Archive for the ‘travel’ Category
December 16, 2011
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Pennsylvania’s Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor has a new home along the Lincoln Highway between Greensburg and Ligonier. LHHC has purchased the 1815 stone Johnston House across from the Kingston Dam. The site will eventually be home to the Lincoln Highway Experience Museum, which will include the restored Serro’s Diner that sat along the LH in Irwin.
LHHC is holding a Grand Opening of its gift shop today, Friday, December 16, 2011, from 3 to 7 p.m. Hot cider and gingerbread will be served. In addition to Lincoln Highway memorabilia and books, you’ll find many fine crafts from the Handmade Along the Highway program.
Contact LHHC at 3435 Route 30 East, Latrobe, PA 15650. New phone: 724-879-4241. www.lhhc.org/.
Tags:highway history, historic highway, LHHC, Ligonier PA, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, travel, US 30
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, souvenirs, travel | Leave a Comment »
December 15, 2011
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Mike Kaelin of Tracy, Calif., sends word that Francis (Frank) H. Duarte, 96, passed away on Nov. 22, 2011. He was the last business owner of the iconic Duarte’s Lincoln Highway Garage in Livermore. Frank was born in 1915, the year of the Pan-Pacific International Expo in San Francisco, a prime destination that year for Lincoln Highway travelers. Coincidently, the California LHA Chapter is planning its Winter meeting at Duarte’s Garage on Jan. 7, 2012.
Frank had bought and managed Duarte’s Garage after his discharge from the Army Air Corps in 1945. he had already worked there for his father, Frank, since 1934, then enlisted as an aircraft mechanic in 1939. He is survived by two nieces. Services on Dec. 14 were private, and Frank was interred at St.Michael Cemetery in Livermore. Donations in his name may be made to the Duarte Garage Museum, now operated by the Livermore Heritage Guild. Learn more about the garage and museum at www.livermorehistory.com/.
Tags:California, highway history, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, Livermore CA, vintage gas station
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, museum, roadside, signs, transportation, travel | 1 Comment »
December 14, 2011
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition has installed the next in the series of Interpretive Murals along the 179-mile Illinois byway corridor. The mural on a township building at 11008 West Lincoln Highway/US 30 in Frankfort, Illinois, depicts the actual Eagle Scouts and Scout leaders who made a Nationwide Safety Tour along the Lincoln Highway in 1928.
The tour was a promotion of the Lincoln Highway and the Scouts’ plan to place concrete markers along the route. The story of their adventure giving safety daily demonstrations, “good road turns,” and helping out wherever needed is told in the mural. Specifically named is Eagle Scout Bernie Queneau, now age 99 and still one of the Lincoln Highway’s leading supporters.
For information on the Lincoln Highway in Illinois, including places to see, stories of the highway’s significance, or to download an Illinois Lincoln Highway Visitor Guide, visit drivelincolnhighway.com/.
Tags:highway history, historic highway, Illinois, interpretive mural, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, US 30
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December 13, 2011
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Recent blog posts from “Endless streams and forests” have visited a number of Lincoln Highway locales. The writer, Jenny, lives in Asheville, North Carolina, but has traveled far and wide; many of her posts are about the outdoors and “landscape viewed through the filter of history, literature, art, or philosophy.”
Lincoln Highway travels so far have been mostly across Pennsylvania, such as a visit (above) to Williams Deluxe Cabins in Exton.
Tags:Exton PA, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, motel, PA, roadside
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November 23, 2011
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ran an update about the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor’s plan to open an interpretive center in Pennsylvania. Included was news of the former Serro’s Diner being restored. That diner — which I led the effort to rescue in 1992 for the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania (my employer, then and now) — will once again serve travelers, at least with pie and coffee.
The LHHC plans to open the Lincoln Highway Experience Museum in Unity (between Latrobe and Ligonier) near the Kingston Bridge (as of 2012, the museum has opened). The diner is being restored by Travis Smeltzer and his crew from Travis Smeltzer Construction of Apollo, in consultation with preservationists. Smeltzer hopes to have the diner back to its original glory by this spring. The diner was originally bought by the Serro family from the Jerry O’Mahony Diner Co. in New Jersey. There was table seating for 16 patrons and 16 stools at the counter.
The 1938 O’Mahony diner, originally along Lincoln Highway/US 30 in Irwin, was moved to south of Greensburg in 1958 when the Serro family purchased a stainelss steeel-clad diner. John and Lillian Rolka operated it as the Willow Diner until 1992, when it was sold to HSWP, which donated it to the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor in 2003.
From the article:
“We never know what we are going to find,” said Smeltzer as he emptied a bag of muddy silverware found behind the cooking counters of the 1938 diner that first operated on Route 30 in Irwin. All of the items — along with an apron, condiment bottles, bread baskets, ashtrays, old newspapers and receipts — have been cataloged.
“With any project you peel away layers,” said Olga Herbert, executive director of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor. “You never know what’s there until you remove the layers.”
Crews discovered stained glass windows under several coats of paint. Beneath a linoleum floor, they found maple floors. The biggest surprise was a solid mahogany refrigerator, with glass-door insets, buried underneath stainless steel framing.
The Unity site includes a stone, Colonial-style home and former tavern built by Alexander Johnston in 1815. The historic landmark, once called the Kingston House and later known as the Johnston House, will house thousands of Lincoln Highway artifacts including signs, vintage postcards and photographs, and other highway memorabilia.
Read more at
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_768642.html
Posted in food, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, museum, Road trip, roadside, travel | 5 Comments »
November 18, 2011
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
WTCA-AM serving Plymouth and north-central Indiana reports that the dedication of a stone Lincoln Highway Kiosk in the 200 block of East Jefferson Street in Plymouth is set for Saturday, November 19, at 1:00 p.m.
