One of the reasons for making the trip to Gettysburg was to see the sights of Fall along the Lincoln Highway, especially produce stands. Central PA is known for its apples, peaches, cherries, and other farm products, though suburbanization is a looming threat to orchards. On the way home, we stopped to buy some pumpkins, tomatoes, apple butter, and Halloween decorations.
West of Chambersburg is Shatzer’s Fruit Market (2197 Lincoln Way West), founded 1933. Outside is one of the LHHC‘s Pump Parade decorated fiberglass pumps:
Relatives of the Shatzer family, Bingham’s Orchard and Market (9823 Lincoln Way West) farther west in St. Thomas has a larger building stocked with cider, jams, and such:
The Nebraska Division of Travel and Tourism has produced both a short and long video to promote the Lincoln Highway as a scenic route. The focus is on natural beauty and general history more than auto-era attractions, though there are some nice views of the brick road west of Omaha and Buffalo Bill’s Scouts Rest Ranch in North Platte.
The LH there is now a Nebraska Byway, not to be confused with an American Byway, the name for roads in the National Scenic Byways program, which the LH has only achieved in Illinois. The Nebraska tourism site has general descriptions of 10 such routes here.
More info and photos are available on the site for the Lincoln Highway Scenic and Historic Byway Association, “a grassroots organization that brings together businesses, government tourism entities, and individuals along Highway 30 in Nebraska to work together and promote this stretch of road to tourists.”
The only description online of the Byway program itself is in a Department of Roads brochure detailing highway sign regulations: “The Nebraska Byways Program identifies significant two-lane highways throughout the state that highlight Nebraska’s diverse topography, history, culture, recreational opportunities and landscapes.”
Here is the 29-second video. Other roads in their series get near identical narration:
The Lincoln Highway Assocation’s Indiana Chapter will hold a meeting and dinner in Plymouth on Friday, November 16 to plan the 2009 LHA national conference in South Bend, June 16-20, 2009. There are countless roles you can play, from helping with the Tin Can Tourists vintage trailer club to planning snacks to contacting sponsors to scouting tours to staffing tables.
6:30 pm – dinner at Opie’s Deli, 114 N Michigan, across from the museum. They serve sandwiches, wraps, salads, soups, etc, using many locally made products. It is in the former J.C. Penney building, renovated last year and now called the City Center.
Those needing accommodations will find a Holiday Inn Express at the intersection of US 30 and N Michigan St/old US 31, (574) 936-2444.
For more information, contact LHA Indiana Chapter President Ken Locke at <warotary@kconline.com>.
A Lincoln Highway kiosk debuted October 3 in the Phillips Park Visitor Center, 1000 Ray Moses Drive, Aurora, Illinois. The kiosk, including a computer terminal, is a project of the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition. An official unveiling is being planned.
Phillips Park, along Hill Avenue/Lincoln Highway just south of the city, is already known to LH fans as a former overnight auto camp opened by the Aurora Automobile Club about 1923. A brick pavilion with fireplaces was recently restored and augmented with interpretive plaques and brochures for attractions along the LH.
Coalition Associate Director Diane Rossiter (who provided the top two photos) says the 3-sided kiosk recounts the basic history of the LH and highlights a few of the state’s most interesting stories. The main feature tells the story of the Mooseheart Child City and School to the north on IL 31/LH. Moose members from across the U.S. raised $12,000 and then literally helped build the first paved section of the Lincoln Highway in front of the building. In appreciation of their efforts, the state later paved an extra 10-foot-wide section still visible in front of Mooseheart.
The computer is hooked to the coalition’s website, which has information about events and communities along the LH in Illinois. Web site visitors there or at home can also send “E-Postcards” or share a travel story to be posted online.
Other projects of the coalition include an Interpretive Center at the Dixon Welcome Center and a traveling exhibit currently at the Flagg Township Museum, 518 4th Ave, Rochelle (open Thur – Sun, 11 am – 4 pm). The exhibit will move at the start of 2008. Here it is at in July when I saw it at the Joliet Area Historical Museum:
The coalition publishes a visitor’s guide, available at the each LH town’s chamber or welcome center, at highway rest stops and info centers across the state. You can also email info@drivelincolnhighway.com or call toll free (866) 455-4249.
LHA map committee chair Paul Gilger tells us that the big story along the Lincoln Highway in California last month was the rescue of a bear hanging from the Rainbow Bridge atop Donner Summit.
According to the Tahoe Daily Tribune, the 250-pound bear climbed over the edge to avoid cars about 3 pm Saturday, Sept. 15, then got stuck and hung on overnight until being rescued around noon Sunday. Claw marks could be seen in the concrete railing where the bear tried to stop itself from falling.
A passerby got a net from an Army surplus store and strung it beneath the span, then an animal control official shot it with a tranquilizer dart. A pole was used to push the bear off the girder, then about a dozen volunteers safely lowered the bear 80 feet to the rocky ground below as about 100 spectators cheered. Truckee Animal Control Officer Dan Olsen said the joint effort included help from his organization plus The BEAR League, Nevada County Animal Control, the California Highway Patrol, and rock and tree climbers.
Photos courtesy Town of Truckee Animal Control, and special thanks to its Manager Dan Olsen.
