Roadhouse (premises)

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A roadhouse on China National Highway 209 in Gaoqiao Township, Xingshan County, Hubei. It appears to be used as a rest stop for long-distance buses VM 5135 G209 Gaoqiao to Wujiaping (Xingshan County).jpg
A roadhouse on China National Highway 209 in Gaoqiao Township, Xingshan County, Hubei. It appears to be used as a rest stop for long-distance buses

A roadhouse (Australia and the United States) or stopping house (Canada) is a small mixed-use premises typically built on or near a major road in a sparsely populated area or an isolated desert region that serves passing travellers, providing food, drinks, accommodation, fuel, and parking spaces to the guests and their vehicles. The premises generally consist of just a single dwelling, permanently occupied by a nuclear family, usually between two and five family members.

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In Australia, a roadhouse is often considered to be the smallest type of human settlement. [1] [2]

In Britain, the term was often a synonym for an advanced motel, but roadside pub-restaurant or hotel, depending on use, is more common today. A hotel resembling and having a public house (pub) is widely, nationally, called an inn.

The word's meaning varies slightly by country. The historical equivalent was often known as a coaching inn, providing food, drinks, and rest to people and horses.

North America

Roadhouses along a trail to Klondike, Yukon, 1898 Sheep-camp-dog-team-1898.jpg
Roadhouses along a trail to Klondike, Yukon, 1898

The "roadhouse" or "road house" acts as a restaurant, serving meals, especially in the evenings. It has a bar serving beer or hard liquor and features music, dancing, and sometimes gambling. Most roadhouses are located along highways or roads in rural areas or on the outskirts of towns. Early roadhouses provided lodging for travelers, but with the advent of faster means of transport than walking, horseback riding, or horse-drawn carriages, few now offer rooms to let. Roadhouses have a slightly disreputable image, similar to honky tonks. This type of roadhouse has been portrayed in movies such as Road House (1948), The Wild One (1953), Easy Rider (1969), and Road House (1989).

Historically, roadhouses sprang up when significant numbers of people began to move to the frontier. In Western Canada they were known as stopping houses. From the 1890s in Alaska and the Yukon, beginning with the gold rush, [3] roadhouses were checkpoints where dog drivers (mushers, or dog sledders), horse-driven sleighs, and people on snowshoes, skis, or walking would stop overnight for shelter and a hot meal. Remains of a Klondike Gold Rush roadhouse can be seen today south of Carmacks, Yukon, along the Klondike Highway. [4] One built in 1902 is the Black Rapids Roadhouse; another still operating is Rika's Landing Roadhouse.

Australia

The Queen Bee Roadhouse at Ouyen, Victoria, Australia. Queen Bee Roadhouse Ouyen.jpg
The Queen Bee Roadhouse at Ouyen, Victoria, Australia.

In Australia, a roadhouse is a filling station (service station) in many towns outside of major population areas. A roadhouse sells fuel and generally has an attached "restaurant" (like a café or diner) to sell and serve hot food to travellers. Historically, roadhouses served as bus stops for regional services along with mechanical repair and towing services for travellers, though these are less common in the 2020s.

In some areas such as the Nullarbor Plain, a roadhouse also offers motel-style accommodation and camping facilities. In many areas, the roadhouse may be the only remaining shop and outlet in towns. [5]

Truck stops are like roadhouses, but are located on primary intercity routes and transport hubs within major cities. They provide additional space for short term parking of heavy vehicles, as well as catering to travellers in private cars.

Britain

The Dutch House, a typical British 1930s coaching inn on the busy A20 road in Eltham, Greater London. The Dutch House - geograph.org.uk - 20457.jpg
The Dutch House, a typical British 1930s coaching inn on the busy A20 road in Eltham, Greater London.

