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Links to newspaper articles typically are valid only for one week to one month after publication.
by Russell "ypsi-slim" Rein
If I have a heart attack shoveling snow all my Lincoln Highway stuff can go to the Lincoln Highway Association (LHA) for a museum. Otherwise I am thinking good thoughts, like in 6 months I will be in sunny Cedar Rapids for the 2006 LHA National Conference, eating Marion Maid-Rites and rhubarb pie.
Iowa LHA has 2006 Conference registration forms and a schedule available at their website. The registration forms will also be sent out with the winter issue of the LHA Forum, in January.
I encourage all newsletter readers to join the Lincoln Highway Association - here's a link to a membership form: http://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/about/application.shtml
Brian and Sarah Butko's new book, Roadside Giants, gets a nice write up in Philly.com and another in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.com
Brian writes about German interest in the Lincoln Highway:
"Here's the scoop on the German article in Verlag für Amerikanistik, issue 3/2005. It's mostly a condensed version of my Greetings From the Lincoln Highway intro: six pages long, two of those in color. The magazine also carries a review of Greetings - I'm told it's "all high praise" but I can't confirm that! The other articles look great, covering everything from Buffalo Bill to Clovis points. The final issue of the year will have LH part two, which will be mostly a condensed version of my Wyoming intro. For the diehard LH collector who wants a copy, email the editor regarding cost. He's a super guy and a real Western history buff, returning to the West each summer to walk the wagon trails and participate in reenactments. And gladly spreading the LH word across Europe."
Check out some of Mary Ann Michna's new roadside related paintings.
Canton's The Repository - CantonRep.com, ran an article 200 Helped Shape Canton - 200 individuals-events-dates that shaped Canton's History:
The automobile arrives
- The Winton car of Zebulon Davis was the first to appear in Canton, about 1895. Robert Kuhn, who learned to drive Davis' Winton after it was sold to Johnson Sherrick, owned the first Cadillac in Canton, and the second Oldsmobile.
- Worn markers and lingering names — Lincoln Street and Lincoln Way — recall the legacy of the nation's most historic road as it runs through other parts of Stark County. As it passes through Canton, however, the old Route 30 is known as Tuscarawas Street. Early in the 1900s, it was the Lincoln Highway.
Building the brick industry
- H.S. Belden, founder of Canton Brick Co, went to the Centennial Fair in Philadelphia in 1876, saw the original stiff-mud brickmaking machine, and brought it back to Canton. "With this machine paving bricks could be manufactured," wrote Heald.
- "He (Belden) was laughed at for thinking that he could make paving bricks that would stand up," Heald wrote. But, Belden paved a block in front of the Barnett Hotel on Cherry Street. "From this modest beginning, brick paving of streets and roads spread rapidly."
- The Renkert Building was built in 1912 of Metropolitan paving bricks.
Davis Enterprise ran a two part series on the Hattie Weber Museum, which is hosting an exhibit called, "Causeway to Carquinez ... Putting Davis on the Road Map" which describes early roadways through Davis, primarily Historic 40 and the Lincoln Highway, for which the museum has signs and markers.
Michael Buettner, longtime LHA member, President of the Ohio Lincoln Highway League, mapmaker and historian, presents four new articles:
Last newsletter I ran a little story about the easternmost LH concrete marker being missing and in storage. In the last issue of the LHA Forum, Mitch Dakelman, LHA New Jersey Director, reported that after road work was completed the marker was returned to it's original position along SR 27 in Kingston, NJ. Great news!
A Slice of Life Along Ohio's Lincoln Highway by Melissa Arnold originally appeared in Nostalgia Magazine, April 2004, but is now online at Travelwriters.com.
Some new historical highway web-sites:
Navigating the DLD: The origins of Highway 6 in Adams County, NE
by Tamerra Sears Pauley
Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway
Route 6, the Longest US Transcontinental Highway
Evolution of Roads Across Southern Wyoming
By Kris A. White
Roger Reid's Old Trails - US and Canadian Roads in the 20th Century
The Tooele Transcript Bulletin Online Edition of December 15 carries The first American highway ("By all means carry water and food over this route") by Karen Hunt about the Lincoln Highway in Utah.
