The Lincoln Highway Traveling Exhibit, sponsored by the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition, is currently in the Chicago Heights Public Library until April 29. Afterwards, it will stay in Chicago Heights but move to City Hall.
Author: Lincoln Highway Association
Jefferson Highway Association re-forms
An association to promote the Jefferson Highway, which ran from Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada to New Orleans, has re-formed. Lincoln Highway Association charter members Bob and Joyce Ausberger are also active in the Jefferson Highway Association. The Jefferson and the Lincoln Highways ran concurrently between Ames and Colo, Iowa.
- National association forms to promote old Jefferson Highway, John Hacker, The Carthage (Mo.) Press, March 25, 2011
- Jefferson Highway Association re-forms, Jean Ruzicka, Park Rapids (Minn.) Enterprise, April 6, 2011
Plans revived for Gateway Park at Lincoln Highway and Route 66
Michael Bortell, the chairman of the Historic Preservation Commission of Plainfield, Illinois, is applying for a matching grant from the National Park Service to fund a study for a “Gateway Park” at the intersection of Illinois State Route 59 (old Route 66) and U.S. 30 (the Lincoln Highway).
- Grant Sought to Create ‘Gateway Park’ at U.S. 30 and Illinois 59, Karen Sorensen, Plainfield (Ill.) Patch, March 21, 2011
History of the Lincoln Highway and US 40 through Dixon, CA
Bil Paul, columnist for the Dixon Patch, writes about the impact of the Lincoln Highway and U.S. 40 on the town of Dixon, California, which lies between San Francisco and Sacramento.
- Dixon Then and Now: Transcontinental Highway Went Through Downtown Dixon, Bil Paul, Dixon (Calif.) Patch, March 15, 2011
LHA Indiana director walks across Indiana to raise money for Alzheimer’s and LHA
Jeff Blair, the Indiana state director of the Lincoln Highway Association, will walk across Indiana along the 1913 route of the Lincoln Highway to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association and the Lincoln Highway Association. The walk will take place from Thursday, April 14 to Wednesday, April 27.
For more information about the walk and how to pledge, go to Jeff’s web site, blairwalk.com.
New blues song on the Lincoln Highway
Songwriter Tom Neely has written a blues song pining for the open road of the Lincoln Highway. Brian Butko has more:
- Blues song pines for the open road of the Lincoln, Brian Butko, Lincoln Highway News, April 5, 2011
4th Annual Iowa Lincoln Highway Motor Tour: August 26-28
This guest post was written by Jeff LaFollette, Iowa state director of the Lincoln Highway Association.
Spring is beginning and there will soon be warmer temperatures, and with that come the sound of classic cars rolling on the open road like the ones that will be cruising on the 4th Annual Iowa Lincoln Highway Association Motor Tour scheduled for August 26–28, 2011.
The motor tour, which is sponsored by the Iowa Lincoln Highway Association, is asking everyone to “Come Join Us ‘4’ A Fun Timeâ€. This year’s tour begins with a pre-tour event on Thursday, August 25 in Council Bluffs and will end in Clinton County on Sunday, August 28. The historic route travels nearly 330 miles across Iowa going through the communities of Council Bluffs, Denison, Carroll, Jefferson, Boone, Ames, Marshalltown, Tama, Cedar Rapids, and Clinton.
The idea of the Lincoln Highway came from the mind of Carl Fisher, the man also responsible for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Miami Beach. With help from fellow industrialists Frank Seiberling and Henry Joy, an improved, hard-surfaced road was envisioned that would stretch almost 3400 miles from coast to coast, New York to San Francisco, over the shortest practical route. The Lincoln Highway Association was created in 1913 to promote the road using private and corporate donations. The idea was embraced by an enthusiastic public, and many other named roads across the country followed.
The Iowa tour kicks off on Friday, August 26 in the Council Bluffs area, with stops in Denison, Carroll, Jefferson, Grand Junction and Boone, where the tour will stay overnight.
On Saturday, August 27, the tour departs from Boone, and stops at Ames, Colo, LeGrand, Tama, Belle Plaine, and Youngville before overnighting in Cedar Rapids. The tour offers a group get-together dinner at the Hotel at Kirkwood, on the campus of Kirkwood College in Cedar Rapids, a facility where students learn their trade in hotel and restaurant management. The dinner will be prepared by student chefs.
On the final day, Sunday, August 28, the tour departs from Cedar Rapids and continues east to Mount Vernon, Lisbon, Clarence, Wheatland, and will end either in DeWitt or Clinton.
The tour will travel as much of the original Lincoln Highway route as possible. This is a “classic car friendly†tour: although some of the original route is gravel, the tour will not be traveling on those long gravel sections. There will be only a couple of short sections, less than half a mile to get to a stop or two. Otherwise the tour will be on all paved routes. All vehicles, including cars and motorcycles from the classics to the present, are welcome to participate.
Lincoln Highway in Ohio listed as one of 10 favorite places in U.S.
Gary A. Warner, the travel editor for the Orange County Register, listed the Lincoln Highway in Ohio as one of his ten most favorite places in the U.S.
- 10 Favorite Places in the United States, Gary A. Warner, Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.), October 7, 2010
(Note: Some articles about this article mistakenly believe Mr. Warner is from Canada, because the original article was widely syndicated, including to Canadian newspapers.)
CN Railway must fund LH underpass in Lynwood, IL
A U.S. federal appeals court has ruled that Canadian National Railway must pay $68 million to fund two underpasses in the Illinois towns of Aurora and Lynwood. The Lynwood underpass will serve U.S. 30, the Lincoln Highway.
- Canadian National Must Pay $68M for Underpasses, Michael Sewall, New Lenox (Ill.) Patch, March 15, 2011
Powning’s Addition in Reno named one of the Best Old House Neighborhoods
This Old House Magazine has named the Reno neighborhood of Powning’s Addition one of the best Old House neighborhoods in the west this year. The Lincoln Highway travels through this district just west of downtown.
- Best Old House Neighborhoods 2011: The West and Northwest — Powning’s Addition, Reno, Nevada, This Old House, April 2011.
- Powning’s Addition makes list of best ‘old house’ neighborhoods, Susan Skorupa, Reno Gazette-Journal, March 11, 2011