In Britain, the early forms of wayside lodgings of this type are coaching inns. As abroad, they were a place along the road for people travelling on foot or by horse to stay at night, but today they are often pub-restaurants without rooms to rent. Many, especially in rural parts, have kept guest accommodation to become bed and breakfasts or country hotels. With the advent of popular travel by motor car in the 1920s and '30s, a new type of roadside pub emerged, often on the new arterial roads and bypasses. They were large establishments offering meals, refreshment and accommodation to motorists and parties travelling by charabanc. The largest pub-restaurants boasted facilities such as tennis courts and swimming pools. Their popularity ended with the Second World War halting recreational road travel, and the advent, post-war, of the drink driving law thwarted the full recovery of the larger instances. Some out-of-town hotels rely on the breaking of long journeys, such as at the Dartford Crossing and Firth of Forth. [6] The term 'motel' is rarely used.

Spain

Post houses (casas de postas) were established in major towns and along principal highways. Post masters provided fresh horses, and sometimes carriages and over-night accommodation for use by Royal officers called Postillones, who were uniformed guides authorised to conduct passengers, goods and messages along specific routes. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hotel</span> Establishment that provides lodging paid on a short-term basis

A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a refrigerator, and other kitchen facilities, upholstered chairs, a flat-screen television, and en-suite bathrooms. Small, lower-priced hotels may offer only the most basic guest services and facilities. Larger, higher-priced hotels may provide additional guest facilities such as a swimming pool, a business center with computers, printers, and other office equipment, childcare, conference and event facilities, tennis or basketball courts, gymnasium, restaurants, day spa, and social function services. Hotel rooms are usually numbered to allow guests to identify their room. Some boutique, high-end hotels have custom decorated rooms. Some hotels offer meals as part of a room and board arrangement. In Japan, capsule hotels provide a tiny room suitable only for sleeping and shared bathroom facilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inn</span> Establishment providing lodging, food, and drink

Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accommodation for horses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motel</span> Hotel catering to motorists

A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionaries after World War II, the word motel, coined as a portmanteau of "motor hotel", originates from the defunct motel named Milestone Mo-Tel in San Luis Obispo, California, which was built in 1925. The term referred to a type of hotel consisting of a single building of connected rooms whose doors faced a parking lot and in some circumstances, a common area or a series of small cabins with common parking. Motels are often individually owned, though motel chains do exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pub</span> Establishment that serves alcoholic drinks

A pub is a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in the late 17th century, to differentiate private houses from those open to the public as alehouses, taverns and inns. Today, there is no strict definition, but CAMRA states a pub has four characteristics:

  1. is open to the public without membership or residency
  2. serves draught beer or cider without requiring food be consumed
  3. has at least one indoor area not laid out for meals
  4. allows drinks to be bought at a bar
<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klondike Gold Rush</span> 1896–1899 migration to Yukon, Canada

The Klondike Gold Rush was a migration by an estimated 100,000 prospectors to the Klondike region of Yukon, in north-western Canada, between 1896 and 1899. Gold was discovered there by local miners on August 16, 1896; when news reached Seattle and San Francisco the following year, it triggered a stampede of prospectors. Some became wealthy, but the majority went in vain. It has been immortalized in films, literature, and photographs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tavern</span> Place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food

A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that has a license to put up guests as lodgers. The word derives from the Latin taberna whose original meaning was a shed, workshop, stall, or pub.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bar (establishment)</span> Establishment serving alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises

A bar, also known as a saloon, a tavern or tippling house, or sometimes as a pub or club, is an establishment retail business that serves alcoholic beverages, such as beer, wine, liquor, cocktails, and other beverages such as mineral water and soft drinks. Bars often also sell snack foods, such as crisps or peanuts, for consumption on their premises. Some types of bars, such as pubs, may also serve food from a restaurant menu. The term "bar" refers to the countertop where drinks are prepared and served, and by extension to the overall premises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Resort</span> Self-contained commercial establishment which attempts to provide for most of a vacationers wants

A resort is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel is frequently a central feature of a resort and the term resort may be used for a hotel that provides an array of entertainment and recreational activities. Some resorts are also condominium complexes that are timeshares or owned fractionally or wholly owned condominium. A resort is not always a commercial establishment operated by a single company, but in the late 20th century, that sort of facility became more common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beer garden</span> Outdoor area in which beer, other drinks, and local food are served

