Archive for the ‘souvenirs’ Category
April 15, 2011
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition unveiled its newest mural on April, 13, 2011, at 810 Main Street in Ashton, Illinois. The Coalition’s murals will soon be found in more than two dozen communities along the 179-mile National Scenic Byway corridor across the northern tier of the state.
The Lincoln Highway Coalition collaborated with Ashton Mayor John Martinez and Village Clerk Sharon Van Dam to develop the theme with designer Jay Allen, President of ShawCraft Sign Company. Ashton’s mural recalls the town’s 1921 Pavement Jubilee, a two-day celebration honoring the newly paved section of the Lincoln Highway and the town’s new electric streetlights.
For more information on the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition — places to see, things to do, festivals, special events, highway history and stories or to download a free ILHC Visitor Guide — go to www.drivelincolnhighway.com/
Tags:Ashton IL, highway history, historic highway, Illinois, Lincoln Highway, mural for highway
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January 27, 2011
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
A brochure scanned and online for free download touts a Lincoln Highway water fountain design that was to be placed from coast to coast. Also proposed were cement tourist cabins to be built resembling Abraham Lincoln’s log cabin. Both ideas intended to honor the slain President. A map shows the “Reno Branch” of the LH from Reno, Nevada to … Los Angeles!
http://openlibrary.org/books/OL24589131M/Lincoln_Highway_Fountain_Society
Tags:Abe Lincoln, California, highway history, historic highway, honoring president, Lincoln Highway, Nevada, President Lincoln, Road trip, water fountains
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, souvenirs, transportation | 1 Comment »
August 3, 2010
West Virginia joined the Lincoln Highway in 1928 when the road between Pittsburgh and Ohio was rerouted through the the town of Chester in the state’s panhandle. Today, the big teapot is the best-known attraction, but back then by far is was Rock Spring Park. Now the amusement park has been given star treatment by Joe Comm, a teacher in Greensburg, Pa., who recently released Rock Springs Park for Arcadia Publishing’s “Images of America” series.
The Review of East Liverpool, Ohio, featured Joe in a story about the books launch along with this photo and caption:
Joseph Comm, author of “Rock Springs Park,” signs a book for Patty Swiger at a signing event held Monday at the Chester Municipal Building. Prior to the signing, Comm talked about how his book came to be. (Photo by Nancy Tullis).
As the article explains, “The park was all but a memory during his boyhood in Chester, and its remnants raised many questions in Comm’s mind. He sought out the answers, and along the way, Rock Springs Park took on a life of its own.” In the early 1970s, the park was demolished to make way for ramps and lanes to the new US 30 bridge across the Ohio River.
From the book jacket:
In its hey-day this unique panhandle playground attracted twenty thousand visitors a day with a number of popular attractions including the World’s Greatest Scenic Railway, the Cyclone Roller Coaster, and the classic hand-carved 1927 Dentzel Carousel. The book features over 200 rarely seen images and portrays the life of Rock Springs Park from its earliest history as a Native American hunting ground to its development as a local trolley park and full-fledged amusement park.
You can find Joe’s book in stores for $21.99 or $14.95 on Amazon.
Tags:amusement park history, Chester WV, highway history, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, US 30, West Virginia
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July 20, 2010
Kirk Dougal, Editor-in-Chief of the Times Bulletin in Van Wert, Ohio, sent photos of one of the 12 Lincoln Highway plaques that were placed at every corner of the downtown Streetscape project. Below, from left: Van Wert Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming; Connie Swander of Swan Memorials, makers of the plaques; and Van Wert Mayor Louis Ehmer.
Photos courtesy Van Wert Times Bulletin.
Tags:highway history, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, marking an old highway, Ohio, Road trip, Streetscape project, Van Wert OH
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July 19, 2010
The Town of Nevada, Iowa, will celebrate its 27th annual Lincoln Highway Days August 27–29, 2010. The theme this year is “Sharing and Caring on the Lincoln Highway!” but the event always includes standard amusements from carnival rides to rodeo tricks, a parade to baby contest. Learn more at www.lincolnhighwaydays.com/.
Tags:carnival, highway history, historic highway, Iowa, Lincoln Highway, Nevada IA, summer celebration
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July 12, 2010
The Travel Guys radio show out of Sacramento featured a special Fourth of July episode along the Lincoln Highway. One of the guys is radio personality Tom Romano, while Mark Hoffmann operates Sports Leisure Vacations, which offers tours of 2-lane roads like Route 66 and now the Lincoln Highway. Your blog host, me, Brian Butko chimes in with a few favorite stops along the Lincoln. Listen HERE. You can also download archived mp3s here.
