Shortly after the Pennsylvania Turnpike opened in 1941, Snyder's Gateway Inn became one of the first businesses to appear. Merle and Marian Snyder opened the restaurant shortly before World War II began and eventually supplied fuel to military convoys. The Turnpike exit at Breezewood was one of the original eleven interchanges, transforming the rural small town into a tourism capital. As a crossroads where people looked for a ride or a transfer, this stretch of the Lincoln Highway grew with motels and restaurants and came to be considered the gateway to the south, a role continued by the Gateway Travel Plaza with lodging, dining, retail, and rest areas.