A beer garden is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coaching inn</span> Historical inn serving coach travellers

The coaching inn was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point (layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of travellers, for food, drink, and rest. The attached stables, staffed by hostlers, cared for the horses, including changing a tired team for a fresh one. Coaching inns were used by private travellers in their coaches, the public riding stagecoaches between one town and another, and the mail coach. Just as with roadhouses in other countries, although many survive, and some still offer overnight accommodation, in general coaching inns have lost their original function and now operate as ordinary pubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truck stop</span> Refuelling facility for truck drivers

A truck stop, known as a service station in the United Kingdom, and a travel center by major chains in the United States, is a commercial facility which provides refueling, rest (parking), and often ready-made food and other services to motorists and truck drivers. Truck stops are usually located on or near a busy road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balladonia, Western Australia</span> Roadhouse community in Western Australia

Balladonia is a small roadhouse community located on the Eyre Highway in Western Australia. It is the first stop east of Norseman on the journey east across the Nullarbor Plain. Between Balladonia and Caiguna is a 146.6-kilometre (91.1 mi) stretch of the highway which is one of the longest straight stretches of road in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moonbi</span> Town in New South Wales, Australia

Moonbi is a village situated on the New England Highway 20 kilometres north of Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia. It is nestled at the foot of the Moonbi Range and is part of the Tamworth Regional Council local government area. Moonbi is located a few kilometres to the north of the town of Kootingal. At the 2006 census, Moonbi had a population of 357 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian pub</span>

An Australian pub or hotel is a public house in Australia, an establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. They may also provide other services, such as entertainment, meals and basic accommodation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hotels in Toronto</span>

Hotels in Toronto have been some of the most prominent buildings in the city and the hotel industry is one of the city's most important. The Greater Toronto Area has 183 hotels with a total of almost 36,000 rooms. In 2010, there were 8.9 million room nights sold. Toronto is a popular tourist destination, with it having the 6th highest room occupancy rate in North America, but about two thirds of rooms are taken by commercial, government, or convention travellers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drinking establishment</span> Business

A drinking establishment is a business whose primary function is the serving of alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises. Some establishments may also serve food, or have entertainment, but their main purpose is to serve alcoholic beverages. There are different types of drinking establishment ranging from seedy bars or nightclubs, sometimes termed "dive bars", to 5,000 seat beer halls and elegant places of entertainment for the elite. A public house, informally known as a "pub", is an establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises in countries and regions of British influence. Although the terms are increasingly used to refer to the same thing, there is a difference between pubs, bars, inns, taverns and lounges where alcohol is served commercially. A tavern or pot-house is, loosely, a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and, more than likely, also be served food, though not licensed to put up guests. The word derives from the Latin taberna and the Greek ταβέρνα/taverna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Forks Hotel</span> Roadhouse in Dawson City, Canada

The Grand Forks Hotel was a prominent roadhouse during the Klondike Gold Rush, situated near Dawson City in the Yukon region of Canada.

White Horse Inn is a heritage-listed former residence, inn, bank and restaurant at Market Street, Berrima, Wingecarribee Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1834 to 1850 by Edward Davies. It is also known as Commercial Bank of Australia, Rosebank, Oldbury's Inn, Holsberry Inn, Mail Coach Inn, and Royal Mail Coach Inn. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

References

  1. I spent the night in Australia's smallest town. Here's what I saw
  2. "Some Roadhouses of the Lonely Territory". The Sydney Morning Herald . No. 31, 357. New South Wales, Australia. 2 July 1938. p. 13. Retrieved 4 September 2023 via National Library of Australia.
  3. Historic Roadhouses Along the Yukon
  4. The Rapids Roadhouse: History, Black Rapids website
  5. "Meet the last two residents of 'Australia's smallest town, on Australia's longest road'". ABC News. 7 May 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  6. Gutzke, David W (2005). "Improved Pubs and Road Houses: Rivals for Public Affection in Interwar England". www.breweryhistory.com. The Brewery History Society. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  7. From the latest collections of Juan de la Reguera y Valdelomar (Google book) (in Spanish)