Wyoming's FIRST Roadside Beautification Area - Lusk, WY
N 42° 44.875 W 104° 28.920
13T E 542393 N 4732952
A Wyoming Historical Marker at the rest area on the south side of US 18/20, a little over two miles southwest of Lusk, notes this as Wyoming's first roadside beautification area, still blazing trails in the 21st century.
Waymark Code: WM12GAF
Location: Wyoming, United States
Date Posted: 05/22/2020
Views: 2
Besides being Wyoming's first roadside beautification area, there are some other firsts to be found on the grounds:
- First flush toilets, heated restrooms, sewer system, and hot/cold water in a Wyoming rest area
- This is the first Wyoming rest area that saw upgrades in the 21st century.
- The original steel arch picnic arbor roof supports seen in the inset have been repurposed as landscaping elements.
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The marker has an inset showing the original incarnation of the rest area, and it elaborates:
Although paved highways have existed in the U.S. since the 1920s, rest areas are a more recent feature of highway travel. In the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson and First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson promoted a nationwide effort to beautify highways through landscaping, removal of billboards and construction of enhanced rest area facilities. This effort let to congressional passage of the Highway Beautification Act of 1965.
In February 1966, the Wyoming Highway Department, contracted a Wyoming architect to design the Lusk Rest Area as Wyoming's first roadside beautification area. The original, built by a local contractor, included the historic Lathrop Monument, and featured the first flush toilets, heated restrooms, sewer system, and hot and cold water in a Wyoming rest area. With shelter arbors, picnic tables, fire grills and children’s recreational facilities including a slide, merry-go-round and swings, it quickly became a popular local picnic area.
Over the years, Wyoming rest areas set design standards using innovation and a prototype design for passive solar buildings in the 1980s. In 1998, Wyoming Department of Transportation partnered with Federal Highway Administration and a Wyoming architect to develop an updated rest area prototype design, incorporating passive solar with geothermal elements to create maximum energy efficiency.
The Lusk Rest Area was selected as Wyoming's first 21st century rest area upgrade. The original steel arch picnic arbor roof supports were reused as landscape architectural elements and the site reopened to the public in November, 2000.
FIRST - Classification Variable: Item or Event
Date of FIRST: 02/01/1966
More Information - Web URL: Not listed
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