Archive for the ‘roadside’ Category
June 15, 2009
The fifth and final project in the “Roadside Giants of the Lincoln Highway” series is an antique truck celebrating farming heritage. Designed by the Franklin County Career & Technology Center students in Chambersburg, the 1920 Selden Apple Truck replica truck is fully dimensional and features a steering column and bench seat plus wheels that spin. The 11-foot tall, 2-ton antique truck is located at Shatzer’s Fruit Market along U.S. 30 heading east. A dedication was held Tuesday, June 9, 2009.
The hood sign reads “Lincoln Highway Fruit Growers Serving Franklin County Since 1907.”
Read more in the Chambersburg Public Opinion HERE.
And read about other Roadside Giants across the U.S. in Roadside Giants the book, available from Amazon by clicking HERE.
Tags:Adams County PA, apple monument, Chambersburg PA, giant apple truck, Lincoln Highway, roadside giants, rural life monument, student project
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June 11, 2009
The Canton Repository reports that a classic 9-unit motel along the Lincoln Highway in eastern Ohio is for sale. Fans will recognize it as being at the eastern end of the famous brick stretch of Baywood Street.
Palmantier’s Motel, opened 1947, was purchased four years ago by Scott Segeti, “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 Segeti is trying to sell the motel, swimming pool, two houses, and 3.25 acres for $425,000.
“I thought it was a gift from God,” he said.
He bought it on land contract from longtime owner Carolyn Koontz in 2005. He immediately digitized the motel’s old phone system. He hard-wired room fire alarms. He touched up units here and there. He moved into one four-bedroom house on the land and rented out the other.
Four years later, Segeti isn’t sure he can make it work.
The bad economy has squeezed the motel. Even for $50 a night, sometimes not a single room is rented. Its airy one- and two-bed country decor units remain empty. Most guests these days are building contractors who follow jobs into the area, stay for a few weeks and move on….
“It would be the ideal business for a retired couple,” Segeti said. “This place still has the ambiance of the 1950s. From a time when the whole world moved at a much slower pace.”
Tags:1947, brick roadway, Canton OH, classic motel, Lincoln Highway, motel for sale, Ohio, retirement opportunity, roadside
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, lodging, roadside, travel | 3 Comments »
June 5, 2009
My Lincoln Highway Companion book hit Amazon and bookstore shelves a couple weeks ago. It’s literally a companion to my Greetings … book but also, I hope, a companion to anyone thinking of traveling the road. Reaction has been overwhelmingly kind, like this from LHA president Bob Dieterich:
This book is fantastic! The color maps are clear and easy to read. The photos are excellent. And the contents are superb. The places described in this book are unique and fascinating.
A couple tiny errors have shown up, one being the location of Stosh’s Barber Shop – the description correctly places it in Batavia, Illinois. So why in the photo caption did I write Rochelle?! Don’t know but if we produce a revised or updated edition, I’m ready.
Route 66 News also gave LHC a positive review — read it HERE. Ron Warnick kindly writes that it “truly shines with descriptions of choice motels and restaurants by Butko and a slew of contributors.”
He notes that some locales just don’t have people able to review motels or restaurants, most glaringly in Reno and Sparks, Nevada. This was surprising to me too but shows how the Lincoln Highway is still in the early stages of providing for modern tourists. Route 66 handles this with a volunteer program, Adopt a Hundred, that monitors places for inclusion in the Route 66 Dining and Lodging Guide.
For those considering buying it, Lincoln HIghway Companion does include both state maps plus regional maps that cover every mile of the road at 1″ to every seven miles. There are also selected city maps at 1″ = 1 mile.
Tags:book review, Lincoln Highway, my new book, road guide, Road trip, Route 66 News, travel, vacation planning
Posted in food, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, lodging, Road trip, roadside, travel | 2 Comments »
June 4, 2009
A 20-foot tall, 1,600-pound steel quarter with George Washington’s profile is the newest of five Roadside Giants planned along Pennsylvania’s 200-mile Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor. The quarter is located east of Bedford, Pennsylvania, near the Down River Golf Course in Everett. It was dedicated last Wednesday to acknowledge students from Bedford County Technical Center who were involved in its design and creation. The sculpture was created at MDL Manufacturing in Bedford; owners Mari-Pat and Doug Lingsch invited the students into their plant.
The photo below shows Mari-Pat and Doug Lingsch, owners of MDL Manufacturing in Bedford. Leah R. Cominsky, LHHC Marketing/Project Manager, says, “They had a lot to do with the project in terms of allowing the students to work on laser cutting the details of the Giant at their facility, plus they helped the students to order the materials that they would need to complete the Giant. They are such great, kind-hearted people, and Mari-Pat was on the Community Committee for the school to help them along the way with the design of the quarter.”
The Altoona Mirror reported that:
Meetings for the project began in March 2008, said community committee member Karen Bowman. Finishing touches at the site, such as landscaping and stone, will be added in the fall by students….
It took about three days to build the form, one day for it to set and another day to pour concrete….
Assistance on this project was provided by New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co., BC Stone, SKE Design and Rockland Manufacturing.
For Wednesday’s dedication, student Chelsea Long of the tech center’s Culinary Arts project created a matching 3-D cake in the shape of the giant quarter with assistance from instructor Pattie Liebfreid.
