Daily snow the past few weeks has us dreaming of sunny drives along the Lincoln Highway, so here are a couple summertime photos from western Nebraska and western Wyoming. Can you correctly identify either location? To see them larger, click on each one for a connection to Flickr. Once there, click “All Sizes” above the … Continue reading »
Posted in February 2008 …
“Historic LH” sign marks Summit Garage in CA
Folks in California just can’t stop marking, promoting, and preserving the Lincoln Highway. Gary Kinst, editor of LHA’s California chapter quarterly newsletter The Traveller, sent a couple photos from the recent dedication of a “Historic Lincoln Highway” sign at the Summit Garage in Altamont. From left are Deborah DuBois, Mike Kaelin. Al Vieux, and Linda … Continue reading »
Forbes Trail was precursor to much of Pa’s LH
A new web site commemorates the 250th anniversary of Forbes Trail, hacked through the forests of Pennsylvania in 1758 during the French and Indian War. General John Forbes led an expedition from Philadelphia over the Allegheny Mountains to capture French-occupied Fort Duquesne, at what later became Pittsburgh. Among the 6,000 British and colonial troops was … Continue reading »
More Sleepy Hollow Tavern history recalled
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review ran another article today recounting some history of Sleepy Hollow Tavern. Former workers, owners, and customers offer a variety of fond recollections. As Julie Donovan, public relations director for the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau, said, “It seemed no matter who owned it, it was always busy. It was definitely a Laurel … Continue reading »
Sleepy Hollow Tavern fire being investigated
Above: A vintage Sleepy Hollow matchbook, courtesy Cyrus Hosmer. The weekend fire at the former Sleepy Hollow Tavern along the Lincoln Highway in western Pennsylvania has left the building charred and condemned. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, after burning overnight Saturday onto Sunday, firefighters were called back at 11:30 Sunday morning when the roof reignited. … Continue reading »
Fire Destroys LH Landmark near Ligonier, PA
US 30 eastbound was closed for 8 hours overnight as fire destroyed the Hollow Tavern in Unity Twp, Westmoreland County, just west of Ligonier, and about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Built 1939-40 as a restaurant and hotel along the Lincoln Highway in the Loyalhana Gorge, it was perhaps best known for a small … Continue reading »
LHA’s spring 2008 state meetings set
Here are some upcoming Lincoln Highway Association chapter meetings. Iowa will hold a membership meeting on Saturday, April 12, 2008, in Denison, Crawford, County. California’s spring meeting also will be held April 12, in East Castro Valley/Hayward. The Ohio Lincoln Highway League will hold 14th annual state meeting on Saturday, April 26, at the Elks … Continue reading »
Proclamations honor LH’s favorite Boy Scout
One of the highlights of the Summertime Fun event I arranged last year at the Senator John Heinz History Center was to award Bernie Queneau with a proclamation from the mayor of Pittsburgh. It mentions not only Bernie’s participation in the cross-country safety demonstration tour along the Lincoln Highway in 1928, but also his earning … Continue reading »
A poem lamenting change along the road, in life
On OpEdNews.com, an entry by Vi Ransel will sound familiar themes to many Lincoln Highway News readers. Above: Another farm sprouts housing along the Lincoln Highway, west of Chicago, June 2005. In Memoriam The place I grew up in the 50s is gone now. Oh, the land is still there, but the quilt-like farm fields … Continue reading »
RoadDog lends personal touch to NIU story
Our good friend RoadDog regularly writes about the fun side of old road travel, but he’s also been following the story of tragic shootings at Northern Illinois University, which lies along the Lincoln Highway on the west side of DeKalb. He and his wife Liz graduated from there in 1973 and like so many, find … Continue reading »
Lincoln Memorial: monument was almost a road
A detailed and engrossing story in The Washington Post recalls the tumultuous genesis of the Lincoln Memorial, including how the monument that we know was instead almost a road named for the President. It was referred to then as the Lincoln highway, the Lincoln Memorial Highway, or simply Lincoln Way – all years before the … Continue reading »
“Faces of Lincoln” at Studebaker Museum till 3/9
This month begins a three-year bicentennial celebration of President Lincoln’s birth, with many books and exhibits marking the occasion. In South Bend, Indiana, the Studebaker National Museum (201 S. Chapin Street), in cooperation with the Indiana Historical Society, is featuring The Faces of Lincoln through March 9. The exhibit is comprised of holdings from the … Continue reading »
Classic cafe being razed in Grand Island, Nebr.
The Grand Island Independent reports that the Nebraska city is widening it’s main street – aka Lincoln Highway/US 30 – and in the process demolishing a vintage cafe. The Conoco motel and cafe at 2109 W. Second Street trace their roots to about 1940 when the tile-roofed Conoco Service Station opened. The cafe had a … Continue reading »
New video on Alice’s Drive 2009 commemoration
Richard Anderson reports that he and daughter Emily Anderson have produced and posted a new video about the 2009 journey Emily will take commemorating Alice Ramsey’s groundbreaking drive across the US in a rebuilt 1909 Maxwell. LH fans will note Lincoln Highway book state guides author and LHA Forum editor Gregory Franzwa about 50 seconds … Continue reading »
Centennial of Great Race Honored with Exhibit
February 12 marked 100 years since the launch of the longest and perhaps craziest auto race ever – around the world from New York to Paris. Six cars (seven more never showed up) departed Times Square, at times following the future Lincoln Highway to San Francisco. The American entry, a 1907 4-cylinder Thomas Flyer roadster, … Continue reading »
Changes at Lincoln Hwy Assn national office
LHA Executive Director David Hay, hired in March 2007 to oversee LHA activities, has left to take a position at Davenport University. I asked him about his plans: “While I may be leaving the LHA executive director position, I plan to remain an active member of the Indiana chapter and work on our state byway … Continue reading »
Changes at Summit Garage atop Altamont Pass
When I visited the Summit Garage in July 2006, Dan Silviera showed me around the shop. Among his many efforts to help youth, he managed Tri-Valley Youth Services, and the garage was serving as the Tri-Valley Teen Center for teaching youths to restore classic cars. There was an assortment of cool old cars on lifts … Continue reading »
Tragedy along the Lincoln Highway in DeKalb, IL
Violence sadly came to Northern Illinois University along the Lincoln Highway in DeKalb, Illinois (pop 43,000) yesterday when a former graduate student entered a lecture hall and opened fire, killing six, wounding 15, and then killing himself. The campus has 25,000 students about 65 miles west of downtown Chicago. The university’s home page has details, … Continue reading »
Auburn Cord Duesenberg to host sculptures
The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum, 25 miles north of Fort Wayne in Auburn, Indiana (off the Lincoln Highway but a popular diversion), will exhibit automotive bronze sculptures created by nationally acclaimed artist Alexander Buchan, and his grandchildren Alex, 11, and Adeline, 6, from March 14 through April 12. Buchan worked as Chief Design Sculptor … Continue reading »
Early Autos film, sometimes comic, inc/ US 50 NV
Here’s an educational film (well, somewhat) from perhaps the late 1940s showing the impact and follies of early autos. The short film begins and ends with old-car fans driving early autos in period dress along US 50 (often the same as the Lincoln Highway) and US 395 in Nevada. Much of the rest shows early … Continue reading »
