# Roadside America co-founder Ken Smith RIP **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 4, 2026, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadside-america-co-founder-ken-smith-rip/1032822 "2026-09-04T16:58:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadside-america-co-founder-ken-smith-rip/1032822/1 "2026-09-04T16:58:51Z")
[Roadside America Announces the Passing of Co-founder Ken Smith](https://www.roadsideamerica.com/press/releases/r20260831-PassingOfKenSmith.html) From the news release: _Smith had a ceaseless passion to explore the American roadside and document offbeat attractions. His friendly and curious nature engaged artists, attraction creators, and business owners in visits and interviews he conducted over four decades. As part of the Roadside America team, Smith surfaced and celebrated thousands of otherwise obscure places, changing the way millions of travelers planned road trips, and inspiring others to appreciate and share quirky destinations._ Anyone doing research for a “Great American Road Trip” in the last couple decades has surely used the Roadside America website. (And if they haven’t, they should have). Even in today’s world of travel blogs and sites like Roadtrippers, nothing has the scope of the website Ken co-created. Here’s hoping the team at Roadside America can carry on with his vision for years to come. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadside-america-co-founder-ken-smith-rip/1032822/2 "2026-09-04T17:47:42Z")
Sorry to hear that. I bought the book **Roadside America** ages ago and read and re-read it. It’s woefully out of date now, but the website is kept current. Whenever we go anyplace far from home I check it out to see what off-the-wall Trip Advisor is missing. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadside-america-co-founder-ken-smith-rip/1032822/3 "2026-09-04T21:42:13Z")
To help you avoid any confusion on your journeys thru the Internet, **Roadside America** _was_ an attraction in Shartlesville, PA (closed permanently in 2020) that kept people amused with an indoor miniature train city for 85 years. It was an experience, believe you me. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadside-america-co-founder-ken-smith-rip/1032822/4 "2026-09-04T22:49:48Z")
Here’s the website in question: [https://www.roadsideamerica.com/](https://www.roadsideamerica.com/) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadside-america-co-founder-ken-smith-rip/1032822/5 "2026-09-04T22:53:50Z")
That seems like a dangerous rabbit hole to head down and I don’t have 42 consecutive hours to invest right now. Maybe later. Definitely later. Thanx. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadside-america-co-founder-ken-smith-rip/1032822/6 "2026-09-05T01:45:53Z")
I was there a few times as a kid 55 years ago +/-. It was pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadside-america-co-founder-ken-smith-rip/1032822/7 "2026-09-05T02:24:49Z")
🎵 “God, bless America, land that I love…” 🎶 (Wasn’t that a hoot?)