Dixie Before Disney: 100 Years of Roadside Fun

Before Walt Disney built his mammoth theme park, there were the Fairyland Caverns of Rock City Gardens, the glass-bottomed boats of Silver Springs, and Stuckey's Restaurants around each bend. From the Smoky Mountains to the Ozarks, from the Florida coast to the Mississippi gulf, the Southern roadside was a string of attractions--some based on history, some on pure imagination. Dixie Before Disney chronicles the wonderful and wacky history of these tourist spots.

Tourism rose in Dixie just after the Civil War, when Northern millionaires discovered the joys of spending the winter months in balmy Florida. Locales such as St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, and Miami Beach became snowbird playgrounds. Soon the roadsides were alive with eateries like Kentucky Fried Chicken and Horne's, and motels with names like Big Bear Cottages and the Sea Dip Motel. Later, jungle parks, nature sites, and Wild West towns began drawing funseekers. Then, in 1971, Walt Disney World in Orlando eclipsed them all.

For three decades Tim Hollis gathered family memorabilia and met with collectors nationwide. Lavishly illustrated with his findings--vintage photographs, brochures, advertisements, and postcards--Dixie Before Disney will bring back a torrent of memories for anyone who grew up traveling the South.