The Comfort Station

Traverse City, Michigan With great enthusiasm, people discovered a new-found freedom in the more affordable automobiles that were available after World War I. Without being constricted by train or boat schedules, Americans took to the roads and explored their own country. Certain conveniences previously found on the other modes of transportation, however, needed to be sought out - not only fuel, dining and overnight accomodations, but rest room facilities as well. This "Comfort Station," built in the early 1920s, answered the needs for many new American travelers who were touring about the Traverse City, Michigan area. In an unusual twist, this particular rest room facility was staffed by the "Old Settlers," a group of pioneers who, a half century earlier, had arrived in the northern Michigan wilderness to build their homesteads and farm the land.