John and Lenore Weiss sent this photo from a trip they took last year. They stopped in Clarks, Nebraska, and spoke with Norm Manstedt, who was having the building restored that features this Lincoln Highway mural. It is on Millard Street, the original LH through the small town. Lenore says, “New siding frames the mural. it will house a lawn and garden business with a small shop in front. John talked to this fellow for quite a while and he seems to be interested in promoting the Lincoln Highway.”
Above, The 10 Millionth Ford (with Lincoln Highway markings) arrives at San Francisco, California, 1924. Drive Frank Kulick is handing Mayor J. Rolph a letter from Mayor Hylan of New York City. Courtesy University of Michigan, Special Collections Library, lhc3000.
A transcontinental tour of Ford Model Ts was launched on May 5 in honor of the car’s centennial. The “Sea to Sea by T” tour is traveling from Baltimore to Los Angeles via Route 40 and Route 66, missing the Lincoln Highway but nonetheless of note to old car and highway enthusiasts. The cars were shipped to Baltimore last month and the participants flew in May 3rd to start the tour. A sampling of overnight stops includes Springfield MO on May 13; Amarillo TX on May 17; Albuquerque NM on May 21; Williams AZ on May 24-25; and arrive LA on May 28. Details are scarce; the national Model T Club recommends contacting the Model T Ford Club of Southern California c/o Lee Chase (323) 938-4601, though most of what they know is reported here.
Also note that the Model T Ford Club of America and Ford Motor Company will honor the 100 year birthday of the Model T with an official celebration July 21-26, 2008 at the Wayne County Fairgrounds (861 Salisbury Road N) in Richmond, Indiana, which is 60 miles east of Indianapolis & 35 miles west of Dayton, Ohio. Click the logo above for more info.
Henry Ford chose not to align with the Lincoln Highway Association or any road that depended on private funding, but his son Edsel supported their efforts, most famously with a tour of the 10 Millionth Model T along the Lincoln Highway in 1924.
The Abbottstown Beautification Project is a capital campaign to improve the Center Square located in the middle of the Lincoln Highway in Adams County, Pennsylvania. Personalized bricks and other sponsorship opportunities will help fund brick sidewalks, colonial era lighting, crosswalks, and landscaping. Also included is a large, lighted flagpole in the center of the traffic circle and the Abbottstown schoolhouse bell and cupola on the northwest corner. Here are the four corners plus a Lincoln Highway mural. Photos by Becky Fengfish.
Abbottstown is the eastern end of the 200-mile-long Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor in Pennsylvania. Those wanting a brochure can contact Becky Fengfish at bfengfish@comcast.net or (717) 259-7332.
The 14th annual meeting of Ohio’s chapters of the Lincoln Highway Association met in Galion on Saturday, April 26 at the Elk’s Banquet Room. Ohio League President Mike Buettner of Lima presided; special guest was national LHA President Jan Shupert-Arick. The all-day event included a presentation by Revolutionary War era expert Ted Bruner on the battles of Sandusky and Olentangy, which occurred along the frontier corridor in Crawford County that would later become the Lincoln Highway. Attendees also enjoyed walking tours of Galion. The meeting was reported on in the Bucyrus Telegraph Forum. The next meeting of the Mid-Ohio chapter will be held May 15 at Just Jokin’ in Crestline at 6:30 p.m. For more information, contact Mike McNaull (419) 281-3064. Also check out Denny Gibson’s always-interesting blog to see photos from his 3 day trip there from Cincinnati and back.
ABOVE: Kirk Slusher, P.E., Planning Administration for ODOT District One at Lima, accepts the “Exemplary Friend of the Lincoln Highway Award” on behalf of the Ohio Department of Transportation, given by the Lincoln Highway Association for outstanding contributions to promotion and preservation. ODOT was honored for their role in constructing a Lincoln Highway Bridge at the I-75 interchange with SR 696 at Beaverdam. The bridge features four large Lincoln Highway logo signs facing I-75 and four smaller logos set in brick pillar replicas that face 696 (formerly U.S. 30-North and once part of the Lincoln Highway). The pillars are reminiscent of 20 pillars originally set along the Lincoln Highway in the 1920s.
ABOVE: Ohio Lincoln Highway League President Mike Buettner displays a picture of the new Lincoln Highway Bridge at Beaverdam.
