Archive for January, 2010
January 29, 2010
It’s not often that an individual’s health gets reported on at Lincoln Highway News but Bernie Queneau is not your average Lincoln Highway fan. He is best known as one of the four scouts who crossed the U.S. on a safety and promotional tour in 1928. In recent years he’s resurfaced as the leading goodwill ambassador for the cross-country road. He can also be seen with wife Esther in the PBS video, A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway.
It was just a few years ago that Bernie married Esther, a past LHA president. Unfortunately she called to say that 97-year-old Bernie was in the exercise room when he accidentally slipped and broke his shoulder and knee. It may take a long time to recover but Esther felt it’s nothing he hasn’t overcome before. And we all expect to see them at the Lincoln Highway centennial celebration in three years! You can send get-well wishes to him c/o:
Providence Point
500 Providence Point Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15243
Tags:1928 trip, Bernier Queneau, Boy Scout, Lincoln Highway, living icon, roada trip, travel
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, transportation, travel | 2 Comments »
January 27, 2010
A story in the Omaha World-Herald has only a small but interesting Lincoln Highway connection. Harsh winter weather has created endless potholes in this eastern Nebraska city, including one at 42nd and Dodge Streets that has exposed a rail from the old city streetcar line and “bricks that were likely part of the Lincoln Highway.”
Tags:brick roadway, Lincoln Highway, Omaha NB, potholes, roadway exposed, winter travel
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, road surface, travel | Leave a Comment »
January 26, 2010
New Jersey LHA director Al Pfingstl wrote to say that “Collectible Coins from New York” is advertising Lincoln Highway Hoard Morgan silver dollars. The coins, like the Lady Liberty here priced at $89, aren’t a LH relic but rather the collection was found along the Lincoln. (Note this coin is dated and labeled 1888 but the web site calls it 1902.) Find out more or buy one at www.newyorkmint.net/.
Thousands of motorists have traveled on the road in the century since it first opened. Little did they know that a quaint house they passed by in rural Pennsylvania was more than it seemed. Far from being the pastoral farmhouse in the middle of Amish country, the house contained a fortune in silver coins. Dubbed the “Lincoln Highway Hoard” for its proximity to the famed roadway, the stash contained over 8,000 Morgan Silver Dollars, including many scarce dates and mint marks secured directly from the release of the U.S. Treasury Hoard in the early 1960s.
This is the largest Morgan Silver Dollar hoard we’ve seen in decades. In fact, finding even small hoards of Morgan dollars is a rarity today. We couldn’t pass this opportunity up, and now we’re passing the deal on to New York Mint customers. The coin we’re offering here is an 1902-O Morgan Silver Dollar—struck at the famous New Orleans Mint. It comes graded and encapsulated by NGC in Mint State-63, Brilliant Uncirculated condition with a special pedigree label.
Tags:1888 coin, collectible coins, Lincoln Highway, Morgan dollar, rare coins, silver dollar
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, souvenirs | 3 Comments »
January 25, 2010
At Atomic Antiques, Mark Stevens posts “neat stuff from the 20th century.” He recently posted these two cool Lincoln Highway images. Visit his page (scrolling down a bit) to see the photos larger and read a bit about them. Feel free to comment too.
Before visiting his site, can you identify the location of the first and the purpose behind the second?
Tags:antique cars, BxW photos, Coney, highway history, highway old photos, Iowa, Lincoln Highway, New York, vintage photos
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, travel | Leave a Comment »
January 22, 2010
Olga Herbert, executive director of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor in Pennsylvania, has a friend who wants to sell his collection of Ship Hotel memorabilia. Anyone interested in purchasing part or all of the collection should send their name and phone # to Olga at office@LHHC.org. In about a week, she will send the info to him and he will follow up by telephone. NOTE: no portion of the profits will go to the LHHC, she is doing this as a favor since he doesn’t have e-mail.
The complete story of the Ship Hotel is due out in March in a book written by, well, me. I began researching the Ship in 1988 and became friends with Clara Gardner, granddaughter of founder Herbert Paulson. Clara is gone now but her children graciously permitted me to use many, many family photos. Look for more peeks inside the book in the coming months.
