Gieringer began working on his model in 1935, inside his home in Reading, eventually moving to a bigger house that could better accommodate his creation and the people he invited in to see it. By the 1940s, his miniature village had grown to over 100 buildings and more than a thousand human and animal figures. That’s when he purchased a former dance hall, just off I-78 (before there was an I-78) between Harrisburg and Allentown and began constructing an even larger version of his ever-expanding creation.
The aptly named Roadside America opened in 1953, just as the country was hitting the highway in a post-war automobile-driven economic boom. In the decades that followed, families in Ford Galaxies and Plymouth Satellites would pull over to take in the sprawling, idealized, nostalgic version of Pennsylvania in miniature.
(Photo: David Kidd)
The final version of Gieringer’s display included over 300 hand-built structures, 10,000 trees and 4,000 little people. Visitors could activate numerous animations including a circus parade, construction workers and a sawmill. At least 18 electric trains, trolleys and cable cars roamed the set on over 2,000 feet of track. A concrete base supported the 17,700 board feet of lumber, 21,500 feet of electric wire, 18,000 pounds of plaster and 900 pounds of nails used in the diorama’s construction.
Gieringer’s creation lived on after he died in 1963, surviving construction of the Interstate and the vagaries of popular culture. Still a family-owned business, the newest generation has decided they’d rather pursue something of their own. Weathering an unsuccessful three-year search for a buyer, Roadside America was forced to close its doors last March when the state ordered all non-essential businesses to shut down because of COVID. With cases surging again in December, the family reluctantly decided to close for good and auction off the display, piece by piece, until the sale ends later this month. The trains will be sold in a separate auction in the spring. Brought to life as a celebration of times gone by, the “World’s Greatest Indoor Miniature Village,” is itself now a thing of the past.
You can visit the auction here.
