LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The state has awarded $500,000 for recreation projects in Franklin and Cumberland counties in Pennsylvania, one of which will be an iPhone application to promote the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor. According to the Chambersburg Public Opinion, “the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources invested $23 million in 189 conservation and recreation projects in 65 counties. Another 177 applications were not funded. A grant of $180,000 will be used to develop an iPhone application to promote tourism in the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor and to finance a variety of other Lincoln Highway programs — mini-grants, school programs and repair interpretive exhibits and signs. The state’s National Road Heritage Corridor is also developing an iPhone application.
Archive for the ‘Road trip’ Category
LHHC gets grant for iPhone Lincoln Highway app
October 28, 2010Malta mural features Lincoln Hwy Seedling Mile
October 26, 2010LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition announced the completion of its newest Interpretive Mural along the 179-mile byway corridor: 127 N. Third Street in Malta, Illinois, on the Malta Historical Society’s Old Town Hall.
The Malta mural showcases the Lincoln Highway’s first Seedling Mile with a detailed painting of workmen pouring the concrete from a steam-operated mixer and a view at right of men smoothing the surface. The LHA used Seedling Miles to demonstrate the advantages of concrete over dirt surfaces in hopes that it would inspire further road improvements.
For more information on the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition, including its murals and gazebos plus places to see and things to do, or to download an ILHC’s 2010 Visitor Guide, visit www.drivelincolnhighway.com/.
Palmantier's Motel saved and open for business!
October 25, 2010LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Scott Segeti, former owner of Palmantier’s Motel, said he was “lured to these parts by the beauty of nearby farm fields, grazing cattle, grassy meadows, chirping birds, fresh air and an opportunity to be his own boss.”
Now Rainie Sonntag wrote to say:
My husband and I have the same dream so we went to the auction and purchased the Palmantier’s Motel. We fell in love with the place when we saw it. We had to have it. My mother was the long time owner of the Akron Turnpike Motel. She too had a dream and we helped her make it happen with her motel. Now we plan to do the same with ours!! We purchased it in July and we are now open. So for all you folks who stayed there in the past please return and make it happen.
Palmantier’s Motel, opened 1947, is a classic 9-unit motel along the Lincoln Highway in eastern Ohio. Segeti put it up for auction, saying he was struggling. The beautiful motel is within sight of the famous stretch of Baywood Road paved in red bricks (bottom center of photo). The new # for reservations is (330) 868-6000.
Forrest on Lincoln & Transcontinental RR “walk”
October 8, 2010LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
In honor of the Transcontinental Railroad, Forrest has been taking a virtual walk along its route (ala Forrest Gump), following the westward progress of the Union Pacific from Omaha to Utah. He began April 16 and has logged 1372 miles as of this morning. He writes about the towns and people along the way, often coming upon parts of the Lincoln Highway, which paralells much of the route. Check it out here: walkforrestwalk.blogspot.com/.
He writes:
When the U.S. government named two companies to build a transcontinental railroad in 1862. no meeting point was set. Enormous financial rewards—paid out per mile of completed track—propelled both sides into a grueling seven-year race across daunting terrain of the states of Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, & Califorina. When completed the railroad connected a post Civil War nation, forever changing the American West. For the next 6 months & 1500 miles Forrest will follow this important and historical route that our ancestors followed so many years ago.
Iowa welcome center celebrates Lincoln Highway
October 5, 2010LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The electronic highway is akin to the early network of roads in the US: exciting changes happen daily but there’s still lots of work that needs done; you can guess that I’ve had some computer problems lately! To get back on track, click on Southwest Iowa News for an interesting article on recent renovations at Harrison County Museum/Welcome Center in western Iowa. A description of what you’ll find at the center follows this image of the Loess Hills overlook.
Phase I of the project included the Lincoln Highway surface demonstration – showing how the surface of the Lincoln Highway changed from dirt to gravel, to brick etc. It includes bricks from the streets of Missouri Valley that had been stored at the museum prior to the tornado that hit in 1999 and were saved for future use. Also included in the expansion are Lincoln Highway interpretive panels, an auditorium showing films on the Loess Hills and Lincoln Highway, a children’s transportation play scape next to a cabin court picnic area, a scenic overlook observation platform, among other signage.