ABOVE: The main speakers at the 14th Annual Business Meeting of the Ohio Lincoln Highway League were, from left: Ted Bruner, local educator and expert historian on the subject of Colonel Crawford; Mike Hocker, chairman of the planning committee for this meeting; Mike Buettner, president of the OLHL; Mike McNaull, president of the Mid-Ohio Chapter; Jeff Lotze, president of the Eastern Ohio Chapter; and Jan Shupert-Arick, president of the Lincoln Highway Association.
ABOVE: Tom Lockard accepts a certificate for a Life Membership in the Lincoln Highway Association from Marie Malernee, outgoing LHA Director for Ohio. Tom’s wife Mary Lou was not able to attend, but is also included in this Life Membership
An AP article reports that rising gas prices this past weekend ranged from $3.39 to $3.95 per gallon — and that the two extremes were both along the Lincoln Highway. The national average price for regular gasoline rose 15 cents in the previous two weeks to $3.62 a gallon according to the Lundberg Survey of 7,000 stations nationwide released Sunday. That’s up 55 cents since 2008 began. The lowest price was in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where a gallon averaged $3.39. The highest average was in San Francisco at $3.95.
Above, a gas pump along the Lincoln Highway in Rock River, Wyoming. Photo by Brian Butko.
The 29th annual Lincoln Highway Bridge Festival will take place in downtown Tama, Iowa, May 16-18, 2008. Events include the Bill Riley Talent Show and Citizen of the Year award on Friday; on Saturday, the Grand Parade at 10 am followed by Chamber Community BBQ at the Fire Station and free entertainment from 11-3 on the Civic Center Lawn. The 3 day event also features a carnival, petting zoo, Olde Time Engine display, 5K run/walk, and street dance. Contact the Tama Toledo Chamber of Commerce for more info at (641) 484-6661.
Tama’s Lincoln Highway Bridge is perhaps the most famous bridge along the transcontinental Lincoln Highway. The small concrete span was built in 1915 with the highway’s name in its side rails as a way to show the city’s pride in being located on the coast-to-coast road. It can be found along E 5th Street, though the Lincoln was rerouted to bypass the town in 1926 (current day US 30). It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and restored in 1987. It is also one of the most photographed bridges, though signs ask motorists to not stop to admire it, or to do so from a small adjacent parking lot.
Author Michael Wallis will talk about the Lincoln Highway on May 9 at 3:30 p.m. in the Elmer Ellis Auditorium at the University of Missouri. Wallis is author of The Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast from Times Square to the Golden Gate along with Route 66: The Mother Road. An MU alumnus, Wallis has previously donated several first editions of his books to the university library.
RSVP is preferred; contact Sheila Voss at vosss@missouri.edu or at (573) 882-9168.
Of interest to anyone who likes old roads like the Lincoln Highway is the state of the roadside and the roadscape, and the communities along the way. Are housing and retail developments being planned with care and context, or built as quick as possible by a developer who is already looking to the next project?
Pinball may seem an odd barometer of such matters, but this article in The New York Times contains some precious insights into the loss of places that were once a haven for pinball machines - the kinds of places that old road fans embrace for their friendly service and quality products. Click the screen shot below to open the article:
Gary Stern (seen above) is the owner of Stern Pinball Inc., the world’s only remaining manufacturer of coin-operated pinball machines. The company once built 27,000 machines a year but that’s dropped to 10,000. Stern says half the new machines (at $5,000 each) go directly into people’s homes, and of the total, 40 percent are exported. Why? People still love pinball but casual players are being lost: “Corner shops, pubs, arcades and bowling alleys stopped stocking pinball machines. A younger audience turned to video games.”
Not only stopped stocking it, but the places themselves are disappearing. “The thing that’s killing pinball is not that people don’t like it,” said Tim Arnold, who recently opened The Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas [a nonprofit museum]. “It’s that there’s nowhere to play it.”
Think about new shopping plazas - would Starbucks install a pinball? Bruegger’s Bagels? Kinko’s? Dollar General? When was the last time you saw a new bowling alley, roller rink, or soda fountain being built? When was the last time you saw a pinball machine?
