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Welcome centers in the United States

Buildings located at either entrances to states on major ports of entry From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Welcome centers, also commonly known as visitors' centers, visitor information centers, or tourist information centers, are buildings located at either entrances to states on major ports of entry, such as interstates or major highways, e.g. U.S. Routes or state highways, or in strategic cities within regions of a state, e.g. Southern California, Southwest Colorado, East Tennessee, or the South County region of Rhode Island. These welcome centers, which first opened on May 4, 1935 next to U.S. Route 12 in New Buffalo, Michigan, are locations that serve as a rest area for motorists, a source of information for tourists or new residents that enter a state or a region of a state, and a showcase for the state.[1][2] These features make welcome centers, visitors centers, and service plazas, which are similar to welcome centers, distinct from rest areas. In Alaska and Hawaii, their unique geographical locations preclude them from having welcome centers as known in the rest of the U.S.

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Nomenclature

Welcome centers can be thought as covering several different concepts: state-owned and operated welcome centers near a state's border, state or municipal-owned and operated visitors centers in cities or rural areas, and service plazas on toll roads, e.g. the New Jersey Turnpike or MassPike, that are either state-owned and -operated, state-owned but operated by a private company, or privately owned and operated. (Visitors' centers in cities can either be owned and operated by the state, a county, a municipality, a local Chamber of Commerce, or be a joint effort between a county and/or a city and a Chamber of Commerce to support and publicize a well-known tourist district, city, or region.) States have different ways of naming welcome centers, but some of the most common ones are welcome centers, visitors centers, or visitors information centers.

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Locations

The welcome centers are normally located the first few exits into a state, e.g. Exit 2 on I-84 in Connecticut entering from New York State. However, some welcome centers, visitors' centers, or service plazas are located some distance away from a state's border, serving certain cities, e.g. Johnson City, Tennessee or Oceanside, California's local Chamber of Commerce, major cities, such as New Orleans, Louisiana, or well-known tourist districts, such as the Pigeon Forge, Tennessee tourist district.

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Facilities

The welcome centers and service plazas usually consist of a large building or buildings with public restroom facilities, free brochures relating to nearby attractions, lodging, and dining, a free official state highway map updated at regular intervals, staffed desks for people to ask for assistance, picnic areas, nearby restaurants or onsite dining facilities, gas stations, and large parking lots. In addition to the aforementioned, there is normally a large flagpole with the state flag in front of the welcome center.

In large cities like New Orleans or San Francisco, smaller cities like Astoria, Oregon or Vicksburg, Mississippi, as well as rural areas, visitor centers may be in a building of varied size with most of the above amenities included, i.e. restroom facilities, staffed desks for people to ask for assistance, nearby restaurants, free brochures relating to nearby attractions, lodging, and dining. In addition, an urban or rural visitors center may have things of local, regional, or even national interest, such as rare and/or antiquated artifacts or small knickknacks (e.g. coins, stamps, or sports memorabilia).

Differences in administration of welcome centers

Each state varies in its administration of welcome centers. For example, in Georgia, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) constructs and maintains its 9 welcome centers, while in Tennessee, the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development constructs and maintains Tennessee's 14 welcome centers.

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List of official state welcome centers, visitors' centers and service plazas in the United States

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Below is a list of welcome centers, visitors' centers and service plazas, as distinct from rest areas, in the United States, derived from a combination of state tourism websites and the Interstate Rest Areas website.[3] The list includes the state agency responsible for the welcome centers and service plazas; the interstate, U.S. Route, state highway, or local street address that the welcome center or service plaza is located at; the city, the county or other political subdivision that the welcome center or service plaza's city is located in; and explanatory footnotes.

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Footnotes

  1. Note that in this list, for purposes of simplicity, welcome center refers to service plazas, visitors' centers, and de facto welcome centers. In addition, any directional references not mentioned in a location means that the exit can be accessed in both directions. (NOTE: No representation is given of the accuracy of the exit numbers, locations, addresses, or directions of the welcome centers, service plazas, or visitors centers.)
  2. California's welcome centers are administered and maintained by Visit California, formerly the California Travel & Tourism Commission.[7][8] Some of these welcome centers are also co-administered by local organizations.
  3. Connecticut abolished county governments in 1960, so all counties in Connecticut are given only as geographical references.[11]
  4. Massachusetts abolished some counties' governments per legislative action in 1997, but some other counties, such as Dukes County and Bristol County, have retained their governmental structures. In this list, all counties in Massachusetts are given only as geographical references.[28]
  5. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and the West Wendover, Nevada, Community Development Department's Tourism and Convention Bureau administer Nevada's welcome centers.
  6. The Ohio Department of Transportation's Facilities and Equipment Management Division owns, administers, and maintains Tourist Information Centers (TICs) in Ohio.[45][46]
  7. Rhode Island's counties' governmental functions have been limited to acting as court administrative and sheriff corrections boundaries since 1846. Therefore, in this list, all counties in Rhode Island are given only as geographical references.[53][54]
  8. Utah's welcome centers are administered and maintained by the Utah Office of Tourism, which is a subsidiary office of the Governor's Office of Economic Development.
  9. Vermont's welcome centers are administered and maintained by the Vermont Information Centers Division, which is a division of the Department of Buildings and General Services, which is, in turn, a subsidiary department of the Vermont Agency of Administration.
  10. Virginia has 38 independent cities, which are politically equivalent to counties.
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References

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