The Center for Land Use Interpretation has a picture of the old Lincoln Highway cedar bridge and BLM historical plaque on the Dugway Proving Ground.
Tooele County Guide to Historical Attractions has another picture of the bridge, Orr's Ranch and the UT/NV LH border sign.
And check out the Fisher Pass Monument Committee website.
The Cape Henry Model A Ford Club sponsored a Lincoln Highway run last summer. Their website features a day by day log, and lots of photos.
Antiquing along the Lincoln Highway (PA) by Cheryl M. Keyser, from AmericanAntiques.com.
Check out this old photo of the Lincoln Highway Filling Station outside Greensburg, PA from the Westmoreland County Historical Society archives.
The Indiana Historical Society has a folder of photographs from Carl Fisher's Indiana-Pacific Tour in 1913 sponsored by the Indiana Automobile Manufacturers Association. Here's some more from their "Historical Sketch":
On 1 September 1912, Carl G. Fisher, businessman and co-creator of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, had held a dinner meeting with many of his automobile industry friends in Das Deutsche Haus in Indianapolis to promote his vision of a transcontinental highway. He began organizing the effort that eventually led to the building of the Lincoln Highway (which was parallel to today’s Interstate 80). The Lincoln Highway Association was organized and held its first meeting in Detroit on 1 July 1913, the same day that the I.A.M.A. tour set off from Indianapolis for the Pacific coast.
The tour was actually cosponsored by the I.A.M.A. and the Hoosier Motor Club, of which Fisher was a director. The trip is sometimes referred to as the Hoosier Tour or the Trail-Blazer Tour. The tour was organized to stimulate public interest in a transcontinental road. There had been previous cross-country trips, and as they continued, more and more automobile manufacturers became sponsors for the opportunity to test and promote their products. (It was felt that after the 1913 tour, the purposes for having such tours had been fulfilled, and this activity ceased.)
It would be nice if these were scanned and on-line, hint, hint. Find more at:
http://www.indianahistory.org/library/manuscripts/collection_guides/P0438.html
MAPS:
A while ago I heard of vans driving around the country creating a digital visual record of both sides of the street. I assumed this would have a commercial use for real estate and security purposes. Now some of it is available on-line for free at A9.com maps. You can visit the beginning of the LH in Times Square or go to the corner of California and 32nd Streets in San Francisco near of the end of the LH. Only major cities are available. Click the links for "Blockview Images" for New York, NY and you're at Times Square. At the top there is a check box that will mark all the streets that have images. You can also search by address. At the bottom right are thumbnail pics of both sides of the street. When you put your mouse over a thumbnail it displays in the larger window above. You can move along the street with the arrows at both side of the thumbnails. You can also move the eyeglass around on the map, and there is a slider to change scale. Is this cool or what?
http://maps.a9.com/
Microsoft has updated its satellite imaging service Virtual Earth - it's now called Windows Live Local. There's a toggle at the upper left for map view - "road", and to add satellite imagery - "aerial". Drag the map around with your mouse, and scroll to change the scale. Right click to add a pushpin with comments. The comments and map links are saved on a "scratch pad" which displays every time you go back to the site. You can also e-mail the scratch pad. Click "permalink" for a URL of your map with your editing, to e-mail it, bookmark it, or to copy it to the clipboard. Driving directions are now available. Very sophisticated. The beta version is available now at:
http://local.live.com/
EBAY AUCTIONS:
A 1938 Official State Hwy Map of Illinois went for $59.
A 1923 Gorman's Reliable Road Guide of the Central States including the Lincoln and Dixie Highways went for $78.77.
A nice real photo postcard of the Big Chief Camp and Store in Lake Tahoe closed at $130.39.