The ongoing adventures of Lincoln Highwayman
September 23, 2010LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Don’t forget to follow Lincoln Highwayman, aka Jim Devitt, as he continues his trip westward on the Lincoln Highway. After some troubles with his Ford Model A, he’s cruising through Indiana. Follow along at blog.lincolnhighwayman.com/. Click the image below to see LARGER the short segment of vintage Lincoln Highway located between upgraded LH (seen to the right) and US 30 (off camera to the left)
TV station profiles story of 1959 Iowa video
September 20, 2010LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
A Des Moines, Iowa, TV station picked up on the story of the 1959 film showing US 30 in Iowa. WHO-TV channel 13 filed a report centered on the complex of gas, food, and lodging at Niland’s Corner in Colo, Iowa, which is seen in a screen shot in my report of the film. Scott Berka, Colo City Clerk, who is instrumental in keeping the buildings going, is briefly interviewed at the Colo Motel, a Lincoln Highway classic!
View the video HERE. Note it starts with a brief advertisement.
Amazing 1959 film of Iowa's US 30
September 16, 2010
YOU WILL LOVE this video of central Iowa’s US 30, filmed in 1959 to show congestion and the need for road improvements. Highway Relocations was created by the Iowa State Highway Commission (ISHC), now IDOT, to show the downside of gas stations, rest stops, and the skinny two-lanes they populate. Filming started just east of State Center at the junction of Iowa 64 (now Iowa 330) and US 30 (the Lincoln Highway) and continued west along US 30 through State Center, Colo, Nevada, and Ames, ending just west of Boone. The film is 16 minutes long and covers 55 miles. {Note: Please read the comments for more info on the cars and the year it was filmed.]
Amazingly, most of it was filmed by a camerman perched atop a ladder connected to a car and extending approximately 22 feet in the air above the roadway! The camera, on a 1958 Ford Ranch Wagon, followed and filmed a 1958 Plymouth Fury. “The unidentified cameraman had the precarious task of trying to hold the camera steady and stay on the ladder, notably without a safety harness or other protective device.”
“As part of the Iowa DOT’s effort to preserve and archive its historical resources, the original Highway Relocations 16mm film was recently professionally cleaned and restored to its original film quality.”
LHHC offers "Ultimate Road Trip" in October
August 31, 2010The Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor is sponsoring a one-day bus trip along the Lincoln Highway from Greensburg to Everett, Pa., (and back) on Monday, October 11, 2010. The “ultimate road trip” will be guided by Lou DeRose, the ultimate Lincoln Highway fan, and Olga Herbert, the Executive Director of the LHHC. Both know this route inside and out and will share little-known facts about this country’s first coast-to-coast route.
In addition to photo ops at four Roadside Giants and four Lincoln Highway murals, bus guests will be treated to a lunch buffet at the Omni Bedford Springs Resort followed by a private tour. The day begins with a private guided tour of the historic Compass Inn in Laughlintown led by Innkeeper Jim Koontz.
After lunch they’ll head to Everett for a photo op of another Roadside Giant followed by visits to Bedford’s art deco Dunkle’s Gulf Station and the 1927 Coffee Pot. Dinner is at the historic Jean Bonnet Tavern with time to browse the Cabin Gift Shoppe.
Departure is from either Greensburg’s Hempfield Square or Latrobe 30 Shopping Plaza.
Make your reservation TODAY at www.LHHC.org where you can pay online or call (724) 238-9030. The travel package ($115 per person) includes the guided tours of Compass Inn and Bedford Springs, lunch at Bedford Springs, dinner at Jean Bonnet Tavern, and a photo memento. Sorry, no refunds.
Lincoln Highway class offered in Gettysburg
August 30, 2010A 2-day Lincoln Highway course is being offered in this fall by the Continuing Education division at HACC-Gettysburg Campus.
“Lincoln Highway: Past and Present” will run Wednesday, Sept. 28, 6-9 pm, and Saturday, Oct. 2, 8 am–6 pm. Cost is $65 and deadline to register is Sept. 22.
For 200 years, Americans had been fascinated by the thought of practical, coast-to-coast travel. The first successful attempt was the Lincoln Highway, a patchwork of trails, roads, and main streets, which would have a dramatic impact on this country. Students will examine the history, development and decline of the highway and its impact on everyday life. The class includes a field trip along the Lincoln Highway as far east as Coatesville.
For more information, call the continuing education office at HACC-Gettysburg Campus at 717-338-1010 or visit www.hacc.edu/.
Lincoln Highway News 