Cindy’s Diner has been named one of the winners of a Hoosier Hospitality Award, and if you’ve ever visited with owner John Scheele and family, you’ll know it’s well-deserved! Recipients are recognized for going above and beyond their normal duties at a hotel, restaurant, attraction, or other tourism destination to provide excellent customer service. The tiny Valentine-brand diner is located on the Lincoln Highway at 830 S. Harrison Street in downtown Fort Wayne.
An awards reception will be held Monday, May 12, at 1:30 pm in the Statehouse Rotunda in Indianapolis. Cindy’s will receive the award from Lt. Governor Becky Skillman. Light refreshments will be served.
Click to enlarge: Aunt Annie next to the car that made the 3,500-mile trip in 1924. Hard to complain about modern conveniences when considering how that generation traveled. Photo courtesy Steve Ellis.
Here are the 1924 camps (and one cafe) along the Lincoln Highway that Steve Ellis would like to search for in a few weeks. They are not named but may have been the only camp in some towns. Can anyone provide info as to what might survive at any of the locations?
Camped at Wheatland, Iowa.
Had lunch at Tama in tourist camp.
Camped in tourist park at Jefferson, Iowa.
dinner in tourist park in Council Bluffs, Iowa. (on top of hill overlooking the Missouri R.)
“About 1990, when she was in a nursing home and well into her nineties, I went to visit poor old Aunt Annie, my grandma’s much older sister. She still had a couple of years to live, but her mind was going. She’d say something rather silly sometimes and then she would say something really sensible. Well, once without our even asking her about it, Aunt Annie got a far off look in her eye, a look of longing and, just as if the event had happened the previous week she remarked of ‘going alllll the way across the country on dirt roads in an old tin Lizzie’ and how ‘It was a hundred degrees in ‘IOWAY’ when we went through it.’ If you look at the journal, you’ll see her mention the heat in both Nebraska and also near Cheyenne; I doubt Iowa would have been much different. At that time, I didn’t have the journal or know about it, but I was aware of the trip she took.”
And so ends Annie’s story. Steve’s Lincoln Highway adventures will continue in May.
The AP reports that the area around Reno, which the Lincoln Highway traverses in western Nevada, has been hit by two moderate earthquakes:
The Seismology Laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno, says a magnitude 4.2 tremor shook the city early Monday and has been followed by at least a dozen aftershocks….
It’s the latest in a two-month swarm of earthquakes that started in February, and scientists say this is unusual because the tremors are getting stronger, instead of weaker.
The strongest shock so far was a magnitude 4.7 quake that shook cans off shelves on Friday.
Annie kept track of what they spent for gasoline on the trip - the totals for their fill-ups were less than what we spend today per gallon! Though the prices seem low when looking back, notice how at times they were paying more than double for a gallon what they had just days before. Note that the Lincoln Highway fill-ups run between Chicago and Salt Lake City.
Click to see larger: Another photo from the 1924 trip with a notation of “1000 miles.” From left is Pearl, Annie, and perhaps Mrs. O’Leary. Steve says “Annie speaks of the O’Learys in the journal. I really don’t know who they were except to know Mr. O’Leary worked with Elmer [logging] in the woods and they went at least part way with them on this trip.”
Part 2 of Aunt Annie’s 1924 trip diary from Steve Ellis. He’ll be retracing part of her trip next month and is looking for info on whether places Annie mentions have survived, particularly the tourist camps.
Above: Aunt Pearl at the wheel; since she didn’t drive, this was captioned “On our way to Seattle. Do you think we could ever get there with such a driver?
Aug. 19
Left at 3:15 so as to get thru Chicago early and avoid heavy traffic. Got thru Chicago clear out on west side at 8 AM. Wasn’t much traffic . Had bad thunder storm. Just as we were driving out of Chicago stopped and put side on out of Wheaton, Ill. Had lunch in Chinese restaurant in DeKalb, Ill. Had big wind storm between Ashton and Dixon, Ill. Blew down trees and tele poles. Crossed Rock River out of Dixon. Passed fields of the tallest corn I ever saw. It had rained so hard we saw a roaring river thru a farm out of Sterling, Ill. Went through water on pavement all most to top of car wheels where there had been a cloud burst. Just E. of Morrison, Ill. crossed Mississippi River toll bridge between Fulton, Ill & Lyons, Iowa. Took snap of Miss. Bridge. Camped at Wheatland, Iowa. Camped at 3:15
Aug. 20
Left camp at Wheatland at 6:45. Roads not so bad. Stopped at Mechanicsville for light bulbs. Stopped in Belle Plains, Iowa for oil. O’Leary caught up to us just west of Belle Plain at 11 a.m. Had lunch at Tama in tourist camp. Stopped a few minutes in Marshalltown, Iowa. Came thru beautiful farming country, principally oats & corn. Camped in tourist park at Jefferson, Iowa.
