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.

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