LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Roadside and Route 66 enthusiasts Emily Priddy and Ron Warnick recently took a 10-day road trip that Emily chronicled on her Red Fork State of Mind blog. She sent me news updates including that volunteers were stripping the World’s Largest Teapot in Chester, WV, with scrapers, heat guns, and blowtorches as part of an Eagle Scout project.
Above you’ll see they also visited two excellent roadside attractions in east-central PA: the Lincoln Motor Court east of Bedford, and the giant Coffee Pot on the edge of downtown. Then they filled up at Dunkle’s Gulf, a rare art deco gem still in the same family—and still pumping gas!
Emily said their goal was to see Ryne Sandberg managing the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in Allentown, so she and Ron (who pens the Route 66 News blog, which inspired this one!) headed east on the Lincoln Highway:
I fell in love with the farmland of Iowa; the vibrant energy of Chicago; the charming downtowns of Goshen, Ind., and Van Wert, Ohio; the giant teapot in Chester, W. Va.; the winding mountain roads of rural Pennsylvania; and the ethnic neighborhoods and skinny townhouses with old men killing time on their front stoops in the narrow side streets of Allentown.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The popular Niland Café in Colo, Iowa, is re-opening on Thursday, July 7 @ 4:00 pm, to coincide with the Colo Farmer’s Market. New operator Sandra Huemann-Kelly already had a “soft opening” on June 30 during the market.
Regular hours will be:
Tue–Sat: 6:30 am – 8:00 pm
Sunday: 6:30 am – 2:00 pm (Breakfast Buffet till 1:00 pm)
Monday: closed
NOTE: Breakfast Buffet the first weekend will move to Saturday, July 9, till 10:30 am for Colo “Crossroads Festival.” No buffet this Sunday.
You can also make reservations through the cafe for the adjacent vintage Colo Motel, which offers 6 restored rooms with A/C, wireless, 3/4 bath, cable TV, and a shaded picnic area. Call (641) 377-3663.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Make sure you keep following Denny Gibson’s blog after the first day he hits the Lincoln Highway (his Day 9). Click HERE to continue with Day 10. Highlights include encountering snow at Donner Summit (note the LH “Subway” beneath the railroad overpass just left of center) and an adventurous ride along the sometimes perilous Kings Canyon Road (on a tour led by Nevada LHA director Jim Bonar).
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LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
A newly posted video uses a vintage player piano to play “Lincoln Highway,” a 1922 march by George B. Lutz. Click below to hear it.
I ran a photo of the sheet music in my book The Lincoln Highway: Pennsylvania Traveler’s Guide (music at right). Other similar marches were produced in 1914 and 1921.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
We’re once again lucky to have Denny Gibson traveling and documenting part of the Lincoln Highway, this time some of the roads to and from the 2011 LHA conference in Lake Tahoe. You can follow his adventures beginning at www.dennygibson.com/lhfest11/day09/index.htm when he visits bits of the Lincoln in Utah. He starts with the beautiful little Lambs Canyon bridge (below). Then it’s across the Utah desert (below #2) and into Nevada.
At the conference, participants rode the old road at Clarksville, Cal., in Model A Fords (below). We’ll save more for our next blog entry….
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The Rawlins Daily Timesran a nice article about the centennial celebration at the famed Virginian Hotel along the Lincoln Highway (now US 30) in Medicine Bow, Wyoming.
The celebration was part of Medicine Bow Days this past weekend, when the town’s population of fewer than 300 often jumps five-fold. The hotel hosted a sold-out dinner with actor James Drury, who played the Virginian on TV. Hotel owner Vernon Scott said, “This place means the world to me. It’s something I enjoy, and I hope other people stop in to enjoy (it), too.”
Vernon’s grandparents bought out the majority of hotel shares in the 1930s. Vernon’s mother later took charge, and Vernon took over in 1983. His wife of nearly four decades, Vickie, worked there as a youth at the restaurant and general store.
One customer — who was dancing with her 2-year-old, Summer Apple, in the hotel dining room— said, “Scottie and Vickie have kept it nice, helped with strangers and the community.… I really think they’ve made this hotel the heart and soul of the town.”
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Supervisors in Unity Twp., near Latrobe, Pennsylvania, have approved the demolition of the Hi-Way Drive-In Theater and its replacement by a CVS pharmacy. The outdoor theater is a beloved icon along the Lincoln Highway/U.S. 30.
Residents and drive-in fans tried protesting in recent months that the 51-year-old theater was popular with families, had a minimal or even pleasing impact on the landscape, and that CVS has a pharmacy less than a mile away at Mountain Laurel Plaza along Route 30. Nonetheless, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that the screens and equipment will be razed, and construction will begin later this summer as soon as permits are issued.
“This isn’t anything against CVS … this is about taking a piece of our history for no apparent reason,” said Cindy Yutzy of Latrobe, adding that she believes that CVS could have found other land to purchase for a new pharmacy. “This is a piece of our history and, slowly, every piece of our history is going bye-bye because of big business.”
But landowner Richard Ridilla “wrote a letter to township officials indicating that, regardless of the outcome of the township’s negotiations with CVS, the drive-in and flea market would no longer be in operation” due to it not making a profit in recent year.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
A constant stream of Lincoln Highway memorabilia shows up on eBay, less so on craigslist. But here’s a sign from the Lincoln Highway Garage that was on Rt. 462 in York that advertised the LH Restaurant inside. The station is long gone, replaced by a Turkey Hill store that pays homoage to the old place, but this souvenir has survived.
Plans are underway in Tama, Iowa, for the 32nd Annual Lincoln Highway Bridge Festival. It starts Friday, May 20, 2011 @ 10 am and runs through Saturday, May 21 @ 11 pm. The celebration honors the concrete bridge renowned for having “Lincoln Highway” sculpted into its side rails.
Friday opens with the carnival and food vendors to the Tama Civic Center area. The Tama Citizen of the Year award will be presented by the Tama Firefighters at 7 pm. Saturday May 21 will again feature carnival and food vendors. The day begins with a pancake breakfast from 7 to 9:30 am followed by the annual parade at 10 am. Free entertainment will run through out the day in front of the Tama Civic Center. Turtle Races will be held in front of the library from 1-4 pm. Preparations are underway, with the Chief of Police and Sergeant searching the area for turtles whose speed will qualify them as race material. Visit www.tamatoledo.com for a full schedule.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Starting May 11, Caltrans will close U.S. 50/Lincoln Highway at Echo Summit for approximately two weeks to replace a rock wall with a barrier that meets current safety standards while preserving the natural beauty. According to Way2Tahoe.com, traffic will be one-way on May 9–10 in preparation for the closure, and for approximately six weeks Monday through noon on Fridays following the full closure. (The highway will be open Memorial Day Weekend.) Highway 50 remains open to Placerville visitors and all other locations as far east as Sierra at Tahoe Resort. Click on the map to see it larger.
Click the map above for a full-size view of the Lincoln Highway.
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Click the Greetings book below to purchase the ultimate guide to the history and route of the Lincoln Highway!
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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Lincoln Highway News 