“To support writers, editors, researchers, and historians during the Great Depression, the United States government created a program called The Federal Writers’ Project as part of the Works Project Administration, under FDR’s New Deal. The most famous works coming out of this project include the state travel guides, which have been archived within the Prelinger Library.”

Thumb through some of these guides to see how much is still relevant, and hit the road with the FWP in your pocket.

Here’s New England: A Guide to Vacationland
New Orleans City Guide
California: A Guide to the Golden State
Kentucky: A Guide to the Bluegrass State
A South Dakota Guide
Philiadelphia: A Guide to the Nation’s Birthplace
Mississippi: A guide to the Magnolia State

–Cara Binder