My Lincoln Highway Companion book is still being proofed for release later this Spring, but already the deadline is here for my next book, due out in 2010: The Ship Hotel: A Grand View along the Lincoln Highway.
One part will feature stories from those who visited or worked there. If you have a recollection or photo you’d like to share, please write.
I also have some Ship info and images on my website at www.brianbutko.com/lh.ship.html
The Review of East Liverpool, Ohio, has published a couple galleries of reader photos featuring Crosser’s Diner, a long-time eatery along the Lincoln Highway in Lisbon. I recently reported here and here that it’s being taken apart. The newest one shows the diner being disassembled for an uncertain future:
Click the screen shot to see the collection – photos are by Patti Schaeffer:
An album from August titled “Death of the Crosser Dinette,” documents its decline. By then, the roof had collapsed, stopped only by the counter, hence the roofline bowing that we reported earlier. You can see water damage and that the wooden framing in the middle was probably not salvageable.
Click the screen shot to see the collection – photos by madbunny/Brin Metzendorf:
Another diner loss for New York City is a gain for Wyoming. The Moondance Diner sat near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel in Lower Manhattan, which served the Lincoln Highway when it was re-signed in 1928. After nearly 80 years there, the diner had to move in 2007 and was bought by Cheryl and Vince Pierce of La Barge in southwest Wyoming, 72 miles north of the Lincoln Highway. Here are two views before departure from Forgotten NY:
The Pierces paid $7,500 for the diner then had to move it, but red tape and a rain storm slowed the 2,400-mile trip through nine states. Then snow collapsed the roof last winter. According to the Jackson Hole Star Tribune, the diner is opening this month, perhaps tomorrow.
One of the last free-standing diners in Manhattan, the Moondance served up cheeseburgers, fries, milkshakes and malts to working-class New Yorkers, artists and actors for decades. The diner gained national prominence after being featured in the film “Spider-Man,” and was included as a backdrop in numerous TV episodes over the years. The Moondance became a victim of the times, however, and was scheduled for demolition in 2007 to make room for condominiums.
That paper’s photo, below, shows owner Cheryl Pierce with letters stored from the historic neon-lit, revolving crescent Moondance sign. The menu will include traditional diner fare such as burgers, meatloaf, homemade fries, and milkshakes/malts from an antique soda fountain.
Those wishing to visit can turn north on US 30 where it famously breaks away from the Lincoln Highway at Granger, Wyoming, between Fort Bridger and Green River, then at Opal turn north on US 189.
Diner fan and fanatic John Shoaf couldn’t just read about the deconstruction of the Crosser Diner along the Lincoln Highway in Lisbon Ohio — he had to drive from West Virginia to see the situation for himself. Sorry to say, not only will St. Louis not be getting the diner, but neither will anyone else. John reports that if there ever was a deal to move it, the buyer never showed or paid. The porcelain enameled panels have been taken off and stored, but by now the wooden framing has been burned!
At least he got a look at it first:
WOW!! B.G. Harley’s design used by Sterling is highly evident in what’s left. Each of the four-foot sections is highly visible. The “frame base flanges/bolts” can easily be seen in how it was constructed, with each four-foot section bolted together till the diner was the size you wanted.
Interesting even more to me: It started as a CURVED ROOF diner in the plant but was given a flat-ish over roof (using the same wood as the curved part so it wasn’t an after add-on) to make it a later updated squared-off design.
Too bad that even one neato four-foot section isn’t going to be saved for posterity, it’s a crying shame. A beautiful example GONE FOREVER
Here’s a photo of a round-roofed Sterling for sale at Antique Car Investments:
The Crosser Diner, which has served the Lincoln Highway in Lisbon, Ohio, for more than half a century, is being carted away. The rare Sterling model at 127 W. Lincoln Way has been closed for years, leading to speculation and concern that it might be demolished. The Lisbon Morning Journal reports that Herb Chesney is disassembling the historic diner for owners Gayle Beck and Paul Hammond, who are salvaging as much of the diner as possible in hopes of reconstructing it just outside St. Louis, Missouri. This photo by Patti Schaeffer is from the December 28 Morning Journal.
The Sterling-brand diner was manufactured about 1944 by J.B. Judkins of Merrimac, Mass., best known for their streamliner models featuring one or both ends rounded. This Dinette model is one of only 4 survivors.
Earlier in December, the Journal reported:
Discussion continued about the progress of Crosser’s Diner off Lincoln Way. Lewis expressed his dissatisfaction with the level of communication among the village and the owners and contractor. “Do we have any contact or time frame?” Lewis asked. “We seem to be in the dark up here.” No members of council could give an answer about the progression of the demolition. Solicitor Virginia Barbarak said she did speak with the fire chief but that she “didn’t have a time frame.” Lewis said he’d like to find out when the contractor will be finishing the work. “We need to know,” he said. “A lot of people are upset. I’d like to see it gone by the end of the year.”
