Archive for the ‘transportation’ Category
May 19, 2010
Here’s a release reprinted from Southwest Iowa News about a talk this Sunday in Council Bluffs.
The Historical Society of Pottawattamie County will celebrate the Lincoln Highway in the final lecture of its spring lecture series at the RailsWest Railroad Museum, 16th Avenue and South Main Street.
On Sunday, Francie O’Leary, project manager for the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway in western Iowa, will speak. The presentation is free to the public and will cover the story of the Lincoln Highway and explain how historic byway development can benefit the communities along the route. The lecture starts at 2 p.m.
For the past year, O’Leary has researched historical photos and literature for Pottawattamie, Harrison, Crawford, Carroll and Greene counties to be developed into a traveling Lincoln Highway exhibit.
More historic photos, stories and information related to the Lincoln Highway route from 1900 to 1940 are sought. The public is encouraged to bring any related material. Scanning and recording equipment will be available in the museum following the presentation until 4:30 p.m. For more information, contact O’Leary at (712) 792-4415, francieoleary@gmail.com or go online to http://www.mmdividercd.org.
The Historical Society encourages owners of classic automobiles to motor on down to the RailsWest to show them off. For more information, contact the Historical Society at 323-2509 or info@thehistoricalsociety.org.
Tags:Council Bluffs IA, historic highway, lecture on old roads, Lincoln Highway, RailsWest Museum, restored train depot
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, museum, transportation | Leave a Comment »
May 13, 2010
The Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor is sponsoring a one-day bus trip along the Lincoln Highway from Schellsburg to Gettysburg and back on June 26. Departure from Shawnee State Park will be 8:30 am, return by 8 pm.
Jean Bonnet Tavern along the Lincoln Highway west of Bedford.
The deluxe motor coach trip will be narrated by Dr. Fred Gantz, an adjunct faculty member at several area colleges who knows the route well and will share little-known facts about the country’s first coast-to-coast route.
In addition to photo opportunities at two roadside giants and five Lincoln Highway murals, bus guests will be treated to a lunch buffet at the 1815 Inn at Herr Ridge, where the Battle of Gettysburg began in the fields around the inn. The tour will then catch Neil Simon’s “45 Seconds from Broadway” matinee at the Totem Pole Playhouse. This is not community theater, but live professional theater. Dinner in historic McConnellsburg. Cost for meals, transportation, show, and lots of LH history is $110.
For information or reservations visit www.LHHC.org or call 724-238-9030.
Tags:bus tour of highway, Gettysburg, highway history, Jean Bonnet Tavern, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, Schellsburg PA
Posted in food, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, transportation, travel | Leave a Comment »
May 12, 2010
Rand McNally has launched its 2011 Road Atlas with updated maps, more city and national park insets, five new “Best of the Road” tours, and most exciting to Lincoln Highway fans, the marking of historic highways. The company describes this as “The addition of specialty highway shields to show historic and scenic routes including Route 66, the Lincoln Highway, the Great River Road, the Great Lakes Circle Route, and the Lewis & Clark Trail Highway.” The 144-page atlas (suggested retail $13.95) is arriving in stores or visit randmcnally.com/.
Tags:Lincoln Highway, old roads, Rand McNally atlas, road atlas, Route 66, vintage highways
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May 10, 2010
Mike Auran of San Jose, California, sent a couple photos and a story:
In June 1921 my grandparents along with their fathers and my mother, age 3, left Alameda, CA, and followed the Lincoln Highway as far East as Ohio before turning off to Zanesville, Washington DC, and Mt Vernon. Turning north they went to New York City and followed the Hudson to Canada, crossing back into the U.S. at Niagara Falls. They then visited family in Cincinnati and then rejoined the Lincoln as far as Denver, turned south to Colorado Springs and over the Rockies to the Colorado River, then Salt Lake and home. 9,000 miles in 3 months, made about 15 miles to a gallon. I have about 100 photos from the trip.
Mike wondered about the locations of these two photos. Can anyone identify the desert shot by the mountain range? Click images to see them larger!
The second is readily recognized by LH fans but I won’t say in case you like to guess.
Tags:1921 trip, antique cars, highway history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, vintage photos
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, transportation, travel | 3 Comments »
May 7, 2010
The next four Lincoln Highway Interpretive Murals in Illinois will be on display at ShawCraft Signs, 7727 Burden Road, Machesney Park TODAY from noon to 5:00 p.m.
Recently a mural was installed in Dixon to tell the story of the 1919 Military Convoy as it traveled cross-country, including a young Dwight Eisenhower. The mural tells the story of the convoy stopping in downtown Dixon to lunch on the courthouse lawn. You can view a cool slideshow created by Jay Allen of Shawcraft to see the mural come to life.
The four murals in production will be installed along the Illinois Lincoln Highway National Scenic Byway in northern Illinois. The murals are going up in 40 communities, and so far include Rochelle, Creston, DeKalb, Aurora, Joliet, Cortland, Genoa, Oregon, and Dixon.
The one set for New Lenox focuses on a 1920s dance hall moved to make way for the highway in 1924. University Park’s will tell the story of the Van Buren sisters who in 1916 became the first women to “solo” the highway on their Indian motorcycles.