Aug. 21.
95 in shade Left at 7:10 A.M. Drove thru farming country most of the morning, then in a hilly, bluffy country and had dinner in tourist park in Council Bluff, Iowa. The park is on top of hill overlooking the Missouri R. and Omaha, Neb. Nice park with a convenience. Stopped in Council Bluff to get check cashed and send message. Camped at Columbus, Neb. Nice tourist camp.
Aug. 22
Left at 7 A.M. Drove thru nice farming country - corn and alfalfa. It was Uncle Dick ‘s birthday so he treated all to our dinner in Central Café in Kearey, Neb. Changed oil in Cozad, Neb. Hot day - about 90 in shade. Got on to desert country in afternoon thru North Platte, Neb. Passed home of Buffalo Bill - 3,000 acre farm. Cody Ranch printed on the barn. Camped in Big Springs. Good tourist camp.
Aug. 23
Left at 6:45 A.M. Came thru nice prairie country where wheat raising chief industry, also cattle. Terribly hot day. Had lunch at Cheyenne, Wyo., cowboy town of the west. Crossed Rocky Mts. in the afternoon between Cheyenne, Wyo. and Laramie. Camped at Laramie.
Aug. 24
Left at 7:55. Drove thru desert country, hot weather, nice scenery in places. Passed oil wells and big oil refining station before we got to Rawlins. Had cold lunch and hit a bum tourist camp. Drove thru sagebrush desert and camped at Rock Springs, Wyo.,
bum camp too.
Aug. 25
Got oil changed. We went to P.O. Didn’t get started till 8:20 A.M. Front tire got flat, had to change it. Just as we were climbing the plateau after crossing Green River caught up to O’Learys. They had tire trouble. Had to fix it on the hot desert, about 100 in the shade. Had lunch in Lyman, a little desert town. Drove thru little green valley, thru Ft. Bridger, and in rolling hills & canyons, thru one beautiful canyon with yellow stone walls. Came into another pretty valley and stopped in Coalville, Utah for drinks and groceries. Drove thru beautiful canyons into Salt Lake City. Camped in park.
Aug. 26
Got up early and drove downtown. Saw Mormon Temple and Tabernacle. Beautiful grounds & saw Old Mormon (J.L. Loynd). Couldn’t go in Tabernacle till noon so went out to Salt Lake. Went in bathing. You float like a cork in it. Started to Ogden at 2:25. Drove on from there to Pocatello, Ida. Camped in nice tourist camp. Had puncture on way in.
Aug. 27
Got up early to get started early. Had flat tire. Patched tire. Got started 7:30. Went thru American Falls where the great-irrigation project, a of Snake River Valley…
For the next four days, we’ll ride along with a family as they cross the country in 1924. Steve Ellis has graciously sent a transcription from a diary his Aunt Annie kept in 1924. Next month, he’ll retrace her path himself through Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska, and is looking for help in finding some of the places she mentioned. I hope all you expert roadies out there can help him!
Click to see larger: Annie, Elmer, and Pearl on their 1924 cross-country trip. Pearl was born in Oregon in 1890, married Elmer in 1917, and they moved to Washington. Elmer, Steve’s grandma’s oldest brother, was born in Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada in 1883. Annie also was born in Bathurst in 1891 and died there in 1992. Photo courtesy Steve Ellis.
“A few years ago, I was given a trip journal of my grandma’s older sister’s 3500-mile trip from New Brunswick, Canada to Tacoma, Washington in 1924. Although Aunt Annie never mentioned the Lincoln Highway per se, she mentioned the route she took, and from Chicago to Salt Lake City it had to be the Lincoln Highway. Actually, since she crossed the border at Detroit and came west from there, she may have been on the Lincoln Highway a bit farther east than Chicago.
