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Archive for the ‘travel’ Category

Aerial view reveals two Lincoln Hwy generations

February 4, 2009

On December 19, I wrote about the Lincoln Highway’s original course on Tuscarora Mountain east of McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania. Of particular concern to explorers and researchers is the course of the “Horseshoe Curve” halfway up — two turnoffs leave us wondering about the original route. While researching my Ship Hotel book, I came across this 1930s aerial postcard showing the old and new curves — answering the question and now giving purpose to those who go exploring.

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The red circle marks Doc Seylar’s, famed mountaintop stop on Tuscarora Summit; McConnellsburg is off to the right. Below is a close-up of the Horseshoe Curves, both old and new. Of course, both were obliterated about 1970 when a third Horseshoe Curve was built to serve the US 30 bypass around town, leaving only remnants of these two.

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A postcard folder that I found also has two photos of the new curve. The first view calls it the Beauty Curve; the other, just a few feet west, notes it as the Horseshoe Curve. It must have been quite an engineering feat in the early ’30s.

Tags:historic highway, Lincoln Highway, McConnelsburg PA, old highway detective work, road realignment
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, transportation, travel | 1 Comment »

Vintage pillow gift a Lincoln Highway collectible

February 3, 2009

One of the people I’ll always associate with the Lincoln Highway is Kevin Kutz, an artist from Bedford, Pa., who has been painting plein air scenes for decades. Along with Dunkle’s Gulf and the Coffee Pot right in Bedford, he had the Grand View Ship Hotel just west of town, which is what brought us to corresponding recently. (I’m racing to finish my book on the Ship Hotel.) Kevin has painted many scenes of the Ship, but as he says, he was never just looking for nostalgic scenes.
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And so a big box arrived in yesterday’s mail. Among all his Ship notes and imagery is this pillow. He scribbled a great note to the effect that it had been laying around his cabin, and before it deteriorates more or his wife tosses it out, he thought he’d send it to me. What can you say about such a cool, generous gift? Especially a 90-year-old one that was still being used?!

Look for the book Kevin Kutz’ Lincoln Highway, available on Amazon.

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Tags:artist, Bedford PA, Lincoln Highway, plein air, roadside, souvenir, vintage pillow
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, lodging, souvenirs, transportation, travel | 1 Comment »

Last chance to visit Calif LH ghost town in May

January 29, 2009

The long-abandoned town of Clarksville, just outside of El Dorado Hills, California, is set to be cleared and developed in the next couple years. The town boasts one of the longest sections of original Lincoln Highway along the Pioneer Branch between Sacramento and Carson City, Nevada.

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Philip Wood, writing in the El Dorado Hills Telegraph. reported that the owner will be developing the property this year, though preserving parts for a museum to honor Clarksville’s history. Wood and Don Chaddock got a chance to photograph the land that lies east of Sacramento. Those are Wood’s photos here.

More exciting, a follow-up article in the Folson Telegraph announces that the public will have one last chance to visit the town that time forgot thanks to members of the town’s historical society.

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Betty January, president of the Clarksville Region Historical Society, said Ken Wilkenson, one of the property owners, worked out a deal to hold their annual Clarksville Day at the site on May 9. A large barn that was also once the schoolhouse will be used for the celebration.

January said Clarksville was founded around 1849-50, because of the nearby Mormon Tavern, and quickly became a commercial and social center for the area, eventually home to a few hundred people. The road dates to that period. Wilkenson says the roadway will be preserved.

Only about dozen structures remain but the town once had a Wells Fargo building, general store, school, and hotels. Decline came when the Folsom-to-Shingle Springs branch of the railroad bypassed the town, and really came when US 50 was rerouted, cutting off the town so that it could not even support a gas station. The last resident left in 1952, and when a developer bought 11,000 acres in the 1960s, he renamed the area El Dorado Hills. The ghost town again has one resident — in a new house built atop the site of the general store after it burned down.

Cars will be able to drive the Lincoln Highway during Clarksville Day. The event will feature vintage cars and other activities for the public such as gold panning, and The Pony Express Riders will stage a re-mount.

To learn more about Clarksville Day, visit www.edhhistory.org/.

Check out more photographs of Clarksville in the Telegraph‘s gallery.

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Tags:abandoned town, El Dorado Hills, Folsom CA, ghost town, highway history, Lincoln Highway, touring forgotten town
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, museum, Road trip, roadside, transportation, travel | 6 Comments »

Follow-up on Mountain View cites cash flow

January 26, 2009

An article in Sunday’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the Mountain View Inn near Greensburg, Pa., had not gotten the loan it needed and was closing.

“First Commonwealth Bank on Friday refused to renew a revolving line of credit the innkeepers said they needed to see the hotel through the four slowest months for the hospitality industry,” according to the article.

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Despite 60 weddings booked this year (a 50% increase), the owners of the Lincoln Highway landmark said they needed the funds to “see the hotel through the four slowest months for the hospitality industry.” They also cited competition from numerous national hotel chains that have opened nearby. In recent decades, the Boohers invested $4 million in building two new wings, doubling the inn’s capacity to 90 rooms.

Famous guests included Harrison Ford, the Dalai Lama, Fred Rogers, Arnold Palmer, Bernadette Peters, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Guy Lombardo.

Tags:Greensburg PA, historic hotel closing, hotel, Lincoln Highway, Mountian View Inn, recession, roadhouse
Posted in food, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, lodging, roadside, travel | 1 Comment »

Ship Hotel blueprints show roadside evolution

January 23, 2009

Now that I’ve shifted to working day and night on my book for 2010 — The Ship Hotel: A Grand View along the Lincoln Highway — I’ve dug out copies of the blueprints. Most fascinating are drawings of the original building planned in 1928. The Ship would be built around this basic structure a few years later. Here’s a look at a side elevation of the original stand with some castle ornamentation. You can see how it hung onto the mountainside!

