Archive for the ‘signs’ Category
July 14, 2011
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
An important link in the Lincoln Highway is examined in an article in the PhillyBurbs.com that also includes this vintage photo (note the Lincoln Highway sign at left).
The first bridge across the Delaware River between Trenton NJ and Morrisville PA opened 150 years ago on July 1, 1861. When the wooden “City Bridge” burned, an iron bridge was built in 60 days by 83 workmen. It opened October 20, 1884, as the Calhoun Street Toll-Supported Bridge but was made toll-free on Nov. 14, 1928. It is now run by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, which was formed in 1934 and operates seven toll bridges and 13 toll-supported bridges. A $7.2 million rehabilitation project in 2010 included improvements to the rails and sidewalks, new lighting, blast cleaning, and painting. A vintage iron marker noting the Lincoln Highway state border crossing remains on its downstream side near the Pennsylvania abutment.
Tags:Delaware River crossing, highway history, historic highway, iron bridge, Lincoln Highway, Morrsiville PA, NJ, old bridge, PA, Pennsylvania, Trenton NJ
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, road surface, Road trip, signs, transportation | 1 Comment »
May 20, 2011
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
A constant stream of Lincoln Highway memorabilia shows up on eBay, less so on craigslist. But here’s a sign from the Lincoln Highway Garage that was on Rt. 462 in York that advertised the LH Restaurant inside. The station is long gone, replaced by a Turkey Hill store that pays homoage to the old place, but this souvenir has survived.
Lear more at http://lancaster.craigslist.org/atq/2384874181.html
Tags:highway history, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, PA, restaurant sign, York PA
Posted in food, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, signs, souvenirs, travel | Leave a Comment »
April 26, 2011
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Jeff Blair has been walking the Lincoln Highway across Indiana to promote the highway but also asking for pledges of support to be split evenly between the Alzheimer’s Association in Indiana and the Indiana Lincoln Highway Association. He has reported on his walk daily since he headed west from the Ohio border on April 14. His blog at www.blairwalk.com/daily-blog is a fun read and many await his daily updates. As he nears the completion, just yesterday he wrote:
I can tell we are tiring …the decibel level of groaning when we climb out of the car to check in to a new motel rises each day. But we eat a good meal, get a good night’s sleep, and everyone is ready to go again the next day.
Jan and Bill Arick walked with Jeff a couple days, as many others have. Jan wrote, “The success of this walk is an incredible story and Bill and I have been honored to be part of it. Crowds and school kids have been turning out along the route. Mayors are walking and holding dedication ceremonies! People are stopping along the road and handing Jeff donations! It’s so neat to see the support for Jeff’s efforts.”
Here are some photos from Jeff’s blog, starting with a Lincoln Highway sign near Townley; New Haven City Hall; the Bonnie Doon in Mishawaka; B&J’s American Cafe in LaPorte; and making the turn at Oak Knoll.
Tags:highway history, historic highway, Indiana, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, walking for a purpose
Posted in food, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, signs, transportation, travel | 1 Comment »
November 18, 2010
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
For years, reports have floated that the Hi-Way Drive-In Theater in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, was to close and be replaced by development. Most recently, Target has been the retailer of choice, but the drive-in along the Lincoln Highway has made clear it’s stance: posted on the marquee is “No Target did not buy us.” Top photo by Kristin Poerschke, bottom by me (Brian) on a recent visit.
Tags:drive-in theater, highway history, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, PA, roadside, US 30
Posted in film/video, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, signs, travel | 1 Comment »
October 26, 2010
LINCOLN 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/.
Tags:highway history, historic highway, Illinois, Lincoln Highway, Malta IL, mural
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, signs, transportation, travel | 1 Comment »
September 24, 2010
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
PBS producer Rick Sebak wrote to say that the premier of the new HBO series Boardwalk Empire, about the arrival of Prohibition and the growth of organized crime, featured a Lincoln Highway sign.
Young Al Capone was driving a load of stolen liquor to Chicago when the sign went by: “LINCOLN HIGHWAY” with “Chicago 200 Miles” just under that. It was square in shape, navy blue in color, probably metal on a roadside pole.
When the show rebroadcast, Rick took a photo of his TV screen for us! LH fans will recognize that the sign is pure fiction but is based on real-life state-line markers produced in 1917, such as this one from the LHA archives showing the border of Nebraska and Wyoming.