“Aunt Annie was about 32 when she took the trip. I knew her only as a senior citizen, but she must have been a going concern at that youthful age. She was very independent and it wouldn’t surprise me if she changed some of those punctures/flat tired to which she so often refers. I’d say she was an archetypcial woman’s libber.
“Aunt Annie gave quite a bit of detail in her journal for an uneducated woman and she frequently mentioned the tourist camps all along the way including several tourist camps along the Lincoln Highway:
Maple Grove tourist camp in Chicago;
Wheatland, Iowa;
Jefferson, Iowa;
Columbus, Nebraska;
Big Springs, Nebraska;
Laramie, Wyoming;
Salt Lake City.
“While it might be difficult to find out where the Maple Grove camp was in Chicago, a place like Wheatland, Big Springs, or Jefferson would likely only have one tourist camp. Those places are not much larger today than they were in 1924!
“In mid-May, I plan to retrace some of Aunt Annie’s trip from Chicago to Big Springs, and I’d like to stop and see things that Aunt Annie and her brother Uncle Elmer and his wife Pearl saw in 1924. I LOVE your book. For example, on page 201, I am certain that Aunt Annie, Uncle Elmer, and Aunt Pearl saw that same sign that you have pictured. Thanks for writing such a comprehensive account of this highway. [Thank YOU Steve, glad you like it! ~BB]
Click to see larger: The photo from my book that Steve refers to, a split in the road at Granger, Wyoming, 1927. It is actually an amalgamation of two images from the University of Michigan’s LHA collection. Photo courtesy UM Special Collections LIbrary.
Sunday, August 17
Left Windsor Camp at 8 a.m. Ferried the Detroit River. Just got started out of city Toledo, Ohio and had another puncture. Pulled into little garage & got it fixed. Drove on to Nash garage. Left car there to be cleaned and gone over. Driver brought us to Brunswick Hotel. Frank Eddy & wife took Aunt Jen & Pearl and I out to see city. Saw Belle Isle, Fords Hospital, the Packard Plant and beautiful homes of millionaires. Had lunch and supper in Eagle Café. Went to bed early.
Aug. 18
Had breakfast in cafeteria across from hotel. Brought car up for us at 8 o’clock. Went down to Nash Garage. Had to put on new tire. Got started at 9:15. Came thru pretty little Mich. town and thru Ann Arbor, the settlement city. Had lunch in camp at Grass Lake. Drove on 79 miles to Chicago & camped in Maple Grove Tourist Camp. Got there after dark.
Anyone know the location or fate of Maple Grove Tourist Camp?
Steve also makes these observations:
“I think Aunt Annie did very well with the place names. To us, this is not too hard, but we must consider Aunt Annie had maybe an eighth grade education and, although she was a relatively young woman at the time, she had not likely been very far from where she was born until then … and they lived not in the small town of Bathurst but in a relatively isolated area several miles out in the country, off the main road, down by the beach. All of these places would be extremely unfamiliar to her.
“The only place where she seemingly made a mistake was shortly after she came over the river from Windsor Ontario to Detroit. Away back then there was no bridge (not until the Ambassador Bridge was built in 1928), and she mentions ferrying the Detroit River. All that is just fine, but the “Toledo Ohio” comment is not consistent with where they should have gone. Yes, Toledo is maybe only 60 miles south of Detroit but, after spending time in Detroit, they headed south and west in Michigan through Ann Arbor. After she mentioned Toledo, she mentioned Fords Hospital, Belle Isle, and the Packard Plant, all places in Detroit. Maybe they went down to get someone in Toledo and came back to Detroit, but I don’t think so.”
Here are some scenes courtesy the city of Evanston, Wyoming, that show what attendees will enjoy at the 2008 Lincoln Highway Association national conference this June 17-21. The first photo is east of Evanston near Eagle Rock. Next is Evanston’s Historic Depot Square along Front Street, the Lincoln Highway. The last photo shows a Lincoln Highway concrete marker near Depot Square.
Shelly Horne, 2008 Conference 2008, sends along greetings:
The theme of the conference is “Rails, Trails, and Highway Tales.” Evanston was an end of track town on the U.P.R.R. in 1868. It has a rich railroad history and many preserved railroad buildings and artifacts that you will enjoy. It has one of the few remaining original roundhouses west of the Mississippi with an operating turntable. Come ride it. Evanston sits near many of the old trails that people traveled from east to west to expand our great nation. You can visit the Mormon, Oregon, and California trails as well as the Pony Express route, all within easy driving distance.
