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Archive for the ‘travel’ Category

Indiana LHA meeting to honor Art Schweitzer

April 8, 2008

Here are details on the Indiana Lincoln Highway Association Spring Meeting, Luncheon, and Silent Auction set for Saturday, May 10, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. CDST. Location will be Teibel’s Restaurant, US 30 at US 41, Schererville, Indiana. It is being held in conjunction with Illinois LHA. Among the highlights will be honoring long-time LH researcher and devotee Art Schweitzer, who tirelessly researched the nearby Ideal Section. Also, Cynthia Ogorek will be signing her new book, and guest speaker Trish Eccles will speak about the Indiana National Road Byway Application Process. Print and complete the form below to register for the meeting and meal.

IN LHA meeting notice for May 2008

Tags:highway history, Indiana, Schererville, Teibel's Restaurant
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Tea at Gothic-Victorian library in Langhorne PA

April 3, 2008

Historic Langhorne Association will host an Afternoon Tea to benefit the Anna Mary Williamson Library on Sunday, May 4, from 1 – 3:30 pm. The library, also home to the association, is noted for its 1888 Gothic-Victorian styling. It is located in eastern Pennsylvania in downtown Langhorne at 160 West Maple Avenue, the original Lincoln Highway. The historic photo below is from the HLA website.

Festivities will include Alisa Dupuy portraying a Colonial Patriot who tells stories of her life in the area. Food by Debbie of Wild Violets Tea Garden in Hulmeville will feature elegant tea sandwiches, scones with jams and lemon curd, desserts, and of course teas. Tickets of $30 per person are available through Historic Langhorne or at Judy’s Corner; seating is limited.

Historic Langhorne Association offers a research library, local artifacts museum and archives of business documents, genealogical records, historic photographs and area maps. It was established in 1965 and its building is open to the public Mondays 7 – 9 pm / Wednesdays, 10 am – noon and 7 – 9 pm / Saturdays 10 am to noon. Call (215) 757-1888 for more information.

Tags:1888, history, Langhorne PA, library, Pennsylvania, Victorian tea
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Events for Lincoln Highway Around Chicago book

April 2, 2008

With some big projects keeping me busy, I’ve not been able yet to review Cynthia Ogorek’s new book from Arcadia, The Lincoln Highway Around Chicago, but here’s a list of book-related events to look for over the next few months.

Above, the LHA labeled this 1927 photo as “an important intersection with the pavement widened for safety, 25 miles west of Chicago Heights, Illinois. Courtesy University of Michigan, Special Collections Library, lhc1321.

April
7 at 10 am. “The Dave Nemo Show,” XM Satellite Radio, Open Road 171. Live phone interview.

14 at 7 pm. South Holland Public Library, 16250 Wausau Ave, South Holland, IL, (708) 331-5262. Program and book signing.

19 at 10:30 am. South Suburban Heritage Association Annual Conference, St. Paul Community Church, 18200 Dixie Hwy, Homewood, IL, jryegdorf@ameritech.net

May
10 at 11:30 am. Indiana-Lincoln Highway Association Spring Meeting and Luncheon, Teibel’s Restaurant, Schererville, IN. Contact: in.director@lincolnhighwayassoc.org

17 All day. South Holland “Onion Fest,” American Legion Hall, 443 157th St, South Holland, IL, (708) 596-2722.

June
7 or 8 time TBA. Printers’ Row Book Fair, Chicago, IL, at Arcadia Publishing booth. Contact Cynthia at sealuna@juno.com

13 at 1 p.m. Calumet City Historical Society, 760 Wentworth Ave, Calumet City, IL, (708) 862-8662.

July
12th at 1 pm. Lake County Public Library, Merrillville, IN. Contact Susan Killin (219) 7769-3541 x336 or skillin@lakeco.lib.in.us

August
TBA Gourmet Junction, Plainfield, IL. Contact Cynthia at sealuna@juno.com

September
16 time and place TBA. South Holland Historical Society, South Holland, IL, (708) 596-2722.

Contact names and emails are supplied if you’d like to confirm the arrangements.

Tags:Chicago, history, Illinois, Indiana, roads, travel
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NYC's vintage Cheyenne Diner closing

April 1, 2008

Yet another diner in New York City is closing, leaving few of the classic stainless steel diners that were once so common in Manhattan. An article in the New York Daily News states that the Cheyenee Diner, 33rd Street at 9th Avenue near Penn Station, is on land leased from a nearby diner owner who has decided building apartments is better than leasing to a competitor. Though 9 blocks south of the original Lincoln Highway / 42nd Street, the Cheyenne was the last old-time, factory-built diner near the cross-country route. Its last day is this Sunday. UPDATE: Now closed, this article says it’s for sale for $7,900.

Spiros Kasimis, 44, is only the third owner, having had it 18 years. He says the diner was doing well and that people still prefer burgers and bacon over healthy fare, but couldn’t compete with spiraling real estate values:

“The day of one-story structures in Manhattan is over,” he said, adding that he’s looking for a new location in the Hell’s Kitchen-Chelsea area.

Originally called the Market Diner, the 1946 Paramount-brand eatery features neon on the outside and Native American artifacts on interior walls. Another article from am New York debates if the structure can be moved. It’s popular with locals who lament the increasing replacement of community gatherings spots with more commercial uses.

