Wild Goose Meadows RV Park
18020 Highway 395, Lakeview OR 97630

~ A Little history on RV parks ~

During the 1800s, gypsies would use covered wagons throughout Europe. This innovative technique allowed them to live out of their wagons while being constantly on the move. It is believed these covered gypsy wagons are what sparked the creation of some of the very first RV campers in the United States.

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The first RVs in America were independently built as single units. According to Smithsonian, the first RV was hand built onto a vehicle in 1904. It was illuminated through incandescent lights, and it featured an icebox and a radio. It could sleep up to four adults on bunks.  Pop-Up Campers soon followed.

It wasn’t until 1910 that the first motorized campers started being produced in large quantities and became available for commercial sale. These first RVs provided very minimal temporary comfort. However, they allowed for a good night’s rest and a home-cooked meal.

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As automobiles were becoming more inexpensive, and with incomes on the rise, car sales were skyrocketing and so was the population of camping enthusiasts. People began finding innovative ways to customize cars by hand to have lockers, bunks, and water tanks. These custom-built camper cars were usually in the form of trailers and towables that were hitched to a vehicle.

 

In 1910, the Pierce-Arrow Touring Landau was the first RV to make its debut at the Madison Square Garden auto show. It was comparable to a modern Class B van camper. This original RV featured a back seat that could fold down into a bed, as well as a sink that could be folded down to create more space.

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The first campgrounds for automobile tourists were constructed in the late 1910s. Before that, tourists who couldn't afford to stay in a hotel either slept in their cars or pitched their tents in fields alongside the road. These were called auto camps.