Tags:highway history, historic highway, Illinois, Lincoln Highway, murals, tourism
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May 3, 2010
Here’s another nice article from The Canton Repository about the efforts of Brian Cassler to preserve a bit of the Lincoln Highway. As part of earning his Eagle Scout badge, Cassler cleaned and organized more than 2,000 bricks from Canton that will be used to recreate a portion of the Lincoln Highway at the Great Platte River Road Archway in Kearney, Nebraska. The archway will host the 2013 centennial conference of the Lincoln Highway Association.
“In 2007, when they (Canton) tore up Tusc (Tuscarawas Street), they found a couple thousand (original) bricks,” said the 14-year-old. “They gave them to the Eastern Lincoln Highway Association to do whatever they wanted to do with them.
“I found out about how the Great Platte River Road Archway wanted to recreate a portion of the Lincoln Highway, so I contacted them.”
Tags:archway museum, brick roadway, Eagle Scout project, highway hisory, historic highway, Kearney NE, Lincoln Highway, Nebraska
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, road surface, transportation | Leave a Comment »
April 30, 2010
The Bridger Valley Pioneer reported today on a public WYDOT meeting held April 27 at the Fort Bridger State Museum regarding an 80-year-old Lincoln Highway bridge that is becoming a danger.
The Blacks Fork Bridge on County Road 221, north of Fort Bridger, or the Lincoln Highway Bridge, is structurally unsound and can’t be brought up to safety standards without being removed and replaced….
Julie Francis, WYDOT archeologist, said the bridge was a concrete T-girder bridge built in 1921 under Federal Aid Project 17. The bridge was typical of bridges built at that period. The bridge included two spans so it was 160 feet long and 18.4 feet wide. She said there were also 3.5 miles of Lincoln Highway roadwork completed as part of the same project. She said the construction of the present bridge replaced a timber trestle bridge.
Tags:Fort Bridger WY, highway history, historic bridge, Lincoln Highway, WY
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, road surface, transportation, travel | Leave a Comment »
April 7, 2010
Here’s a story from Sauk Valley Newspapers (Dixon-Sterling, IL), April 6, 2010:
DIXON – The City Council on Monday approved two lease agreements for painting a mural that will be at Galena and River roads. The mural, part of a series of Lincoln Highway Association projects, will re-create members of the first Army Transcontinental Motor Convoy lunching on the lawn of the Old Lee County Courthouse.
“That’s going to be a really nice mural,” Mayor Jim Burke said.
He appointed a three-person committee 6 months ago to work with the Lincoln Highway Association.
One lease agreement calls for the mural to be painted on the Pattie Hummel Photography and Dixon Tourism building at 106 W. River St. The other is for use of adjacent property on Galena Avenue during the mural’s painting.
“We want it up by the Fourth of July, and even June,” Burke said, adding that Lincoln Highway Association members will be in Dixon June 22-26 for their national conference.
In July 1919, the Army convoy made a historic cross-country trek from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco. It stopped in Dixon for lunches made by residents, according to the Dixon Telegraph’s archives of July 22, 1919.
Tags:Army convoy, highway history, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, travel
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, signs, transportation | Leave a Comment »
April 5, 2010
My 10-day trip south was fun but left no time for blog updates. Lots to catch up on including the scheduling of three signings of my new book, The Ship Hotel: A Grand View along the Lincoln Highway.
FRI, April 16, 7–8:30 pm: B&N Waterfront, Homestead PA
SAT, April 17, 10–Noon: Coffee Bean coffeehouse, 5345 Rt 30, across from Westmoreland Mall, Greensburg PA
SAT, April 17, 2:30–4 pm: newly restored Union Hotel, 128 E. Main St., Everett PA
The non-profit Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor is coordinating the two on Saturday and will have books available for purchase with cash or check. Coffee mugs and t-shirts featuring vintage pictures of the Ship Hotel will also be for sale along with my other books on the Lincoln Highway and roadside attractions. Sales benefit the non-profit LHHC.
Tags:book signing, Grand View Ship Hotel, Lincoln Highway, roadside attraction, Ship Hotel
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, transportation, travel | 6 Comments »
March 25, 2010
Michael Hamm wrote to tell us about his film project, The Greatest Auto Race on Earth, which recounts the 1908 NY to Paris auto race, much of which traveled the Lincoln Highway in the U.S. The 2-hour show is now available on DVD. Hamm, founder of Frame 30, which produces various film projects, served as writer, director, and producer; it took eight years of planning and two years of filming. The project won the EP Ingersoll Award from the Society of Automotive Historians, the Special Jury Award from the Houston International Film Festival, 2 Platinum Pixies from the American Pixel Academy, and 3 AMPIAs.
Amazingly, they BUILT a Thomas Flyer, German Protos, and Zust as full scale running picture cars for the film.
Learn more at www.thegreatestautorace.com/.
Tags:1908 auto race, around the world trip, Great Race, Lincoln Highway, Thomas Flyer
Posted in film/video, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, transportation, travel | Leave a Comment »
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