The above photos are courtesy Flickr blog feature. Click on each image for the original post. Map (blue line is original LH, red dot is diner) from the LHA Driving Maps, available from the Lincoln Highway Trading Post.

Tags:Cheyenee Diner, diner closing, Manhattan changing, NYC, road food, travel
Posted in food, highways, history, transportation, travel | 5 Comments »

Mystery Photo 8: Which way is Lincoln Highway?

March 30, 2008

Which way is the Lincoln Highway? They both are! The original route curves past the old house and junkyard, while the bypass crosses the old road at left – this view looking east. Though the original road can be driven, that may change in the next few years as a big project might remake the mostly rural roads. Related to the same subject, the junkyard was in the news a number of years ago. Those are big clues – the only other one for now is that it’s in the eastern U.S. Any guesses as to the location, or need more clues?

Guess another clue is needed – it’s in Pennsylvania.

112206_7467.jpg - mystery photo 8

Tags:highway history, junkyard, Lincoln Highway, mystery photo, street signs
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CA LHA state mtg & regional tour in Dublin

March 28, 2008

The California Lincoln Highway Association chapter will hold its state meeting on Saturday, April 12, noon, at Athens Restaurant, 6999 Dublin Blvd, Dublin. A caravan tour is scheduled afterward to visits sites in Dublin Canyon and East Castro Valley. LHA meetings (including lunch) generally run 1-5 hours or less, and the tour another hour. This one will explore recently discovered sections of the Lincoln in east Castro Valley and Dublin Canyon with a possible stop in Dublin itself. Contact Norm Root at normanroot [at] yahoo.com for more info.

Photo from daplus.us, map from Google.

Tags:California, Dublin Canyon, highway history
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Tunnel Diner in Jersey City slated for demolition

March 26, 2008

The Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor folks received word that the Tunnel Diner in Jersey City, New Jersey, is slated for demolition. This classic factory-built diner (1950s interior, 1960s redo outside) at 184 14th Street is along the later Lincoln Highway, once it was rerouted between New York City and New Jersey due to the opening of the Holland Tunnel in November 1927. It had closed in 2007. The cover of the album Tunnel Diner (by Steve Mackay and the Radon Ensemble on Qbico Records) shows one of the diner’s most memorable features, a vertical neon sign. The diner reportedly appeared in the 1996 film City Hall about the accidental shooting of a boy in New York City, with a cast headed by Al Pacino, John Cusack, Bridget Fonda, and Danny Aiello.

Anyone know more about the closing and scheduled demolition?

Tags:Diner, highway, Jersey City, New Jersey, restaurant closing, sign, Tunnel Diner
Posted in food, highways, history, transportation, travel | 7 Comments »

Magic Highway USA shows what might have been

March 24, 2008

Here’s a portion of an episode from the 1958 Disney TV show titled “Magic Highway USA” that looks at the future through transportation advancements. It portrays a centrally designed, controlled, world where slums and poverty are nowhere to be found, and work only occurs in office buildings.

The video has received hundreds of comments, and no wonder: the future never looked so good, or so bad. Some write that the world portrayed will never come to pass; others think much of it already has. Some of the technology itself is already passe. If nothing else, the inherent optimism disappeared long ago.

The narrator intones, “The shape of our cities will change, as expanded highway transportation decentralizes our population centers into vast urban areas. With the advent of faster expressways, the commuter’s radius will be extended many miles.

But just as the founders of the Lincoln Highway dreamed of a straight boulevard across the country within their own mostly rural context, the predictors here never saw the complications or drawbacks of their dream world. Indeed, postwar suburbia brought Interstates and decentralized population, but it quickly was derided as sprawl, not celebrated.

Also, the futurists who wrote the show had no idea gender roles would evolve, or that computers would infiltrate all aspects of life. Technological advances are only a small part of the evolving world. Like most predictions, the video has become an interesting relic of its own era.

Tags:Disney, highway futurism, world of tomorrow
Posted in highways, history, transportation, travel | 1 Comment »

It's Spring! And an easy Mystery Photo

March 21, 2008

With this being the first full day of Spring, maybe we can start our fair-weather road trips soon, but for now, rain and snow are still hitting parts of the Lincoln Highway. Click here to see my sampling of weather conditions along the Lincoln.

I went looking for photos from last Spring. Below is a Springtime view of a courthouse along the Lincoln – anyone know where? Like the last Mystery Photo, clues make it easy to identify.

Tags:courthouse, highway, Spring has arrived
Posted in highways, roadside, travel | 3 Comments »

US 30 bridge named for PA veterans

March 19, 2008

Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell signed six bills into law on March 17, one of which renames the bridge carrying US 30 over Main Street in North Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County, as the Veterans Bridge. See the actual House Bill 363 here.

According to the bill, the “designation honors the commitment, service and sacrifice of this country’s veterans and will serve as a tangible reminder of the courage and patriotism of the veterans who served this Commonwealth and this nation.” It will take effect in 60 days.

US 30 here is a bypass of the original Lincoln Highway that runs perpendicular to the Irwin business district. The above postcard copy shows the bridge under construction ca. 1939, with the business district behind it. The LH was being realigned in anticipation of the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s western terminus opening in 1940 about a mile to the east.

Tags:bridge, Irwin, North Huntingdon PA, Pennsylvania, veterans
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