Scott Berka (city clerk of Colo, Iowa) wrote to say Niland’s Cafe at the Reed/Niland Corner in Colo, Iowa, will host a man walking the Jefferson Highway from Winnipeg to New Orleans. The Colo Development Group invites all to attend on Monday, November 9, at 9:00 a.m. The one-stop gathering of classic roadside businesses is at the intersection of the E–W Lincoln Highway and the N–S Jefferson.

ABOVE: Standing on the Lincoln Highway and “above” the Jefferson Highway at Reed/Niland Corner. BELOW, Berka at the cafe counter.

The Winnipeg Free Press reports that Mike Conlin from New Orleans and Gary Augustine from Prince George, B.C., have already departed Winnipeg, the northern terminus of the Jefferson Highway.

“People are right into this stuff and, with the baby boomers all ready to retire, and into that age where you’re more into history, I’ve got a feeling that that highway is going to come back,” said Conlin.

The Jefferson Highway, established in 1919, was the first north-south transcontinental road to span the North American continent, named for the third U.S. president of the United States. It runs through Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas, ending in New Orleans, Louisiana.

I reported on September 2 about David McLane crossing the U.S. to document life in small towns along four major highways in the U.S. As he says on ohmynews.com, “It is NOT a survey but an attempt to come a fuller understanding of the land and the people which comprise significant parts of America but are typically un-represented by main-stream media. This is the third section and reports on traveling from San Francisco to New York City on the Lincoln Highway.”

ABOVE: Sueko and Dave, 49th Street & Seventh Avenue, New York City.

The final installment finds Dave and Sueko trying to make their way through New Jersey to New York City. Their transmission has other thoughts, but a friendly repair shop owners gets them on their way after a few days’ delay. Read all about it and see Dave’s beautiful photos HERE.

The Shopper Online reported on the dedication of two new highway plaques honoring the Lincoln Highway’s Ideal Section between Dyer and Schererville, Indiana. Ideal Section authority Art Schweitzer says the section was “a test highway to lay groundwork for future highway construction.” Engineering of its lighting, underground wiring, expansion strips, and 10”of concrete pavement was quite advanced in its day and was to serve as a model experiment.

Speaking at Dyer was Steve Cramer, v-p of Dyer town council. Town manager Joe Neeb was unable to attend but is credited with much of the work involved in getting the approval for the plaques. The speech for Schererville marker (in the Hometown Inn parking lot) was presented by town manager Bob Volkmann.

Two awards were also presented to two members of the Indiana Lincoln Highway Association: Joyce Chambers, a retired teacher and active member of the INLHA was presented with the Teacher of the Year Award. Chambers spent three years developing a historic two week classroom curriculum about the Lincoln Highway and its history. Indiana LHA president David Hay accepted an award to the INHLA from the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana for its “Outstanding Advocacy, Organizational Planning and Development in Preserving Historic Landmarks.”

Two authors signed books afterwards: Cynthia Ogorek for “The Lincoln Highway Around Chicago” and Jan Shuper-Arick for her “The Lincoln Highway Across Indiana.”

A ceremony was recently held in Rochelle, Illinois, to celebrate a new Lincoln Highway gazebo at the Rochelle Railroad Park off of Ninth Street. The gazebo is one of 16 along the Lincoln Highway in Illinois between Fulton in the west and Park Forest in the east. Stories appeared here and here.

Bonnie Heimbach, ILHC Project Director and Executive Director of the Northern Illinois Tourism Development Office, says they are an effort to interpret the stories of the highway: “These 16 gazebos represent our organization’s first ‘bricks and mortar’ project and we’re very proud of the outcome. This project will give travelers an opportunity to learn more about the Lincoln Highway as well as the community they are visiting.”

For more information on the Lincoln Highway through Illinois, including places to see, things to do, and stories of the highway’s significance and history, visit www.drivelincolnhighway.com/.

The Lincoln Highway will soon have a vintage bookmobile following the coast-to-coast road to promote and talk about books. “Behind the Wheel of the Bookmobile” is a multimedia and film project by Tom Corwin that follows the bookmobile on back roads with acclaimed authors taking turns at the wheel. At each stop the bookmobile will invite the public to take their choice of digital and analog titles in exchange for interviews about books that have changed their lives.

ABOVE: On June 16, 2009, Tom Corwin celebrated when he picked up the bookmobile in Gurnee, Illinois, and met those who had cared for her.

Behind the Wheel of the Bookmobile will begin its inaugural drive in spring 2010 by following the Lincoln Highway. Authors will take turns behind the wheel, stopping in small towns and conducting interviews on the books that have changed their lives in a meaningful way.

The vehicle was built by the last manufacturer in America producing bookmobiles from the ground up. The Maroney BF-240 holds 3,200 volumes on Appalachian kiln-dried oak shelves. It was recently decommissioned by the Warren-Newport Library after 15 years and 70,000 miles of  service in suburban Chicago.

Anyone can participate in the Buy-A-Mile-Campaign for a minimum donation of $35. To donate or learn more visit www.bookmobiletravels.com/.