With Lincoln Highway tourism rising, the diner could have been an amazing draw for the town, which has a 1950s diner a few blocks away. Here’s the diner in 2007:
Dave Zollinger, aka Spiny Norman, has been expanding his Goshen Lincoln Highway blog so much that it’s already spawned a sequel at www.indianaslincolnhighway.blogspot.com called “Indiana’s Lincoln Highway.”
It’s already got some great stories, like a visit to the well-known Magic Wand drive-in restaurant in Churubusco, and the start of a cross-state tour at the Ohio line.
Jan Morrison writes from Austin, Nevada, that she closed her Main Street Shops that sold coffee, ice cream, and gifts, “another victim of the recession. Traffic on our stretch of US 50/the Lincoln Highway is down 40-50%. There is a possibility someone may lease it, but I won’t know until the spring.”
There is at least some positive news:
At the corner of Main (US 50) and Virginia, across from the hardware store, a new town plaza will be built featuring a rest stop with public bathrooms, picnic tables, and a gathering space. It should be completed for summer.
Tours of St. Augustine Church can now be arranged. We prefer groups because there are only two of to give tours, and we have 3-4 jobs each.
There is a new RV park which accommodates the larger rigs with “pull-throughs.” It is the Pony Express RV Park.
There is a new stop at the east entrance of town, where the mountain bike place used to be, the Last Chance Saloon. They offer great pizzas and other dine-in or take-out food. Nice bar also, clean and well-kept. It is run by Bob and Donna Sossa, who have a huge home in the Valley shaped like a castle which is also a B & B.
In spite of the recession, we are all working hard on sprucing up the town, preserving the old buildings, and getting ready for better times!
Also check the Libraries & Museums link at right for the address of the Austin Museum. Jan says they have furnishings from one of the early ranches in the area and a room set up like an old ranch kitchen with a Hoosier, old stove, rockers, and tables.
Jennifer Vogelsong wrote an interesting piece for the York Daily Record/Sunday News about the search for authentic experiences in Gettysburg and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Much of the public face is found along the Lincoln Highway/US 30 but she finds that the best places are a block or two away or along the back roads. She was inspired by the December issue of National Geographic Traveler that ranked the two destinations among the most important historic places on Earth — and fourth worst when it comes to sustainable tourism, ie how authentically they preserve the past, manage tourism, and withstand development.
At the Mennonite Information Center on US 30, director Jeff Landis advises “If you see a sign with the word “Amish” in it, it probably isn’t.” Still, at The Amish Experience, with billboard ads and an F/X Theater, “employee Ginny Reese said it’s pretty authentic, and an appealing option for visitors who don’t want to drive the back roads for the real thing: ‘They can’t find it or they don’t know where to go and what they’re looking for.'”
Read more of Jennifer’s travels around these two areas and York in her blog Explorer’s Backpack.
The popular Niland’s Cafe in Colo, Iowa, will reopen December 5 and operate three days a week through the winter.
The Nevada Journal revealed the joint plan between the city of Colo, which owns the historic Reed-Niland property, and the Colo Development Group, which manages the property for the city:
Ben Weir, president of the development group, said Missy Bitters, of Colo, will be overseeing the day-to-day operation of the restaurant…. Previously, the city and development group have leased the restaurant to those who have operated it…. Weir said the development group won’t heavily advertise the opening at first, because “we want to allow Missy to get in and get organized … and get her feet wet.”
Bitters said hours of operation will be 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays. She said one of the things the restaurant will bring back from the past is the loose meat sandwiches that historic owner John Niland made popular for the restaurant.
Above is Colo city clerk Scott Berka at the Niland’s Cafe counter.
For weeks I’ve been proofreading a design draft of my next book, Lincoln Highway Companion. Though I’d like to think I sent off a masterpiece, corrections from my editor and volunteer readers proves that there’s always room for improvement.
The 15 or so readers have caught misspelled words or street names that have changed or found listings for places that have closed. The maps were only half done, being that they were such a massive part of the project, so they are receiving tons of additional info—street names, landmarks, geographic feature notations, and letters keyed to Must-See attractions.
Hardest to take are the businesses that were included that have since closed. I’m not only sad for the effort that I (or guest writers) put into those stories, but the road is one bit less interesting each time a place closes or is demolished.
I’m proofing so many different aspects, and comparing to so many original sources and maps, that it’s eating away weeks of free time. I’ll be taking a few days now at Thanksgiving to try to finish it.
Click the map above for a full-size view of the Lincoln Highway.
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Another fun book! The Ship Hotel: A Grand View along the Lincoln Highway recalls the greatest roadside attraction along the coast-to-coast road.
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