Archive for the ‘Lincoln Highway’ Category
March 10, 2013
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Singer/composer Cecelia “Cece” Otto will celebrate the Lincoln Highway’s centennial this summer with concerts in every state along the coast-to-coast road. An American Songline: A Musical Journey Along the Lincoln Highway is a “singing travelogue” that will serenade communities with songs popular during the highway’s heyday.
Cece wants these performances to be free so she is asking for donations to help defray some of her costs. Visit her Kickstarter campaign at www.kickstarter.com/projects/614045560/an-american-songline> to make a donation. Whether you donate or not, at least check out her project, one of the most creative celebrations of the Lincoln Highway’s centennial.
“I will travel through 14 states, following the original 1913 route of the Lincoln Highway. I’ll be singing a mix of operetta, light classical, and vaudeville songs that were performed in concert halls and recitals along the road throughout the 1910s, ’20s and ’30s. And I’ll be staying with people along the way and getting to know them and their communities.”
An American Songline kicks off mid-April in New York City. Cece will then travel from New Jersey to California, where the journey ends in Lincoln Park, the western terminus of the Lincoln Highway. To learn more about American Songline, visit americansongline.net or its page on Facebook.
Tags:American Songline, highway history, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, music for a highway, opera, singing
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
February 24, 2013
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
As reported by Nebraska Outback, the town of Brule (west pf Ogalalla) wants to tear down an old hotel along the Lincoln Highway to make way for other businesses. According to KNOP-TV (source of the screen shot below), “A new Community Development Agency in Brule wants to revitalize the downtown area, starting with this old hotel building on 2nd and State streets.”
Although no plan or even interest in the location is mentioned, the agency official nonetheless says a replacement “will be a nice looking structure that will start bringing in tax base. That basically helps all those entities that are dependent on upon tax income.”
It is unfortunate that when a structure looks old or in disrepair that so many want to demolish, when it is just those structures, restored or not, that give a community its character. This sense of heritage is exactly what people come to such towns looking for, not chain businesses that can be found anywhere.
Tags:Brule Nebraska, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, Nebraska, old hotel demolition, roadside attraction
Posted in film/video, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, roadside, travel, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
February 6, 2013
The Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition (ILHC) blog reports that a bed & breakfast along the Lincoln Highway corridor has won a prestigious award. Parkside Bed and Breakfast, 200 E. Roosevelt Street, DeKalb, Illinois, was awarded the prestigious Guest Favorite Award from BnBFinder. Only 8 out of 3,000 that are listed on the BnBFinder.com site were chosen for this award. The main house was built in 1854; the attached apartment was opened as a B&B in July 2010. They are located just south of E. Lincoln Highway.
Learn more about innkeepers Bob and Pam Snow or make a reservation at www.parksidebedandbreakfast.com.
Tags:B&B, DeKalb IL, historic highway, Illinois, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside lodging, travel
Posted in history, Lincoln Highway, lodging, travel, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
January 29, 2013
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The Illinois Lincoln Highway Murals, created by artist Jay Allen for the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition, won first place in the Murals/Exhibit Graphics category in an annual sign contest presented by Signs of the Times magazine.
Now the murals are competing in the Signs of the Times 2013 Readers’ Choice Awards. They need YOUR help. It’s EXTREMELY easy and fun to see the competing projects.
Every mural is a hand-painted, unique work of art. So far, 29 have been installed. Upon completion, the series will be one of the largest works of public art in the country.
Visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8DV5THL and vote for your 3 favorite projects, including of course the murals. Voting is limited to once per computer and concludes on February 8.
Tags:highway history, highway mural, Illinois, Lincoln Highway, roadside
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, roadside, signs, transportation, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
January 25, 2013
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The Nebraska Lincoln Highway Scenic and Historic Byway Association has published a Centennial Travel Guide to promote attractions along the Lincoln Highway. Nebraska’s portion of the coast-to-coast road 450 miles, makes it the state’s longest byway. Print versions are available or see it instantly online HERE.
Sarah Focke, LH byway president, says “The centennial of the Lincoln Highway in 2013 will mean increased tourism…. This will help them visit all the hidden treasures located along the way.”
The guide includes historical information about the highway and key byway attractions and historical sites, maps to find lodging, meals and entertainment and a schedule of activities along the way.
Copies of the travel guide are available in the 36 communities across the byway, or for more information, visit
http://www.lincolnhighwaynebraskabyway.com.
Tags:highway history, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, Nebraska, Road trip, roadside attractions, roadtrip, travel, US 30, vacation
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, travel, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
January 23, 2013
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The Joliet Area Historical Museum, at the crossroads of the Lincoln Highway and Route 66 in Joliet, Illinois, is asking for help in restoring its 1928 Lincoln Highway concrete marker. According to a release, the museum hopes “to raise $5,000 to restore the highway marker which is deteriorating rapidly. Restoration includes: stabilizing the interior rebar, re-adhering the broken segments, removing bronze disease, brightening the paint, and displaying it inside.” Of course, there is no paint — the colors are in the concrete — but the rest sounds like a worthy endeavor.
