Take a Digital Texas Road Trip Through John Margolies’ Roadside America

Take A Digital Texas Road Trip Through John Margolies’ Roadside America

Travel from Texarkana to El Paso via the Library of Congress collection

By Sabrina LeBoeuf and Peter Warren

For more than 40 years, John Margolies traveled across America, keeping his eyes on the road and anything on the side of it. When he wasn’t driving, he was peering through the lens of a camera, photographing the weird and the whimsical, and immortalizing roadside attractions. Margolies passed away in 2016, but thanks to the Library of Congress, his collection of 11,710 photos remains alive in an online database. The John Margolies Roadside America Photograph Archive can be overwhelming, even in a world where people endlessly scroll through Instagram feeds.So, we’ve curated an exhibit of Texas-related photos for you. Let’s call it a digital road trip. There’s no reason not to come along for the ride—it’s completely free of stop-and-go traffic, missed turns, and kids in the backseat asking, “Are we there yet?” Away we go.

My Trips

Enter your email to bookmark Texas Highways stories and plan future travel.

Welcome back! Would you like to bookmark this story?

The email address is not signed up. Would you like to subscribe to our emails?

By clicking 'Sign Up,' you agree to receive email communications from Texas Highways. You can opt-out at any time by clicking 'Unsubscribe' at the bottom of any message. Read more about the types of emails we send on the Newsletter page.

Thanks for signing up. Click the 'Save Story' button below to bookmark this story.

You have no bookmarks currently saved. Save a story to come back to it anytime.