Roadside America Museum in Hillsboro, Texas

Carroll Estes spent decades hunting down pieces of the American past—relics from the nineteen-fifties especially—until his collection grew too large to keep to himself. What started as a restoration shop owner's personal hobby has become the Roadside America Museum, housed in a former Ford dealership in Hillsboro, Texas. Atlas Obscura reports that the museum includes oversized Big Boy figures from defunct Texas restaurants, along with an attached general store celebrating the nineteen-forties. But this isn't trying to be history—it's an unabashed celebration of Carroll's idealized memories, particularly his favorite year, nineteen fifty-nine, rather than a faithful historical snapshot. It's less archive than love letter to a decade he misses.

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