visitors," but just believe me when I say it's so worth it.