And highway tales… we have hundreds of them. The first Wyoming Lincoln Highway consul was P.W. Spaulding from Evanston. He owned the first car in Uinta County, was a successful attorney, and a personal friend of Henry Joy, first president of the Lincoln Highway Association. We will be exhibiting a rare original LHA “Notable Service Award” given to PW Spaulding in the early years of the association. We will be giving a replica of this award to every attendee of the conference, a nice watch fob or key ring, and very rare. Hugh Colpharp will display his replica of the 10 millionth Ford Model T at the conference.
You could hardly cross the wide open country of Wyoming or the deserts of Utah without a water bag dangling from your radiator. So we have replicated the desert water bag, complete with cork and rope, as a tote bag for your memorabilia collection at the conference. We love replicas. You will be provided with a special table decoration at the annual banquet, a crystal-like replica of an old antique Packard automobile engraved with the LHA logo. Take it, cherish it, put it in your water bag replica with your LHA medallion.
The tours will be exciting. West in Echo Canyon you will explore Mormon history and learn how the canyon walls were used to defend against Johnson’s army; travel past the “Witches” to Taggart, to Wanship and the Echo reservoir. East to Fort Bridger and the Black and Orange cabins, then on to Miller’s crossing. See an eagles nest high on the bluffs of Church Butte. On the return trip to Evanston, watch film of the original military convoy that crossed the country from Washington DC to San Francisco on the Lincoln. See the comments of a young Lt. Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower about his experience on the convoy.
The speakers will present a myriad of topics from notable Lincoln Highway people, to Utah highway history, to the 1908 New York-to-Paris Automobile Race. For dessert, we will be entertained by Willie Le Clair, Shoshone Indian, with stories of the Shoshone and Chief Washakie in Evanston.
Tour historic Evanston. Visit the Sunset Cabins on the Lincoln Highway. See Evanston’s original Lincoln Highway markers, and meet and visit with your LHA counterparts from across the country to exchange “Highway Tales.” You will be amongst the privileged few to attend and view the first Lincoln Highway Art and Photo show assembled by Ms. Kell Brigan, an LHA member in California.
If gas and airfare prices continue to rise it will become more expensive to attend future conferences. This is the time, this is the place, the 16th annual LHA conference, June 17th to 21st in Evanston, WY. Complete a registration form at www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org by May 2 to be eligible for a free conference reimbursement drawing. See you here!
Along with the not-surprising news that the fire-damaged Sleepy Hollow Tavern will soon be torn down, the Tribune Review has a story about the tavern’s sign along the Lincoln Highway west of Ligonier. A prankster has been changing the sign, using fire-related puns like “PA Hotspot.” Even local officials are taking it in stride. Here’s a screen shot from the Trib with the latest, “Voted Hottest Wings by the Ligonier Fire Co.”
The Tribune-Democrat and Tribune-Review report that Pennsylvania state police have arrested Edgar Clinton Wiltrout, 55, of Ligonier, and charged him with arson in a February 23 fire that destroyed The Hollow Tavern along the Lincoln Highway in Unity Township, Westmoreland County. He also was charged with multiple felony counts of burglary, causing or risking a catastrophe, criminal mischief, and reckless endangerment. Damage was estimated at approximately $450,000 with no injuries reported. Wiltrout is in Westmoreland County Prison in lieu of $1 million bail.
Above: A vintage Sleepy Hollow matchbook, courtesy Cyrus Hosmer.
Sleepy Hollow was a popular stop since being built 1939-1940, but suffered after the westbound lanes of Lincoln Highway/US 30 were moved across Loyalhanna Creek.
As we continue sorting things while packing to move, here’s another interesting artifact. When I have a mystery photo or postcard, I usually know the answer as to what or where is it. This time I’m not so sure. I’ve been told this oval brass map showing the Lincoln Highway could have been on a radiator or a gas pump. I know others are out there, but what is it really from?
Texaco ran a publicity campaign in 1929 promoting famous trails across the U.S., most notably the Lincoln Highway. They ran ads in their own corporate magazine, published little strip maps (though a bit inaccurate - see them on my web site), and took 2-page spreads like this one in the Saturday Evening Post. Click the image below to see it larger.
