Apr 30, 2022,12 - 3pm at our museum, 3907 Pacific Ave, Wildwood NJ
Meet the author Jackson Betz and get your book autographed! If you don’t have a copy, they will be available for purchase at the event. Admission is free, but we have a donation box. The book retails for $24.99 plus tax. RSVP to the event on our Facebook to get important updates!
Jackson Betz, a longtime aficionado of the midcentury modern architecture of the Wildwoods, studied this community as an architecture student at the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Philadelphia.
This architectural diary tells the story of the incredible concentration of midcentury modern motels of Wildwood, New Jersey, from their origin in the Doo Wop decade of Elvis Presley to their whereabouts today. Not many people know that it was local contractors, not architects, who created this trove of asymmetrical, neon-encrusted motels with swooping rooflines and pink pylons, meant to attract vacationing families. This book chronicles their architectural significance and preserves memories of what many of these cheerful, flamboyant buildings looked like before they were demolished by developers, depriving motel neighborhoods of the chance to become landmarked historic districts. In addition to over 200 photos, many never before published, maps pinpoint the location of the motels, some long gone and others stops on today's architecture tours.
Pre-order your copy on Amazon Smile, (https://smile.amazon.com/Motels-Wildwood-Postwar-Jackson-Betz/dp/0764362933/ref=sr_1_1?crid=UKGQN5TJCW34&keywords=Jackson+Betz&qid=1641423347&sprefix=jackson+betz%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-1) and be sure to select Wildwood Historical Society, Inc. as your benefiting charity. After it’s released (March 22 at the time of this writing) it will be available at our museum gift shop and at wildwoodhistoricalmuseum.com/shop