Tags:giant quarter, Lincoln Highway, PA, Road trip, roadside giant, roadside landmarks
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, signs, travel | 1 Comment »
June 2, 2009
Fred Hammer wrote to say hello after reading my post on the history of his family’s motel along the Lincoln Highway in Kearney, Nebraska: “I grew up in that motel — watched it grow from 8 rooms to 35. My dad was one of the founders of the Best Western chain and took pride in that organization…. In the landscaping I donated to the university, I had three brick columns placed in the southwest corner, similar in shape to what was at the motel — and, in one of the columns, there is embedded a plaque which has a miniature imprint of the motel sign” So next time you’re in Kearney, take the time to find the honorary landscaping and plaque on Watson Blvd. at 19th Street.
Tags:giant sign, highway history, Kearney NE, Lincoln Highway, Nebraska, vintage motel
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, lodging, roadside, signs, travel | 1 Comment »
May 27, 2009
The third Roadside Giant sculpture along the Lincoln Highway in western Pennsylvania will be unveiled today. The Community Installation Celebration for the Central Westmoreland Career & Technology Center’s “Packard Car with Driver” will take place at 1 pm at the entrance to the Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce and the Mt. Odin Golf Course, on the original Lincoln Highway. Guests will enjoy a “giant” Packard Cake, in the same shape as the giant, but edible! Photos of the installation courtesy Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor.
Tags:Greensburg PA, highway history, highway sculpture, history, Lincoln Highway, PA, Road trip, roadside giants, travel
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May 22, 2009
This Sunday, May 24, Paxton, Nebraska, will celebrate the centennial of its incorporation as a village. The celebration will include a community pageant recalling Paxton’s history and a chuck wagon feed. Paxton, on the Lincoln Highway/US 30 west of North Platte, has a population of just 614. and one flashing red traffic warning light.
Russell Rein sent a link to a North Platte Telegraph story that gives details. The pageant —with 48 cast members and 30-voice choir — is at 3 p.m. at the Paxton High School with the chuck wagon feed at 5 p.m. in the high school’s bus barn. Tickets for the pageant and feed are $10 for adults; $5 for children, under 5 free.
Among Paxton’s businesses, there are three that have been serving the village for more than half the town’s existence. Kildare Lumber began serving the town and its rural farming and ranching population even before Paxton’s incorporation. Hehnke’s, a meat market and grocery on Paxton’s main street, has served the village for nearly 90 years. Ole’s Big Game Steakhouse and Lounge, in business for more than six decades along main street, has long been known throughout the United States.
Tags:big game steakhouse, centennial, highway town, Lincoln Highway, Nebraska, Paxton NE, rural America, steakhouse, US 30
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May 21, 2009
UPDATE: The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports the 30 signs will be placed along the route by mid-June. Clikc the image to read more and see a photo of the unveiling.
Lincoln Highway route markers will be dedicated this morning in Fort Wayne, Indiana, at 11:30 a.m. Mayor Henry will dedicate the new markers at the Lincoln Highway Bridge — Harrison Street at the St. Mary’s River. The markers will allow motorists to follow the historic corridor through the city. Call (260) 427-1127 for details.
Click the map above to see it larger. Note that the exact original route can no longer be followed in parts, such as east of town near the cloverleaf.
Tags:Fort Wayne IN, highway history, highway marking, IN, Lincoln Highway, markers, signs
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May 19, 2009
Libraries in five Ohio counties along the Lincoln Highway now have the new PBS DVD, dedicated in memory of a Mid-Ohio Lincoln Highway League member and advocate of the road’s history.
Wayne (Wooster), Ashland, Richland (Mansfield), Crawford (Bucyrus) and Wyandot (Upper Sandusky) libraries were given a copy of the national PBS documentary A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway produced by Rick Sebak and WQED Pittsburgh.
The show’s final segment features Esther McNaull Oyster Queneau, an Ashland native and founder of Ohio’s Lincoln Highway League in 1993.
In its statewide meeting held in Massillon on May 2, the Ohio League voted to provide the DVDs to honor the late Howard Donbar, a long-time member of the Mid-Ohio chapter. The five counties receiving the gifts are in the Mid-Ohio membership area.
Anyone interested in joining the advocacy group can contact President Mike McNaull at (419) 281-3064. The DVD is available for purchase at www.lhtp.com/.
Tags:DVD, historic highway, libraries, Lincoln Highway, Ohio, travel
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May 18, 2009
I asked Jan Morrison, owners of the Lincoln Motel in Austin, Nevada, how travel and business are this spring along the Lincoln Highway — here aka US 50 and “the Loneliest Road in America.”
Yes, things are slow, but the Lincoln Motel is open and will stay open. We are taking advantage of the slower times to paint each room and do repairs.
Actually, things are beginning to look up in Austin. It seems we slid into the recession early, and are ready to climb out of it sooner. Traffic on the highway has definitely increased.
I think people are returning to the country and driving. The price of gas certainly helps. But with these difficult times, I think people need to re-connect with the basics in life, and small towns along Highway 50 offer them a calming trip to “Mayberry.” Whether they actually grew up in a small town, or did so through TV, rural America is comfort food for the recession-weary!
For more info on the motel and town, see www.goaustinnevada.com/.
Tags:Austin NV, calming travel, Lincoln Highway, Mayberry, Nevada, Road trip, rural America, small towns, travel, vintage motel
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