British Columbia by the Road

The definitive study of automobility and how it has influenced regional perceptions not only in British Columbia but also elsewhere in North America, if not worldwide. -- John A. Jakle, co-author of The Garage: Automobility and Building Innovation in America's Early Auto Age In this book, "beautiful" and "British Columbia" go together like a licence plate and a car. Bradley reveals how a mid-twentieth-century coalition of promoters provided scenic roads and outdoor history museums for the newly emerging motoring public. -- Thomas Zeller, University of Maryland, author of Driving Germany: The Landscape of the German Autobahn, 1930-1970 We know little about the history of automobility in Canada. Full of compelling stories, images, and anecdotes, this look at roadside attractions invites us to think historically about communication lines and how they are embedded in the places, spaces, and memories with which we live. -- John C. Walsh, historian and co-editor of Placing Memory and Remembering Place in Canada

Although cars and roads promised freedom, they offered drivers a curated view of the landscape. This book takes readers on a journey through the history of roads, highways, and motoring in British Columbia's Interior, a remote landscape composed of plateaus and interlocking valleys, soaring mountains and treacherous passes.

In British Columbia by the Road, Ben Bradley takes readers on an unprecedented journey through the history of roads, highways, and motoring in British Columbia’s Interior, a remote landscape composed of plateaus and interlocking valleys, soaring mountains and treacherous passes.

Challenging the idea that the automobile offered travellers the freedom of the road and a view of unadulterated nature, Bradley shows that an array of interested parties – boosters, businessmen, conservationists, and public servants – manipulated what drivers and passengers could and should view from the road.

When it came to roads and highways, planners and builders had two concerns: grading or paving a way through “the wilderness” and opening pathways to new parks and historic sites. They understood that the development of a modern road network would lead to new ways of perceiving BC and its environment. Although cars and roads promised freedom, they offered drivers a curated view of the landscape that shaped the province’s image in the eyes of residents and visitors alike.