Youngville Cafe along the Lincoln Highway in Iowa is teaming with the Benton County Amateur Radio Club, KØKBX, (K0KBX@fmtcs.com) to put an amateur radio station on the air for 2 days to celebrate “95 Years on the Lincoln Highway. The dates, June 14-15, will coincide with the 16th annual Lincoln Highway Association National Conference in Evanston, Wyoming.
Above: Youngville Station, a beautiful restoration effort on the Lincoln Highway west of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Photo courtesy of G. Januska.
Amateur operators will be at Youngville that weekend, and special certificates will be available for amateurs throughout the country who contact the Special Event station. Times, short wave frequencies, and more information are available from the American Radio Relay League website www.arrl.org (then click on “operating events”) or from Dave Lucas, 4264 Hwy 13, Central City, IA 52214, (319) 438-1763. This event is sanctioned and supported by the ARRL and the Iowa LHA.
Thanks to Van & Bev Becker (and Russell Rein) for the info.
In the just-puublished Spring 2008 Lincoln Highway Forum, long-time editor Gregory Franzwa pays me the compliment that the blog you’re reading might make the magazine’s news column obsolete. Thanks for the kind words GF but there’s lots more news to read in the print version, let alone throughout the rest of the 46 packed pages. Below is the cover - can you name the building and photo location? Answer at the end of this post.
The new issue is filled with rich color images. LHA Past President Randy Wagner shares his photos of Wyoming in preparation for the 2008 national conference in June. You also find color images highlighting the Victory Highway, California happenings, vintage postcards, and even the Lincoln Highway Trading Post (sales benefit the LHA). Click here to learn more about joining the Lincoln Highway Association and getting the quarterly magazine.
Answer to the cover question - that’s the Virginian Hotel in Medicine Bow, Wyoming. It’s named for the novel by Owen Wister, The Virginian, which he wrote in town (before the hotel was built). You can still grab a meal or drink, or stay the night.
The Mid-Week newspaper of DeKalb County, Illinois, reports that a major retail and housing area will be built along the Lincoln Highway at a busy but still rural intersection on the east end of DeKalb. The mixed-use development at the SE corner of IL 38 and Peace Road (an exit off I-88) will feature two hotels, a full-scale restaurant, four fast foods, four retail buildings, a gas station, and 585 houses (each on 1/16 acre). Only one of the four corners currently is occupied - a greenhouse on the NW. Click the image below to see a panorama of the SE corner from Google Street Views.
This combined view is looking east along the Lincoln Highway/IL 38. The development will replace the trees at right; the I-88 interchange is down Peace Road at far right.
John Putch sent along the web site for his next film, Route 30, which features this cool poster. A couple of the taglines are “Three Stories, One Highway” and “The Road of Dreams is a Two Lane Highway.” As John says, filming and the plot itself are centered around the Lincoln Highway, “the corridor of my childhood.” All images reproduced with permission.
Here are some shots from the production - click them to see larger images:
Above: Dana Delany plays Amish Martha, a depressed old maid who smokes, drinks, swears and longs to shave her legs again. She reportedly enjoyed Mister Ed’s Elephant museum. Who doesn’t??
Above: David DeLuise at Mister Ed’s.
Above: Mister Ed at his store with Curtis Armstrong as Ned.
Above: Production crew member Kate Murphy in Caledonia State Park.
Be sure to check out the movie podcasts by clicking the screen shot below. They’re informative, visually rich, and remind us that films don’t have to be elaborate productions. They’re pretty funny too!
A new independent film, Route 30, is being shot in central Pennsylvania. The title, and locations like Mister Ed’s Elephant Museum, might lead you to think it’s a road trip movie along the Lincoln Highway, but this 2-minute clip from Fox 43 News visits writer, director, and producer John Putch filming scenes in the forests of Caledonia State Park between Chambersburg and Gettysburg. He says it was “actually written for the area geographically, and written about the people that meant something to me.” Putch goes on to mention some of the characters, including an eccentric Amish woman and Bigfoot. See my next post for photos from the movie.