Tags:Brian Butko, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, roadside attraction, travel, vacation
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, souvenirs, transportation, travel | 1 Comment »
July 6, 2010
Olga A. Herbert, Executive Director of Pennsylvania’s Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor, just alerted me that Mister Ed’s Elephant Museum in central Pennsylvania has been destroyed by fire. Owner Ed Gotwalt has spent decades amassing his collection of elephant-themed objects joined to a candy and gift store; he also serves on the Corridor board of directors. Olga said it “burned to the ground late last night, including every elephant. He plans to rebuild and be open by September 1.” Although the news is horrible, it’s equally astounding that he’s ready to rebuild and so quickly! The York Distpatch covers it here and the York Daily Record ran a story about Ed vowing to rebuild.
Tags:elephant museum fire, highway history, historic highway, history, Lincoln Highway, Mister Ed's Elephant Museum, Pennsylvania, Road trip, roadside, roadside attraction, US 30
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, museum, Road trip, roadside, souvenirs, travel | 14 Comments »
February 18, 2010
David Schwartz writes from California with a question:
Forty years ago, I rode Route 30 on my Honda Superhawk 305 from Pittsburgh to New Jersey to visit my girlfriend. Somewhere east of the Ship Hotel, I stopped for gas and a snack at a roadside establishment that had a large yard full of pottery figurines and lawn ornaments. The owners made and painted the stuff themselves. Do you have any idea what the name of the place was and if they or their successors are still in business?
Does anyone else recall this pottery business that would have been near Bedford, Pa.?
Tags:Honda Superhawk 305, Lincoln Highway, PA roads, pottery business, roadside business, searching for business, travel, two-lane roads
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, souvenirs, travel | 4 Comments »
January 26, 2010
New Jersey LHA director Al Pfingstl wrote to say that “Collectible Coins from New York” is advertising Lincoln Highway Hoard Morgan silver dollars. The coins, like the Lady Liberty here priced at $89, aren’t a LH relic but rather the collection was found along the Lincoln. (Note this coin is dated and labeled 1888 but the web site calls it 1902.) Find out more or buy one at www.newyorkmint.net/.
Thousands of motorists have traveled on the road in the century since it first opened. Little did they know that a quaint house they passed by in rural Pennsylvania was more than it seemed. Far from being the pastoral farmhouse in the middle of Amish country, the house contained a fortune in silver coins. Dubbed the “Lincoln Highway Hoard” for its proximity to the famed roadway, the stash contained over 8,000 Morgan Silver Dollars, including many scarce dates and mint marks secured directly from the release of the U.S. Treasury Hoard in the early 1960s.
This is the largest Morgan Silver Dollar hoard we’ve seen in decades. In fact, finding even small hoards of Morgan dollars is a rarity today. We couldn’t pass this opportunity up, and now we’re passing the deal on to New York Mint customers. The coin we’re offering here is an 1902-O Morgan Silver Dollar—struck at the famous New Orleans Mint. It comes graded and encapsulated by NGC in Mint State-63, Brilliant Uncirculated condition with a special pedigree label.
Tags:1888 coin, collectible coins, Lincoln Highway, Morgan dollar, rare coins, silver dollar
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, souvenirs | 3 Comments »
January 18, 2010
The Sixth Annual BUY-WAY Yard Sale along the Lincoln Highway has been set for August 5, 6 and 7, 2010. The leading state is Ohio, which last years had over 1,000 yard sale locations.
“Ohio started this, and parts of Indiana and Illinois soon joined in,” said Mike Hocker, executive director of the Historic Byway in Ohio, “and now there is talk of New Jersey and Iowa joining this year.”
The dates are now established to be the “first Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in August” and will occur along with the “Route 127 Sale” which crosses the Lincoln in Van Wert, Ohio, the same weekend.
A Travelers Guide will be distributed to businesses along the corridor for pick-up by shoppers in late July, and the official byway website, www.historicbyway.com will host free and paid listings of yard sales and other activities beginning in May.
Tags:historic highway, Lincoln Highway, Ohio, Road trip, travel, yard sale
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, souvenirs, travel | 1 Comment »
Lincoln Highway News 