Archive for the ‘signs’ Category
February 2, 2009
I received a copy of the new Roadside USA book by Shellee Graham and Jim Ross. There are a number of Lincoln Highway images such as this shot of Orr’s Ranch in Utah.
The book’s 30 main images are made like postcards, with a caption on back joined by a related photo. These are not captioned but are locations closely associated with the front image. The Lincoln Highway is featured in 5 of the main images, a pretty good percentage, but if you like roadside imagery you love them all, from Route 66 diners to a gas pump on the Ozark Trails. At $10.95, you’ll want to buy some as gifts, or get a couple for yourself: save one and mail postcards from the other.
The 64-page paperback is available on <a title=”Roadside USA book by Graham and Ross” href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/096774816X?ie=UTF8&tag=boobybribut-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=096774816X” target=”_blank”>Amazon</a>.
Tags:roadside book, Utah
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January 14, 2009
I’m proofreading the final design draft of my Lincoln Highway Companion book and had to zoom in on Reno. The Truckee River is so narrow through the city that it was missed by the mapmaker. While there I checked on the new and old Reno arches in Street View:
The new arch (built 1987) spans Virginia Street at Commercial Row; the Lincoln Highway passes underneath it.
The old arch was built in 1926 and spanned Virginia Street till 1963; it was rebuilt across S. Lake Street at the edge of the Truckee River and adjacent to the National Automobile Museum.
Tags:arches of street, gambling town, highway history, Lincoln Highway, Nevada, Reno NV
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January 9, 2009
In November I reported that Sylverta Blaugher had written about visiting her family at the Cove Mountain Tea Room on the Lincoln Highway east of McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania. She sent more than a dozen wonderful family photos. Here are a few to get you dreaming of roadhouses a half-century ago.
Sylverta says, “The earliest photo is 1946 when my Great Uncle Harry and Great Aunt Pearl Forrester bought the Tea Room. They renamed it Forrester’s Place. After they died, cousins from Ohio bought the property to use as a hunting lodge when they came in to go deer hunting.”
Uncle Harry, Brownie the dog, cousin Joan Hocker, and Sylverta’s mom Irene Beltz.
On the rooftop lookout: Irene with Brownie, cousin Bob Hocker, Irene’s classmate Bob Heller, unknown.
Sylverta on a cinder pile, with the roadhouse in the background, October 1955.
Irene, 1971.
A composite photo of the house in the 1970s. Vandals began destroying the property and the house was demolished. New owners built an A frame further back on the property. Here’s the site today:
Tags:highway history, Lincoln Highway, McConnellsburg PA, mountaintop stop, old roadhouse, PA travel, roadhouse, roadside attraction, vintage photo
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January 2, 2009
Researchers and photographers Shellee Graham and Jim Ross have a new book out, Roadside USA: Route 66 and Beyond, published by Jim’s Ghost Town Press. Though they’re known for their work along Route 66, they’ve also done extensive photography along the Lincoln Highway — note the “L” pole on the cover.
Shellee told me, “We had a ball driving the Lincoln Highway in Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, and Utah. Memorable scenery, people and landmarks — can’t wait to do the rest. It was so interesting looking for the Scouts’ [1928 concrete] Lincoln markers.” The 64-page paperback, featuring 30 postcards, is $10.95 and available on Amazon.
Tags:Lincoln Highway, photography book, roadside attractions, Route 66
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December 16, 2008
More than a half-year after moving and losing track of just about everything, I’m down to the last few boxes to open, and there in one of them was The Lincoln Highway around Chicago by Cynthia Ogorek. The 128-page book was published by Arcadia earlier this year — my review was to be a preview when I started this post in March! Since then many reviews have appeared favorably recapping the highlights. My best compliment about it is that it is unlike other LH books; it is not just a retelling of existing information, it is a grand amalgamation of numerous sources, some familiar to LH fans, others dug out from local archives. The introduction and captions bespeak of a solid familiarity with local history and geography. Although a few images from the LHA collection may be familiar to fans, nearly every page brings new and interesting vintage views.
Chapter 1 explores the original route and the people behind its improvement. Chapter 2 is all about the Ideal Section. Chapter 3 highlights roadside businesses, including some great gas station shots. Chapter 4 looks at the connection to the many electric interurban lines that served Chicago. (One of my favorite photos is found here — an aerial view of snowbound motorists astride the Park Forest neighborhood of Lincolnwoods, with an impending development across the road. It is also the source of the photo below that shows the Lincoln Theater in Chicago Heights, a 1960s shopping center in Matteson, and the fabulous Northgate Shopping Center Sign near Aurora — and I’m glad to report that Cynthia says this has been designated a local landmark.) Chapter 5 examines the inevitable bypasses. Chapter 6 reviews recent events, from restoration of the Ideal Section monument to Art Schweitzer’s efforts to document and salvage part part os that section; from Lincoln Highway Lady Lyn Protteau visiting the area to Mad Mac’s March across Illinois.
All of Arcadia Books leave me wanting more — more text, better quality on many photos, a break from the monotonous crammed design — but some authors rise above that to present well-researched, insightful books. This is one of them. $19.95 or $14.95 from Amazon.