The Pilot News of Marshall County, Indiana, reports that Plymouth, a town along the Lincoln Highway in central Indiana, has opened a new transportation museum that includes the famed coast-to-coast road:

A ribbon-cutting ceremony Sunday marked the culmination of the efforts of many individuals, businesses, and organizations that contributed to the expansion of the Marshall County Historical Society and Museum. Welcoming the guests for the occasion was the president of the Historical Society, Dr. Ronald Liechty. Dr. Liechty explained that the process started full steam upon receiving an INDOT (Indiana Department of Transportation) grant in 2005 to open a transportation museum….

Local resident Kurt Garner was among those in the audience with deep affection for the completed project. Garner was one of several who were instrumental in formulating the original concept of the Transportation Museum highlighting the crossroads of the Dixie Highway: 1915, Yellowstone Trail: 1912-1930, Grand Army of the Republic (U.S. 6): 1931-present, Lincoln Highway: 1913-1950s, and Michigan Road: 1826-1900.

Garner said, “It is a great asset to the county. The museum will be a huge draw across the state for those interested in discovering historic routes.”

The museum is located in the Lauer Building at 123 North Michigan St., Plymouth, (574) 936-2306 or visit www.mchistoricalsociety.org/. The above map of the town is from the LHA’s DeLorme road atlas package; click here to purchase your own — the 2007 version is on sale for $12.50, nearly 70% off while the 2010 edition is prepared.

Just in time for Halloween, The Oakland Tribune ran a feature on the Banta Inn, a saloon along the Lincoln Highway in the small town of Banta, near Tracy, California.

Here’s one story:

“One morning about 1:30 a.m. I saw what looked like a young woman float across the hallway from one wall into another,” said Banta Inn owner Dave Colli. “Other people have seen a little blond-haired girl, about 8 or 9, peeking in the dining room window. Even our cook has had a few encounters. One night he opened the oven and the pan came flying out at him.”…

“Something is definitely here,” Colli said. “We have had recurring dark shadows appear and then disappear. Most sightings have taken place in the evening to early-morning hours. Not only have the employees been witness to this, but we’ve also had reports from our guests.”

Stop by Saturday 9 p.m. – 1 a.m. for a Halloween party at the saloon or learn more at www.bantainn.net/.

The Columbus Telegram reported that Nebraska has a new historical marker honoring the Lincoln Highway. The marker is near the Prairie Creek Bridge at 115th Street and 355th Avenue NW of Duncan. The 1.2-mile Gardiner Station section of the Lincoln Highway and the pony-truss bridge spanning Prairie Creek were used from 1913 to 1928, before the LH was rerouted south of the Union Pacific tracks.

The story begins with Bob and Karen Edmison, who in 2005 began the process of getting the Gardiner Station section of the Lincoln Highway listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Bob is a life-long resident of Platte County near Prairie Creek west of Duncan. He knew that the section of 115th Street, on the south side of his property along with the railroad station known as Gardiner Station, was part of the Lincoln Highway.

“Late in 2005 I contacted the Nebraska State Historical Society to ask how to get a bridge and roadway nominated for the National Historic Register,” Karen Edmison said. “I worked with the National Register Coordinator Stacy Stupka-Burda and the Nebraska State Historic Preservation Office and learned the basics of how to prepare a National Register of Historic Places nomination.”

Edmison said she submitted a rough draft of the nomination to the Nebraska State Historical Society in the spring of 2006. She said Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer L. Robert Puschendorf then took over the work using her rough draft nomination….

Puschendorf spent nearly a year completing research for the final nomination which included extensive research of Columbus Telegram archives and then submitted the nomination to the Nebraska State Historic Preservation board…. Approval from the National Park Service came in summer 2007….

Edmison said The Lincoln Highway Association, Nebraska Chapter funded the official plaque at a cost of about $2,600. She and her husband Bob provided the money for the construction of the base of the historical marker and the concrete work around it.

“Bob and Lenore Stubblefield of Shelton are very active in the Lincoln Highway Association, Nebraska Chapter,” Karen Edmison said. “They assisted with getting funding for the plaque part of the marker. The Nebraska State Historical Society and John Lindahl of the Nebraska Historical Marker Program worked with the foundry to get the marker cast.”

Learn more about the Lincoln Highway at www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/.

Jim Payne wrote with an update on an airplane that once served as a restaurant along the Lincoln Highway in eastern Pennsylvania. “I passed by Dover [Del.] today and stopped at the Air Museum. I especially wanted to see the Lockheed Constellation that once sat atop the diner in Penndel. I passed by there after the plane had been taken down and saw it sitting in an adjacent lot with the wings off. I assumed it was going to be scrapped. I learned recently that it had been saved and restored.”

Here is one of his photos — it’s amazing to see it back as an operating aircraft. Thanks Jim!

The Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition announces they have 40 murals in the works, with three already being painted – Aurora, Oregon (which was not directly on the LH), and Joliet. You can email diane@drivelincolnhighway.com with questions or visit www.drivelincolnhighway.com/ for more information. Below are the plans for two of the newest.