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I’ve seen lots of photos but, oddly, NEVER one during construction of either the original hotel or its conversion to the Ship. Anyone have more information or images from its construction?

Tags:Grand View Point, Lincoln Highway, PA, roadside attraction, Ship Hotel
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, lodging, Road trip, roadside, transportation, travel | Leave a Comment »

Two snowy views of Lincoln Highway, Donner Pass

January 21, 2009

Grant Gassman, a member of the Lincoln Highway California Chapter, took these photos on January 10, 2009, of the Lincoln Highway at Donner Pass and Paul Gilger kindly sent them on. The first photo is a wonderful vista of Donner Lake and the road, taken with a zoom lens from the lookout at the end of the Rainbow Bridge atop Donner Pass.

The second photo is the original Lincoln Highway alignment underpass under the Transcontinental Railroad, and part of the adjacent China Wall. You can see how the snow drifts completely over the old road, even from just a modest snowfall.

Tags:CA, Donner Pass, highway history, Lincoln Highway
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, transportation, travel | 1 Comment »

Lincoln connections; Inaugural parade lineup set

January 20, 2009

Using the same Bible that Abraham Lincoln used at his inauguration, Barack Obama continued to invoke the 16th President, namesake of the Lincoln Highway. Over the weekend, Obama retraced part of Lincoln’s inaugural train trip from Philadelphia to the U.S. capital in a 1939 royal-blue “Georgia 300” rail-car that presidents and candidates before him have used. Here, he looks out from the back of the train at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, as seen on CBS.com/.

The train’s path paralleled the Washington DC Feeder route of the Lincoln Highway that was approved within two years after the main highway’s route was established. Much of the research on the politics behind the feeder was done by Craig Harmon, who will be driving his antique firetruck in today’s parade. The lineup is available various places including here. Of the hundred-some participants, Harmon’s Lincoln Highway Museum (for now an online presence only) is exactly midway. The parade begins at 2:36 p.m. with the new President and Vice-President leading the way along Pennsylvania Ave. from the Capitol to a review stand on the north side of the White House. A neat interactive of the parade and related events is here.

Tags:Inauguration 09, Lincoln Highway, Lincoln train retracing, Obama-Lincoln connection
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, transportation, travel | Leave a Comment »

Still time for SS Grand View Ship Hotel stories

January 16, 2009

My Lincoln Highway Companion book is still being proofed for release later this Spring, but already the deadline is here for my next book, due out in 2010: The Ship Hotel: A Grand View along the Lincoln Highway.

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One part will feature stories from those who visited or worked there. If you have a recollection or photo you’d like to share, please write.

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I also have some Ship info and images on my website at www.brianbutko.com/lh.ship.html

Tags:Bedford PA, boat-shaped hotel, Grand View Point Hotel in PA, Lincoln Highway, roadside attraction, Ship Hotel, US 30
Posted in food, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, lodging, Road trip, roadside, souvenirs, travel | 10 Comments »

Celebration set for Lincoln statue in Jersey CIty

January 7, 2009

Al Pfingstl, NJ LHA director, writes about an annual celebration at the Abraham Lincoln statue located along the Lincoln Highway in Jersey City, as seen in his photo below. This year is special in that it’s the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth.

The Lincoln Association of Jersey City is the oldest organization in the country dedicated to the memory, preservation, and understanding of Abraham Lincoln and what he stood for. Begun in 1865, it was formally founded in 1867, 2 years after the death of the President and provides a forum to present scholarship concerning the life, career, and legacy of the 16th President of the United States. The Lincoln Association of Jersey City strives to promote fellowship as well as scholarship in the spirit of Lincoln.

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On Thursday, February 12, 2009, at Noon at the statue of Lincoln at the entrance of Lincoln Park, Kennedy Boulevard, and Belmont Avenue in Jersey City, First Vice President Guy Catrillo will host the annual monument ceremony. Dr. Jules Ladenheim, a Past President of the Lincoln Association, will deliver one of President Lincoln’s memorable speeches. The ceremony will conclude with a placing of a wreath at the statue.

At 5:30 PM, the Association will host the 144th Annual Dinner at the Casino in the Park, with a featured speaker to be announced. Cost of the dinner is $60 if you reserve a space or $70 at the door.

To reserve a dinner spot or for more information contact info@thelincolnassociationofjerseycity.com/ or send a check with your name and the names of those attending, and your postal and e-mail addresses to the Secretary of the Lincoln Association, 9120 Columbia Ave., North Bergen NJ 07047.

Tags:Abraham Lincoln, Jersey City NJ, Lincoln Highway, Lincoln statue, New Jersey
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, travel | Leave a Comment »

Christmas with Buffallo Bill Cody in North Platte

December 23, 2008

The 1886 home of Col. and Mrs. Cody, a long-time Lincoln Highway stop in North Platte, Nebraska, is decorated for an 1880s Christmas. Nightly events include period reenactors, caroling, roasting chestnuts, horse-drawn carriage rides, hot cider, holiday music, the armed services honor tree, and Santa Claus. The 1887 horse barn, log cabin, and other outbuildings are decorated with exterior Christmas lights. The mansion has 18 lighted and decorated trees inside, while the barn has a large lighted and decorated tree, where visitors may make their own ornament to hang.

ne_christmascodys At Buffalo Bill State Park / Scouts Rest Ranch, 2921 Scouts Rest Ranch Road. Tonight is the last evening so hit the road now! “Christmas at the Cody’s” runs from 5:30-8 p.m.