Tags:book review, Chicago Heights, Chicago IL, highway history, IL history, Lincoln Highway, roadside, roadtrip
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December 3, 2008
Jennifer Vogelsong wrote an interesting piece for the York Daily Record/Sunday News about the search for authentic experiences in Gettysburg and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Much of the public face is found along the Lincoln Highway/US 30 but she finds that the best places are a block or two away or along the back roads. She was inspired by the December issue of National Geographic Traveler that ranked the two destinations among the most important historic places on Earth — and fourth worst when it comes to sustainable tourism, ie how authentically they preserve the past, manage tourism, and withstand development.
At the Mennonite Information Center on US 30, director Jeff Landis advises “If you see a sign with the word “Amish” in it, it probably isn’t.” Still, at The Amish Experience, with billboard ads and an F/X Theater, “employee Ginny Reese said it’s pretty authentic, and an appealing option for visitors who don’t want to drive the back roads for the real thing: ‘They can’t find it or they don’t know where to go and what they’re looking for.'”
Read more of Jennifer’s travels around these two areas and York in her blog Explorer’s Backpack.
Tags:Amish, Gettysburg, highway sprawl, Lancaster, Lincoln Highway, Mennonite, Pennsylvania, tourism, US 30
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December 2, 2008
Fans of the Goshen Motor Lodge’s vintage sign knew it was a matter of time before the classic 1950s shape would be replaced, The once-exuberant sign along the Lincoln Highwy in northern Indiana declined in recent years, and friends on Flickr reported that new owners planned a purely plastic replacement. Sure enough, as seen below in a photo by Spiny Norman, plastic has replaced neon and vintage plastic atop the original poles.
Unfortunately, buying a plastic sign seems easier and cheaper than maintaining an old one, and to many owners, new conveys better. True, some people might pass by a motel for having an old neon sign, but a well-maintained sign and place will build a good reputation. Below is the sign as I saw it last year.
BTW, Spiny’s Goshen’s Lincoln Highway blog should be an inspiration to towns all along the LH as to how you can document and promote your section of the LH. You’ll find a link to his site added to the right.
Tags:classic sign destroyed, Goshen IN, motel, neon sign, roadside
Posted in highways, history, Road trip, roadside, signs, travel | 5 Comments »
November 27, 2008
For weeks I’ve been proofreading a design draft of my next book, Lincoln Highway Companion. Though I’d like to think I sent off a masterpiece, corrections from my editor and volunteer readers proves that there’s always room for improvement.
The 15 or so readers have caught misspelled words or street names that have changed or found listings for places that have closed. The maps were only half done, being that they were such a massive part of the project, so they are receiving tons of additional info—street names, landmarks, geographic feature notations, and letters keyed to Must-See attractions.
Hardest to take are the businesses that were included that have since closed. I’m not only sad for the effort that I (or guest writers) put into those stories, but the road is one bit less interesting each time a place closes or is demolished.
I’m proofing so many different aspects, and comparing to so many original sources and maps, that it’s eating away weeks of free time. I’ll be taking a few days now at Thanksgiving to try to finish it.
Tags:book underway, Lincoln Highway, Lincoln Highway Companion, proofreading my book
Posted in food, highways, history, lodging, Road trip, roadside, signs, transportation, travel | 2 Comments »
November 20, 2008
I’m glad to report on a couple new beautiful books, even if their subjects aren’t along the Lincoln Highway.
It’s hard to believe there are as many beautiful vintage gas stations left in the entire US as there are in Wisconsin alone, but Fill ’er Up proves you can still find dozens. After a solid and fun introduction, 59 stations are examined: Classical, canopy, cottage, deco, moderne, futuristic, they’re all here. Many still pump gas, and most still look like they would have decades ago. The authors take the extra step of uncovering the stories behind each one. Stunning photos plus old snaphots, postcards, and blueprints make for a truly impressive book.
I loved National Lampoon’s True Facts books that featured humorous road signs and billboards but that was 20 years ago. For those who’ve needed their fix, Funny Signs by RoadTrip America (that’s Mark Sedenquist and Megan Edwards) is a wacky collection of unintentionally hilarious wordings. The “Ronald McDonald Funeral Home.” “Lunch Specials, We Have Worms.” “Fire Exit, Employees Only.” There’s a “Dead End” sign on “Opportunity Way.” The difference here is that the authors add a short comment each time. So a sign that says “Don’t touch the actors” begs the question ‘What about the actresses?” Or “Urgent Care Coming Soon” leads to “Take two aspirin and stretch out in the parking lot.” You can’t believe that page after page there are so many goofy signs out there. Buy it — and you might just recognize a Lincoln Highway motel sign.
Tags:books, funny signs, gas stations, humorous book, roadside books, vintage filling stations, Wisconsin
Posted in highways, history, Road trip, roadside, signs, travel | 2 Comments »
November 7, 2008
Rollin Southwell sent an update on the monument he’s spearheading for Carl Fisher, father of the Lincoln Highway. It is planned for the top of Johnson/Fisher Pass on UT 199 between Clover and Terra, Utah. Architect Steve Ehninger recently announced construction and the dedication dates.
After a decade of planning, they are working on permits and approvals with hopes to be finalized by January 14, 2009. Construction could start April 9 and be completed by July 8. This includes a rock surround, asphalt paving, signage, and a beacon. Dedication is planned for August 12, 2009.
Read more at a site about the Fisher Pass monument or Rollin’s blog for more info on Fisher.
Tags:Carl Fisher, Fisher Pass, highway monument, memorial, Utah
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