Tagged with Iowa …

Two Lincoln Highway events this weekend

LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO Lincoln Highway fans in the midwest can visit two events this weekend tied to the highway. The 33rd Lincoln Highway Bridge Festival starts today and runs through tomorrow (May 18–19) in Tama, Iowa. Then drive 180 miles east and enjoy the Lincoln Highway Car Show in … Continue reading »

Slideshow: antique cars on Iowa Lincoln Hwy tour

LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO A new brief video by VintonToday features antique cars that participated in last weekend’s Lincoln Highway tour across Iowa, specifically at the restored Youngville Station between Cedar Rapids and Belle Plaine. The accompanying music — unfortunately uncredited — is Buddy Nutt singing Goin all the Way … Continue reading »

4th Annual Iowa Lincoln Hwy tour this weekend

LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO Also this weekend is the fabulous cross-state Iowa Lincoln Highway Motor Tour sponsored by the Iowa Lincoln Highway Association. Here are pics from last summer: Youngville Cafe by Jeff & Tammy LaFollette, and the lunch stop at Woodbine by Osberg. This year’s tour began in Council … Continue reading »

Ron Preston, son of famed gas station owner, dies

LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO LHA headquarters in Franklin Grove, Illinois, received a call that Ron Preston passed away last week. He was the son of George Preston, whose sign-covered gas station in Belle Plaine, Iowa, is a shrine for Lincoln Highway fans. George bought the station in 1923 for $100 … Continue reading »

42N visits Lincoln Highway in Linn County, IA

LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO Our friend David Chase has a couple beautiful photos on his 42N blog taken along the original Lincoln Highway in Linn County, Iowa. Travelers can veer off the paved Lincoln Highway onto a gravel road to find an iron bridge and farm buildings. Check out the … Continue reading »

Repairs planned for Tama LH bridge after mishap

LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO The Tama-Toledo News reports that the most famous Lincoln Highway bridge — in Tama, Iowa — was hit recently by farm equipment, damaging one of the concrete rails which spell out “Lincoln Highway” and causing $1,500 damage. In evaluating this damage, Schoonover Tuckpointing, Vinton, also found … Continue reading »

Familiar bypass problem for Tama-Toledo, Iowa

Anyone who has seen the Pixar movie Cars — or thought for a moment about how roads have changed over the past half-century — knows that bypasses around towns have a tremendous impact on traffic patterns. The latest to experience this shift are Tama and Toledo on the Lincoln Highway in Iowa. As reported by … Continue reading »

Last of Cedar Rapids “auto row” to be razed

LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO Eastern Iowa Life reports that the last intact block of “automobile row” in Cedar Rapids will be razed as early as Monday: Lagniappe Investments plans to raze 706 and 712 Second Ave. SE, buildings that in recent years served as the Home Appliance Center and a … Continue reading »

Amazing 1959 film of Iowa’s US 30

YOU WILL LOVE this video of central Iowa’s US 30, filmed in 1959 to show congestion and the need for road improvements. Highway Relocations was created by the Iowa State Highway Commission (ISHC), now IDOT, to show the downside of gas stations, rest stops, and the skinny two-lanes they populate. Filming started just east of … Continue reading »

Iowa Lincoln Highway Motor Tour spans state

The Iowa Lincoln Highway Association’s Third Annual Motor Tour of the Lincoln Highway across Iowa is about to launch. This year’s tour is themed as “From the Wide River to the Loess Hills” because it begins with a pre-tour event on Thursday August 26 at the Wide River Winery in Clinton and concludes on Sunday … Continue reading »

Grant Wood window back along Lincoln Highway

Van and Bev Becker alert us that the historic Grant Wood window damaged in the 2008 flood in Cedar Rapids has been restored and reinstalled along a route of the Lincoln Highway. It is in its original location in the Veterans Memorial Building and facing 2nd Avenue, which was the Lincoln Highway from 1916–1928. Restoration … Continue reading »

Belle Plaine’s Lincoln Cafe to reopen

Van & Bev Becker send word from Iowa that the Lincoln Cafe in Belle Plaine is set to reopen in September. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reported today that Gzim “Jimmy” Limani, owner of the likewise famous King’s Tower Café (also along the Lincoln Highway in nearby Tama) is working to rehab the shuttered cafe. When … Continue reading »

Lincoln Highway conf pics & story feature Iowa

Vinton Today ran a nice feature about Iowa attendees to the Lincoln Highway Assn conference. It includes some beautiful images from husband and wife photographers Mike Kelly and Sandra Huemann-Kelly. It also reports on LHA awards bestowed: The annual banquet June 25 included awards presentations. Van and Bev Becker received an “Exemplary Friend of the … Continue reading »