As we prepare to move, I spend lots of time sorting and packing. I’ve been looking through my photos lately and am amazed at how much things have changed along the Lincoln Highway in the 20 years since I began photographing it. Here are a couple views from February 1992 of the Star Motel in Minerva, Ohio (22071 US Route 30/E Lincoln Way). The row of rooms remains but was converted years ago into apartments. I believe the sign survives too but repainted and maybe stripped of its neon.
The Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor headquartered in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, is cataloging its holdings, and recently came upon this postcard that they could not identify as to location or even if it was in PA.
I mention it in my Lincoln Highway: PA Traveler’s Guide but show a different view (a postcard from Russell Rein, in the book’s first edition, page 297). The cabin camp was 30 miles west of Pittsburgh near Clinton, on the rerouted Lincoln Highway that runs through Chester, West Virginia. A building similar to the one at left survives on the north side, and a cabin is in an adjacent residential back yard.
Leigh Henline at Fort Cody Trading Post was telling me last night about the blizzard in North Platte, Nebraska, and that parts of US 30 had to be closed. According to the North Platte Bulletin, “Traveling was also not recommended on Interstate 80 or Highway 30 west of North Platte. Travelers have reported clear roads but limited visibility. As the temperatures drop, ice has formed in some areas making traveling dangerous.” Schools also were closed Thursday and Friday due to almost 6 inches of snow.
Learn lots more about it from a stormchaser, High Plains Drifter, whose blog has maps, charts, and photos. (For future reference, the 11 posts so far about this storm can be accessed at www.underthemeso.com/blog/?p=469 with the last number being changed up through 479.)
Apparently, warm temps kept it from getting worse, but a NWS blizzard warning is still in effect through Friday 7 pm. According to another Bulletin story, the storm is heading to Iowa with wind gusts up to 40 mph.
Hot off the presses is the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition 2008 Visitor Guide, a 9” x 4” booklet with 84 pages and a fold out map on the back cover. The free guides will be available at many Tourist Information Centers in Illinois plus select Convention & Visitor Bureaus, or request one at no charge by calling toll-free (866) 455-4249. Click on the images below to see them larger.
For more info, contact:
Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition
200 S. State St., Belvidere, IL 61008
www.drivelincolnhighway.com
1) APRIL 26 1913-27 Central Valley Route
to San Francisco via San Joaquin Valley and Altamont Pass (roughly paralleling I-580, I-205, and Route 99).
Above: Summit Garage, Altamont Pass.
2) JUNE 28 Sierra Nevada Southern Route
to Lake Tahoe via Echo Summit and the Pioneer Trail (US 50 corridor).
Above: Sportsman’s Hall near Pollock Pines.
3) AUGUST 30 Sierra Nevada Northern Route
to Verdi, Nevada, via Donner Pass and Dog Valley (paralleling I-80).
Above: Rainbow Bridge at Donner Summit as seen through LH “subway.”
4) OCTOBER 25 1927-28 Central Valley Route
to San Francisco via Sacramento Valley and across the Carquinez Strait (paralleling I-80).
Above: Lunch stop at Carquinez Bridges.
Each tour starts and ends at the Holiday Inn “Sacramento I-80 Northeast,” 5321 Date Avenue, I-80 Madison Avenue exit (site of the LHA’s 2002 conference). The hotel has a secure parking lot, with many restaurants and gas stations nearby. Departure 9 am sharp, estimated return 6 pm. Cost is $40 per person per tour and includes a driver and tour guide, and refreshments. Each tour stops for lunch but the cost is not included. Click here for complete information on the CA LHA site.
Here are details on the Indiana Lincoln Highway Association Spring Meeting, Luncheon, and Silent Auction set for Saturday, May 10, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. CDST. Location will be Teibel’s Restaurant, US 30 at US 41, Schererville, Indiana. It is being held in conjunction with Illinois LHA. Among the highlights will be honoring long-time LH researcher and devotee Art Schweitzer, who tirelessly researched the nearby Ideal Section. Also, Cynthia Ogorek will be signing her new book, and guest speaker Trish Eccles will speak about the Indiana National Road Byway Application Process. Print and complete the form below to register for the meeting and meal.
![[former] Colonial Drive-In Theater, Route 51, Pleasant Hills, PA](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2300/2478949108_11912d94e3_t.jpg "[former] Colonial Drive-In Theater, Route 51, Pleasant Hills, PA")
