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Posts Tagged ‘Lincoln Highway’

LHA founder ailing

February 11, 2009

Gregory Franzwa, founder of the modern-day Lincoln Highway Association and editor of the LHA Forum, is ailing. LHA president Bob Dieterich reports that cancer has left him sometimes too weak to walk or talk. This follows soon after his scare with lung cancer, which he kept to himself then humorously documented in Folio. That’s the newsletter of his Patrice Press and it’s more like a full magazine eagerly anticipated by its readers. Here’s wishing Gregory and wife Kathy all the best. You can send him your good thoughts as well, or better yet, a good joke at <books@patricepress.com>.

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Tags:ailing, Gregory Franzwa, LHA, Lincoln Highway, Patrice Press
Posted in highways, Lincoln Highway, transportation | 1 Comment »

New Forum features postcards, Bedford Springs

February 11, 2009

The just-published Winter 2008-09 Lincoln Highway Forum is as always packed with info, including a fascinating cover story (OK, written my me!) on postcard collecting in full, beautiful color. Other features include the story of Beaverdam, Ohio, the restoration of the Bedford Springs Hotel in Pennsylvania, and info on the June 2009 conference in South Bend, Indiana. Become an LHA member here and start receiving it today.

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Tags:LHA, Lincoln Highway, old roads, postcard collecting, quarterly magazine, Road trip, roadside
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, transportation, travel | 1 Comment »

Petersen traces route that became Lincoln Hwy

February 10, 2009

Past LHA president Jesse Petersen has extensively researched the Lincoln Highway in Utah, mapped it, and co-authored a book on it with Gregory Franzwa. His newest project is A Route for the Overland Stage: James H. Simpson’s 1859 Trail Across the Great Basin. The exploration of the Great Basin by army topographical engineer Simpson opened up one of the West’s most important transportation and communication corridors, a vital link to the Pacific Coast that was followed by the Overland Stage and Pony Express.

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Petersen writes, “My interest in the Simpson expedition was a result of my interest in the history of the Lincoln Highway. I was attending the Lincoln Highway Association’s 1996 conference in Reno, Nevada, when one of the presenters mentioned that the historic highway had followed much of the route that James Simpson had opened through Nevada in 1859.”

Jess walked or drove the entire trail west and Simpson’s variant path returning east to accurately describe, map, and photograph the route. Published by Utah State University Press, the 240-page, 8.5 x 11 paperback is $24.95 or buy it on Amazon for $18.96.

Tags:1859, James H. Simpson, Lincoln Highway, new book, Overland Stage, researching old roads, Utah
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, transportation, travel | Leave a Comment »

Walk, Don't Run — on the Lincoln Highway

February 9, 2009

Suddenly everyone is on foot along the Lincoln Highway. Following up on my last post about running the LH (with a quick reference to the 1960 song by the Ventures), Dennis Crowley has announced his plans to again walk part of the route this fall. (I reported on his first leg last October 6 and 8.) Walking America the Lincoln Way will take him from Sacramento, California, on September 14 to Eureka, Nevada, by October 29.

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He’ll depart from the Shell Service Station, 4900 W. Capitol Ave in West Sacramento, and make 6 miles that day, reaching the intersection of Capitol and 26th St. He’ll soon be making it twice as far daily. Dennis says:

The preparations to get things ready to deal with the desolation of Nevada have been more than I realized so I backed things off. AAA didn’t name U.S. 50 “The Lonliest Road in America” for no reason. Walking this stretch and on to Salt Lake City next year will make my walk across the Mojave on old Route 66 in California seem like a picnic. Thanks to technology, however, I should be able to make this walk safe and comfortable. I am doing a lot of research into satellite personal locator beacons, satellite phones, gps, and other such things such as portable lightweight solar panels to keep batteries charged and allow me to run my portable DVD player. Afterall, I need something to do on my days off right?

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Tags:Crowley, Lincoln Highway, Loneliest Road, Mohave, Nevada, Running across America, Sacramento CA, Ventures
Posted in highways, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, travel | 1 Comment »

More overnight stops for L Hwy News lodging

February 6, 2009

I’ve added about a half-dozen more places to the Lodging on the Lincoln Highway link to your right.

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Tags:Butko's motel list, Lincoln Highway, motels, Road trip, vintage places to stay
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, lodging, Road trip | Leave a Comment »

Nebraska: tornado damage, jockey dedicated

February 5, 2009

The January 2009 newsletter of the Nebraska Lincoln Highway Association includes a number of interesting stories and a feature on theaters along the route. That story noted that a drive-in theater in Kearney was badly damaged in the May 29 tornado, and insurance was not adequate to replace the screen, so it was torn down in July (seen here still on Google Maps). The state’s two remaining ozoners are not on the Lincoln.

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The same tornado also badly damaged the old Continental grain elevator in Shelton, and so it will be torn down too.

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In happier news, a bronze statue depicting a 1920s gas jocky was dedicated in Ogallala at the Sprce Street Station, a 1922 Standard station restored in 2003. Sculpted by Nebraska artist Gary Ginther, “it is meant to capture the friendly hometown Nebraskan in his work-torn overalls, dirty oil rag, $2.95 work boots, and strong rough hands with an inviting welcome to service the community.”

Tags:drive-in theaters, Kearney NE, Lincoln Highway, Nebraska, Ogallala NE, Shelton NE, tornado damage
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, roadside, transportation, travel | Leave a Comment »

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 »

Middlegate and Shoe Tree seen on street views

January 30, 2009

I was fishing around the Google street views for Middlegate and the Shoe Tree east of Fallon, Nevada, while double-checking my Lincoln Highway Companion draft, and captured a couple interesting views. Here’s the Shoe Tree – where visitors hang their shoes:

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Below is a wide-angle view of Middleage – the stage station, bar, and motel are to the left (South-West); the old Lincoln Highway to the right of center heading into the distance (West); and at right, the side road (NV 361) that heads NorthWest to the intersection with US 50. CLICK THE IMAGE to see the large-sized panorama:

Tags:Fallon NV, Lincoln Highway, lonely highways, Middlegate NV, Nevada, overland stage station, roadside attraction, Shoe Tree, US 50, vintage roadhouse
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, lodging, Road trip, roadside, transportation | 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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