The original blueprints of the Grand View Ship Hotel on the LH in PA went for $718.99. The pictures are down but here's the seller's description:
A rolled set of original architectural drawings for plans to remodel the GRAND VIEW POINT HOTEL on the LINCOLN HIGHWAY in BEDFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA- no date, but I believe the hotel was remodeled in the early 1930s to resemble a ship- the architect was ALBERT SINNHUBER from TURTLE CREEK,PA. & the owner was HERBERT PAULSON- known as the SHIP OF THE ALLEGHENIES, this was a popular tourist attraction for many years- the plans are done in white on blue paper & are in used but good condition [wear & small tears around the edges, minor stains]- these would look great framed - there are 5 separate sheets [all connected at one end by brass clips] showing the interferer of both floors & the exterior- the largest sheet is about 19" x 30" & some are a bit smaller- these were apparently Mr. Paulson's copies."
An always popular booklet of strip maps of the National Old Trails Hwy published by the Southern CA Auto Club went for $97.66.
A United Motors Court porcelain sign closed at $102.50.
A rare felt pennant promoting the Lincoln Highway and the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exhibition in San Francisco closed after 15 bids at $192.65.
A 1920's brochure from the Hotel Oakland went for $47.66.
A very rare original 1916 guide to the Midland Trail closed at $460.00 [this was reprinted by the Rio Grand Press in 1969 but this is the only original edition I have ever seen in 25 years of looking!].
A rare colorful linen advertising postcard of a Nash dealership in Cedar Rapids went for $45.44.
A Keystone Jr. set of 25 Stereoviews of the Lincoln Highway west from Omaha with the viewer closed at $160.05. Originally produced to teach geography with 50 Lincoln Highway views in two sets - 1 to 25 from NY to Omaha, and 26 to 50 from Omaha to San Francisco. These views were produced in glass slide sets, full sized curved stereoviews with actual black and white photographs, and the Jr. sets with real photos in a smaller scale. It is common to find individual full size stereoviews but a complete set in any format is rare.
A metal "Tourist Room - State Inspected" went for $191.83.
A great glass slide image of the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway in Towner, SD went for only $5.00 (where was I?).
An old enamel signed for Approved Federal Hi-way Tourist Home went for $202.50.
A real photo postcard showing a gathering on the Donner Summit - Rainbow Bridge, during construction or its opening, went for $44.99.
A 1912 New Brunswick, Canada porcelain license plate closed at $1,001.11! - who knew?
An original 1924 Official Road Guide to the Lincoln Highway went for $317.05.
An embossed pint bottle from the Lincoln Highway Dairy of Delphos, OH went for $36.01.
A red transferware Staffordshire 10" inch souvenir plate of the SS Grand View Point Ship Hotel went for $61.
A small metal Texaco road map holder went for $78.
A 1935 Official Wyoming State Hwy map closed at $75.94.
A souvenir "large letter" felt pennant of the SS Grand View Point Ship Hotel went for $50.
A 1915 72-page booklet of the West Michigan Pike - Dixie Highway closed at $89.
A large 1925 "Good Roads Everywhere" map put out by the National Assoc. of Highways went for $112.38.
An old "Lincoln National Memorial Highway" (?) sign closed at $53.
A 1924 Rand McNally Auto Trails road map of MN, SD & ND went for $76.
1927 road map of Michigan put out by White Star Gasoline company closed at $106.39.
That's all for now - Happy Holidays everyone! See you soon in Cedar Rapids.
I am taking some time off in January for a southern road trip to warm up. I am planning on driving the entire length of US 421 - Lake Michigan at Michigan City, IN to Atlantic Ocean at Fort Fish State Historic Site at Federal Point south of Kure Beach in North Carolina. I will driving all the old alignments including the Michigan Road in Indiana down to the Ohio River at Madison. I would be interested to hear any stories of how US 421 was started, and also of any interesting roadside or historical stops along the way, and any local motels or restaurants or barbecues that anyone can recommend - thanks.
yer pal - bbbbrrrrrrrr in SE Michigan,
ypsi-slim