Read more HERE in the release:
Tags:1928 concrete marker, concrete post, highway history, historic highway, Illinois, Joliet IL, Lincoln Highway, Route 66
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, museum, signs, transportation, travel, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
November 2, 2012
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The newest project by Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition is not a mural or gazebo, it’s an exhibit at the Joliet Area Historical Museum in Joliet, Illinois. The unveiling coincided with the first-ever Illinois Scenic Byway Week, recently designated by Governor Quinn.
The new exhibit offers striking graphics and vintage photos complimented by stories that convey the Lincoln Highway’s impact on America and its increasingly mobile society. A detailed map and a replica 1928 Lincoln Highway marker help visitors find the route on paper and on their next rip on the road. The Joliet Area Historical Museum is a popular jumping-off point for followers of Route 66 heading west from Chicago to the Pacific coast.
Tags:highway history, historic highway, Illinois, Joliet IL, Lincoln Highway, museum exhibit, Route 66
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, museum, roadside, transportation, travel | 1 Comment »
October 29, 2012
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
A new poster commemoratees the forthcoming centennial of the Lincoln Highway in 2013. The Merrillville-Ross Township Historical Society Museum of Merrilville, Indiana, commissioned Mitch Markovitz to create the evocative image.
An article at nwitimes.com explains:
“We started this project more than a year ago,” said Dan Kleine, the project manager for the poster commissioning and a member of the Merrillville-Ross Township Historical Society board. “The whole idea was to build awareness that the Old Lincoln Highway is 73rd Avenue, just outside the museum’s front door.”
In his oil-on-canvas painting that is reproduced as a poster, Markovitz of Knox, creates a scene from 1929 when the Lincoln Highway was a major thoroughfare that led to Broadway and then north to Gary and Chicago….
Jeff Blair, Indiana’s national director on the Lincoln Highway Association, traveled from Leesburg, Ind., to witness the poster’s unveiling.
“Last year, I walked the Lincoln Highway west from Ohio to Illinois for charity. Next May, I’m going to walk east from Illinois to Ohio and I’ll pass right by here on the first day,” Blair said.
The article claims that the poster shows a 1929 Ford Model T, which is impossible. More likely it’s a Model A, though just as perplexing is why the image is said to portray the LH in 1929, a year after the LHA ceased active operations. Perhaps it was to include a 1928 concrete post, but that too is in an incorrect orientation, i.e., not facing the road.
Tags:centennial celebration, highway history, historic highway, Indiana, Lincoln Highway, poster
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, roadside, souvenirs, transportation, travel | Leave a Comment »
October 12, 2012
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The Village of Lynwood, Illinois, sports the newest mural in the Illinois Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor’s series that spans the 179-mile Illinois byway corridor. Lynwood marks the eastern terminus to the Illinois portion of the Lincoln Highway. The mural wasinstalled October 10, 2012, at 21490 East Lincoln Highway, on Lynwood’s Senior/Youth Center building.
ILHC works with artist Jay Allen (above, installing the mural), owner of ShawCraft Sign Company; every mural is a hand painted, unique work of art. Upon completion, the series will be one of the largest works of public art in the country. This mural depicts Carl G. Fisher, the “Father of the Lincoln Highway” and elements of his life that helped turn his dream of the first transcontinental highway into a reality.
For more information on the Illinois Lincoln Highway, places to see and things to do, stories of the highway’s significance and history, or to download an Illinois Lincoln Highway Visitor Guide, visit drivelincolnhighway.com. To see the mural larger, visit my Facebook page at facebook.com/groups/28162312417/.
Tags:Carl Fisher, highway history, historic highway, Illinois, interpretive murals, Lincoln Highway, Road trip
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, signs, transportation | 3 Comments »
August 14, 2012
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
I’ve been meaning for more than half a year to post about an impressive, engaging, and informative blog. Grover Cleveland, via his “Camera and Pencil in the Mountains,” has been regaling us with detailed trips along “The Lincoln Highway in Basin and Range, ” that is, across Utah and Nevada. sierratraveler.wordpress.com
The latest trips cover Fish Springs, the John Thomas Ranch, and what Grover calls Black Point, above, a few miles west of Fish Springs. I really appreciated the link to the 1859 report of Captain James Simpson, who explored the major wagon and Pony Express route throughout Nevada.
Tags:Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Fish Springs UT, highway history, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, travel, Utah
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, road surface, Road trip, transportation, travel | 1 Comment »
Lincoln Highway News 