Tags:Al Capone, Boardwalk Empire, HBO series Boardwalk Empire, highway history, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, old road on video, road sign
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, signs, transportation, video | 1 Comment »
September 22, 2010
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
A beloved Lincoln Highway landmark, the Hitching Post in Cheyenne, Wyoming, has been destroyed by fire. Various newspapers covered the fire and aftermath, including an initial story by the Caspar Star Tribune.
This article in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle recalls some history:
The Hitch, as it is fondly known, started out as a small motor hotel called the Lincoln Court. Pete Smith opened it in 1927…. In 1946, the Lincoln Court became a charter member of Best Western International. In 1948, the family opened a restaurant at the hotel called the Hitching Post. As more and more rooms were added, the name stuck.
My family stayed at the Lincoln Court about 5 years ago, by then a wonderful mid-century motel, but that older portion had recently been demolished. The remaining and much larger Hitching Post maintained an Old West decor.
The newspaper reported that the motel, lounge, and restaurant served as a longtime second home for Wyoming legislators but had closed amid financial trouble last year and remained vacant. “The hotel has been undergoing extensive renovations and officials of the company that owns it say it was just weeks away from reopening…. The front lobby and an attached liquor store were destroyed.”
The city called in an ATF team of about two dozen agents to help with the investigation, and the blaze was just ruled arson but the investigation is ongoing. Most comments to articles are overwhelmingly nostalgic for what has been lost, with only a few voicing a need for modern retail there.
Thanks to loungelistener for the tip.
Tags:Cheyenne WY, fire at motel, highway history, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, motel, roadside attraction, Wyoming
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, lodging, signs, travel | Leave a Comment »
September 14, 2010
A historical marker for the Lincoln & Dixie highways will be dedicated on Saturday, October 2, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. EDT at the southwest corner of Washington and Michigan streets in South Bend, Indiana. All are invited to join a reception and program immediately following at the American Trust Place – Blue Gallery, 101 N. Michigan St. The marker notes the significance of the Lincoln Highway (Washington St.) and Dixie Highway (Michigan St.) intersecting at this corner.
Please RSVP to Joyce Chambers (574) 272-5374 by September 27. Parking is available on the street or behind the American Trust Place. Enter through Woodward Court on Colfax Street between Michigan and Main Streets
This marker is made possible through the Indiana Historical Bureau in collaboration with the GFWC/IFC Progress Club of South Bend, Indiana Lincoln Highway Association, and the City of South Bend.
Tags:highway history, historic highway, Indiana, Lincoln Highway, marker dedication, South Bend IN
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, museum, roadside, signs, transportation | 1 Comment »
July 30, 2010
The Tracy Press reports that more reproduction LHA “Control Station” signs are being posted along the original Lincoln Highway route in western California: “A sign tacked on the front of the Tracy Inn provides another identification of 11th Street as a route of the historic Lincoln Highway, the first highway network to span the nation in 1915. The new sign identifies the Inn as a ‘Control Station,’ where motorists using mileage listed on the Lincoln Highway map can exactly gauge their location. Similar signs are being posted in Stockton, French Camp, and Livermore.”
This updates a story posted here last year about the signing the route here. Great work by Mike Kaelin and the California LH supporters!
Tags:2-lane travel, California, highway history, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, signing an old road
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, signs, transportation, travel | 1 Comment »
July 27, 2010
The News-Sentinel of Fort Wayne, Indiana, reports that one of the 15 remaining Lincoln Highway concrete markers in the state has a new home in front of New Haven City Hall, 815 Lincoln Highway E., just a few feet from the road’s original route.
“Our board felt that one of the markers should be on the eastern side of the state,” said Jan Shupert-Arick, president of the Indiana Lincoln Highway Association. “Mayor Terry McDonald has been active in our association, and the city did an extraordinary job of restoring the marker. This is a treasured resource.”
That didn’t keep the marker from falling into disrepair and near-oblivion in recent years, however. Believed to have been one of two markers that once stood near what is now the Harrison Street Bridge just north of downtown Fort Wayne, the heavy post was eventually donated to the Lincoln Museum, which never displayed the damaged marker before closing in 2008.
The museum gave the more-intact marker it did display to the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis, but the Lincoln Highway Association was only too happy to accept the post that has been restored by New Haven employees and local stone carver Timothy Doyle, whose expertise allowed city workers to blend old and new concrete seamlessly.
The exhibit includes a bronze plaque donated by the association and the city.
Tags:highway history, historic highway, Indiana, Lincoln Highway, New Haven IN, restoration, road marker
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, signs, transportation, travel | Leave a Comment »
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