The evolution of truck stops: From Pony Express stations to tourist meccas, sites offer place to pause, refresh

摘要

The modern-day travel plaza with a movie theater, food court, and gym has its roots in the old West. It can be traced back to the famed Pony Express mail delivery and the stagecoach lines that brought passengers, freight, and mail west. For as long as Americans have been crossing the country, they've needed places to rest, refuel, and get something to eat. For Pony Express riders, who in 1860 began carrying saddlebags of mail along a route from St Joseph MO to Sacramento CA, the way stations were little more than places to swap horses along the 2,000-mile trail.