I drove some of the Lincoln Highway’s Washington DC Feeder route on Monday. If you’ve read the LHA’s official history, you’ll know that after the route announcement in 1913, DC leaders tried to get the city on the LH, even having President Wilson plead their case, but were turned down. Impassioned LH researcher Craig Harmon kept digging to find that in 1915, LHA President Henry Joy changed his mind and put DC on the route – but only as a feeder, like at Chicago, with red-white-red signs.
The DC Feeder ran from Philadelphia south through Wilmington, DE; Baltimore, MD; DC; north to Rockville, MD; and on to Gettysburg, PA. The LHA never acknowledged it in its road guides or institutional history book.
Much of the feeder route south of Gettysburg is now US 15, or former US 15, such as through Emmitsburg, MD. South of there in Thurmont, I bought gas at the oldest station I’ve seen pumping in a long time, maybe ever. The c. 1920 station is at the corner of Emmitsburg Rd (MD 806/old LH Feeder/old US 15) and Church St. Anyone know of any older stations still operating?
Unlike most cities in PA, neither Chambersburg nor Gettysburg ever got a LH/US 30 bypass, so the route through the center of each town is often congested. You might hesitate to stop, but it’s not that hard to find a spot or get back into traffic. In Chambersburg, head a block south (109 S Main St) to grab breakfast or lunch at Molly’s. Its traditional name is the Molly Pitcher Waffle Shop, named for a Revolutionary War hero.
Theo Katsaounis cooks and sometimes delivers the food himself while Annamarie Erkson handles the work out front. They took over just eight months ago and bring some Greek flair to the menu. You’ll find traditional PA Dutch chicken with gravy over waffles, or try Anna’s Bananas Foster with a buttery rum sauce over caramelized bananas on a Belgian waffle. Omelettes are made open faced, that is, baked in a mini-casserole dish. OPEN Mon-Sat 8am-3pm.
About a block west of Gettysburg’s square is the Ragged Edge Coffeehouse (110 Chambersburg St). Open 7 years, it offers a range of coffee and teas, fruit smoothies, breakfast sandwiches, and pastries with some seating inside or on a patio.
It’s a fashionable hangout for the college crowd but draws a broad clientele. The coffee shop is next to what was built in 1916 as a lavish theater-turned-early auto garage named Eberhart’s then Epley’s, seen in vintage postcards. OPEN daily 6:30am-9pm.
Lots of miles and lots of photos. Here are some highlights from the drive eastward.
A c. 1980 Honda Gold Wing waits beside a 1928 LHA concrete post in Everett, east of Bedford. If you’re traveling US 30, make sure you exit into the towns along the way.
Carolyn Courts sign – love the wavy “air conditioned” lettering!
Traveler’s Rest Motel and restaurant.
Wiltshire Motel, Breezewood.
The LHA loved to photograph Sideling Hill looking west. Here it is while driving east.
One of the LH Heritage Corridor Pump Parade gas pumps at Oak Forest Restaurant.
Lincoln Lanes east of Chambersburg, with a pin on the roof and new murals.
A Ford and boattail Buick Riviera for sale at Route 30 Motors, Fayetteville.
Mister Ed’s Elephant Museum, the place for candy, peanuts, and offbeat souvenirs. We’ll save details for a future report.
John & Lenore Weiss recently stopped at the Covered Wagon in central Nebraska and talked with a contractor who is bringing the building, wagon, and oxen back to life. The once-busy attraction four miles west of Kearney was near the famous (and long gone) 1733 Ranch, where signs indicated the halfway point between Boston and San Francisco, 1733 miles each way. They sent two pictures that show the work underway.
“The contractor remembers all of it very well!” says Lenore. “The new owner does want a 2-story building, so he is doing a fine job and will be using log siding. The oxen and wagon will be completely restored, but the oxen will stay the same colors. Inside the wagon will be an office or two, and the top of the wagon will be new canvas as well.”
This is excellent news for anyone who has watched the site decline over the past 15 years, knowing the all-too-familiar fate of vintage roadside attractions. The attraction was built in 1932 by a pair of missionaries and later was run by Mr. & Mrs Boyd McClare and later Nicholas and Rose Ponticello. Kearney Planning Commission minutes from 2002 appear to approve the project that has just gotten underway.
Below are two views from its heyday, when postcards advertised that tourists could relax “and obtain worthwhile souvenirs at reasonable prices.” One of the unforgettable draws was a taxidermied two-headed calf. The two gas pumps look pretty sharp too.
John and Lenore Weiss are known to Route 66 and now LH fans for their research, tours, and publications, including one that will soon be reviewed here that covers both famed routes plus the Dixie Highway.
I’m leaving early Saturday for 3 days on the LH to Gettysburg, PA. No, the 1960 Chevy is not my car, though it is for sale along the Lincoln just west of Minerva, OH. I did own a ’60 Pontiac and ’60 Buick years ago, but that was BK – Before Kids! – so we’ll be in our trusty blue minivan with big LH logo magnets on the side.
Click the map above for a full-size view of the Lincoln Highway.
Like this blog? You'll LOVE my books!Lincoln Highway Companion features detailed maps and places to eat and stay. Click the book to buy it on Amazon.
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.
And for those who LOVE diners, click the book below to purchase our completely updated guide to the history, geography, and food of Pennsylvania's Diners!
The 
Lincoln Highway News 