Tags:Bedford PA, Grand View Ship Hotel, hotel shaped like ship, Lincoln Highway, PA history, Road trip, roadside attraction, Ship Hotel, two-lane travel, US 30
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, lodging, Road trip, roadside, travel | 7 Comments »
January 21, 2010
The Reno Gazette-Journal reported about a bike trail that will incorporate seven miles of the old Lincoln Highway near the California-Nevada border. For now, that section is the biggest missing link in the Tahoe-Pyramid Bikeway, a 116-mile path that follows the Truckee River from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake. The new part will be routed along I-80 and dirt roads from Boca Reservoir to Dog Valley Road in Verdi.
Janet Phillips, who founded the group of volunteers working on the project, said of the 10 new miles, seven miles will be on old roadbed from the Lincoln Highway and three miles of new construction will be required.
Phillips said, “There’s a huge transportation history in that canyon and we are going to bring some of it back to life.” A big obstacle was cleared December 10 when the Truckee-Donner Recreation and Park District Board approved an environmental study for the project that was required by California.
Tags:bike trail, historic highway, Lake Tahoe., Lincoln Highway, travel, Truckee CA
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, transportation, travel | Leave a Comment »
January 20, 2010
We can dream of summer road trips this time of year but for now it’s only one month into Winter. Here’s a nice photo (if you like cold weather) from the Omaha World-Herald showing a Lincoln Way street sign in Woodbine, Iowa, known for it’s brick-paved stretch of Lincoln Highway.
Tags:brick street, ice strom, Lincoln Highway, old highway, Omaha news story, travel, Woodbine IA
Posted in highways, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, signs, travel | Leave a Comment »
January 18, 2010
The Sixth Annual BUY-WAY Yard Sale along the Lincoln Highway has been set for August 5, 6 and 7, 2010. The leading state is Ohio, which last years had over 1,000 yard sale locations.
“Ohio started this, and parts of Indiana and Illinois soon joined in,” said Mike Hocker, executive director of the Historic Byway in Ohio, “and now there is talk of New Jersey and Iowa joining this year.”
The dates are now established to be the “first Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in August” and will occur along with the “Route 127 Sale” which crosses the Lincoln in Van Wert, Ohio, the same weekend.
A Travelers Guide will be distributed to businesses along the corridor for pick-up by shoppers in late July, and the official byway website, www.historicbyway.com will host free and paid listings of yard sales and other activities beginning in May.
Tags:historic highway, Lincoln Highway, Ohio, Road trip, travel, yard sale
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, souvenirs, travel | 1 Comment »
January 14, 2010
Various local editions of Suburban Chicago News are telling of work today about noon to mount a new Lincoln Highway mural in Aurora, Illinois. The 200-square-foot mural, spearheaded by the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition, depicts the city nearly a century ago, when the Lincoln Highway was the premier transcontinental trail.
Coalition Associate Director Diane Rossiter explains, “Each mural is painted on what’s called di-bond – a vinyl clad aluminum product — so if a building is remodeled or torn down, we could take it down without losing it.” The mural is on the north wall of the La Quinta de Los Reyes restaurant, 50 N. Broadway. Click HERE to see the image below larger.
The project has been in the works for years, according to Sue Vos, head of the Aurora Area Convention and Visitors Bureau…. Each mural costs roughly $10,000, but the cities and towns receiving them are asked to contribute very little, Vos said. Aurora was responsible for finding a building owner willing to host the mural and for installing the brackets to hang it. The image of a streetscape lit by electric street lamps was chosen by Vos, her staff and the Aurora Historical Society.
Aurora was the first community in Illinois to install electric streetlights in the early days of last century, which led to its official nickname: the City of Lights.
Visit drivelincolnhighway.com for more information on the Lincoln Highway Coalition and the murals.
NOTE: A nice UPDATE ran the day after.
Tags:Aurora IL, highway history, historic highway, Illinois history, Lincoln Highway, mural dedication, Road trip, travel, two-lane roads
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, signs, transportation | 1 Comment »
January 12, 2010
Dave Chase posted a short story about the Lincoln Highway through Mt. Vernon, Iowa, on his blog 42N, which details life around the 42N latitude. His photo shows the Union Pacific tracks on the west end of town that are crossed by a bridge that carries the Lincoln Highway.
Dave took his photo from the original 1915 LH bridge. He has a link to bridgehunter.com that features images of that arched span, including the photo below by our friend J.R. Manning (you may have seen him on the road in his yellow Model A). His 2007 view is looking north from a preserved brick stretch to the rehabbed bridge, now for pedestrians only.
Tags:1915, brick roadway, historic highways, Iowa, Lincoln Highwawy, Mt. Vernon IA, old roads, restored bridge
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, transportation, travel | Leave a Comment »
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