The paper (which published the photo above) reported:
The designation came after more than four years of planning by the Indiana Lincoln Highway Association which culminated in a presentation to state officials in April 2010. Plymouth resident Kurt Garner assisted the INLHA (Indiana Lincoln Highway Association) with survey work of the route….
Establishing the route of the highway was mixed with factors such as population centers, grade and land formations, and by influence of politicians. “These factors all played a role in Indiana where a unique situation developed creating a later southern alignment through Plymouth in 1928,” Garner said.
Garner believes the project completion will lead to marketing opportunities for Marshall County. He said, “The Lincoln Highway is already marked across most of Indiana. The INLHA has developed a byway committee that will begin making marketing plans for communities along the route.”
Tags:highway history, historic highway, historical kiosk, Indiana, Lincoln Highway, Plymouth IN, Road trip, roadside
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November 17, 2011
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
I’ve been following a fantastic blog for a couple weeks. Grover Cleveland — his real name — writes “Camera and Pencil in the Mountains” that details his travels in the Sierra Nevada range. Last year he bought a 1919 Model T Ford roadster and converted it into a pickup truck. He’s hoping to follow a good portion for the Lincoln Highway centennial in 2013.
He told me, “I just completed a 1,500-mile trip in Nevada and western Utah. I covered as much of the 1913 alignment as could be found from Verdi, Nevada to Tooele, Utah.” He writes online that he wants to help fellow travelers: “To provide travel notes, recommendations, and some serious safety information. I got in trouble because I didn’t heed some professional advice — you shouldn’t have to.”
For this trip, he loaded his dog Beasley into a 1989 Tiger van: “A conversion on an Astrovan chassis, nicely equipped with kitchen, bathroom, a pop-top, and oodles of radio gear (I’m a ham radio operator – K7TP).”
Click the images here to see Grover’s large originals. Then follow his adventures at sierratraveler.wordpress.com/.
- Order Lincoln Highway Companion from Amazon – click HERE
Tags:1919, California, highway history, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, Model T, Nevada, Road trip, travel, Utah
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, road surface, Road trip, roadside, transportation, travel | 1 Comment »
October 19, 2011
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
If you have a reliable car from pre-1979, 4 weeks to spare in July 2013, and a sense of adventure, you qualify for the LH 2013 Centennial Tour!
As the group explains at www.lh2013.com:
Our goal is to gather 100 participants who will ship their historic vehicles to the U.S from overseas and spend 4 weeks crossing the American Continent on the Lincoln Highway. This will help raise public awareness and renew interest in the Lincoln Highway during its centennial celebration. U.S residents are also encouraged to join the tour making it as grand and diverse as possible. The tour will conclude at the Lincoln Highway’s western terminus; the Lincoln Park in San Francisco on July 26th, 2013, having covered an approximate 3,389 miles and journeyed through 13 states.
In June 2006, 17 antique American cars from Norway traveled Route 66 on its 80th anniversary. The trip was a private initiative by Harry & Henning Kjensli accompanied by friends and like minded Norwegian enthusiasts. The response received from participants and the public inspired them to launch the 2013 Lincoln Highway Centennial Tour. Check the web site for more info, including a schedule of each day’s travels.
Tags:2013, antique cars, highway history, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, Lincoln Highway centennial, Norwegian tour
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, transportation, travel | 3 Comments »
October 14, 2011
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Indiana Lt. Governor Becky Skillman, and INDOT Commissioner Michael B. Cline, have signed a resolution designating the historic Lincoln Highway across northern Indiana as an official Indiana state byway. The Indiana portion of the Lincoln Highway now becomes part of the Indiana Byways Program.
The Indiana Lincoln Highway Association (INLHA) was incorporated in 2008 to begin work on the state byway designation. Through private donations from Indiana Lincoln Highway Association members, funds from Indiana Landmarks, and funds from the national Lincoln Highway Association, the INLHA conducted a resource survey to identify the route. Also identified were significant structures relating to Indiana Lincoln Highway such as historic bridges, tourist cabins, motels, gas stations, Lincoln Highway markers and monuments, and tourist camps. Approximately two years ago the INLHA submitted a state byway application to INDOT. Following two review meetings and the approval of the Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) across northern Indiana, the application was recently processed for signature by state officials.
The INLHA will now form the Indiana Lincoln Highway Byway Council with representatives from across the state. The INLHA and the Council will oversee the development of a Corridor Management plan that will include guidelines for road signage and the creation of tourism materials to promote the towns and businesses and events held along the route.
For more information, contact the Indiana Lincoln Highway office at 574-210-6278 or contact Jan Shupert-Arick, President, INLHA, at 260-452-8140.
Tags:highway history, historic highway, Indiana, Lincoln Highway, state byway designation
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October 12, 2011
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
A former Kearney icon has been replicated at the Great Platte River Road Archway. The Kearney Hub reports that the archway now displays a Hammer Motel sign, a replica of a much larger sign that once stood at the hotel on US 30 at 19th Ave on the west side of Kearney. Ronnie O’Brien, director of education and the Nebraska director for the Lincoln Highway Association, said the Hammer Motel sign was known across the country. The Hammer family operated the motel from 1947 to 1987. It then served as University of Nebraska at Kearney student housing until 1995, when it was razed. A historical marker commemorating a Lincoln Highway Seedling Mile was dedicated in April at the site of the motel.
I first reported on the Hammer Motel in 2008. (click for link)
Tags:antique sign, archway museum, Hammer Motel, highway history, historic highway, Kearney NE, Lincoln Highway, Nebraska
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, roadside, signs, transportation, travel | 1 Comment »
Lincoln Highway News 