Postcard expert Russell Rein picked up a 1930s postcard that shows a station near Asbury Park, New Jersey, that’s very similar to the well-known Dunkle’s Gulf along the Lincoln Highway in Bedford, Pennsylvania. Dunkle’s is a popular stop and an extremely rare survivor from that era — and they still pump gas!
Though it’s known that others were made in this c. 1930 style, no others are known to have survived. By the look of the Google satellite view, the one in New Jersey is gone too.
The Rawlins Daily Times reported on a controversial wind farm planned near Hanna, a small town along the beautifully rural Medicine Bow loop of the Lincoln Highway in east-central, Wyoming. The story was then examined by CBS-4 in Denver:
The Medicine Bow Conservation District and the Hanna Historical Society asked Horizon Wind Energy not to harm natural or cultural resources when building its 154-turbine wind project.
Ken Besel, representing both the conservation district and the historical society, asked Horizon to avoid the historic Carbon Cemetery, sage grouse strutting grounds, archaeological sites, elk habitat and other places of significance in the proposed project area.
Nate Sandvig of Horizon said the project area is located between Hanna and Elk Mountain and south of U.S. Highway 30 in the Simpson Ridge area….
Hanna historian Nancy Anderson asked if Horizon would avoid the remaining traces of the original Lincoln Highway, which runs through the project area, usually near U.S. 30.
Sandvig wasn’t aware of the historic highway, but said he would find out more about it. He promised to avoid traces of the original Transcontinental Railroad built in the same general area as the highway.
With Wintry weather hitting much of the country, here’s a newsreel from more than a half-century ago reminding us of the dangers atop infamous Donner Pass. The Lincoln Highway crossed the Sierra Nevadas here starting in 1913. The 222 passengers aboard the “City of San Francisco” were stranded for days in up to 20 feet of snow. This newsreel, with dramatic music and narration, details their rescue. The pass is of course named for a party of overland emigrants who were trapped by early snows.
Jan Morrison writes from Austin, Nevada, that she closed her Main Street Shops that sold coffee, ice cream, and gifts, “another victim of the recession. Traffic on our stretch of US 50/the Lincoln Highway is down 40-50%. There is a possibility someone may lease it, but I won’t know until the spring.”
There is at least some positive news:
At the corner of Main (US 50) and Virginia, across from the hardware store, a new town plaza will be built featuring a rest stop with public bathrooms, picnic tables, and a gathering space. It should be completed for summer.
Tours of St. Augustine Church can now be arranged. We prefer groups because there are only two of to give tours, and we have 3-4 jobs each.
There is a new RV park which accommodates the larger rigs with “pull-throughs.” It is the Pony Express RV Park.
There is a new stop at the east entrance of town, where the mountain bike place used to be, the Last Chance Saloon. They offer great pizzas and other dine-in or take-out food. Nice bar also, clean and well-kept. It is run by Bob and Donna Sossa, who have a huge home in the Valley shaped like a castle which is also a B & B.
In spite of the recession, we are all working hard on sprucing up the town, preserving the old buildings, and getting ready for better times!
Also check the Libraries & Museums link at right for the address of the Austin Museum. Jan says they have furnishings from one of the early ranches in the area and a room set up like an old ranch kitchen with a Hoosier, old stove, rockers, and tables.
Jennifer Vogelsong wrote an interesting piece for the York Daily Record/Sunday News about the search for authentic experiences in Gettysburg and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Much of the public face is found along the Lincoln Highway/US 30 but she finds that the best places are a block or two away or along the back roads. She was inspired by the December issue of National Geographic Traveler that ranked the two destinations among the most important historic places on Earth — and fourth worst when it comes to sustainable tourism, ie how authentically they preserve the past, manage tourism, and withstand development.
At the Mennonite Information Center on US 30, director Jeff Landis advises “If you see a sign with the word “Amish” in it, it probably isn’t.” Still, at The Amish Experience, with billboard ads and an F/X Theater, “employee Ginny Reese said it’s pretty authentic, and an appealing option for visitors who don’t want to drive the back roads for the real thing: ‘They can’t find it or they don’t know where to go and what they’re looking for.'”
Read more of Jennifer’s travels around these two areas and York in her blog Explorer’s Backpack.
The popular Niland’s Cafe in Colo, Iowa, will reopen December 5 and operate three days a week through the winter.
The Nevada Journal revealed the joint plan between the city of Colo, which owns the historic Reed-Niland property, and the Colo Development Group, which manages the property for the city:
Ben Weir, president of the development group, said Missy Bitters, of Colo, will be overseeing the day-to-day operation of the restaurant…. Previously, the city and development group have leased the restaurant to those who have operated it…. Weir said the development group won’t heavily advertise the opening at first, because “we want to allow Missy to get in and get organized … and get her feet wet.”
Bitters said hours of operation will be 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays. She said one of the things the restaurant will bring back from the past is the loose meat sandwiches that historic owner John Niland made popular for the restaurant.
Above is Colo city clerk Scott Berka at the Niland’s Cafe counter.
For weeks I’ve been proofreading a design draft of my next book, Lincoln Highway Companion. Though I’d like to think I sent off a masterpiece, corrections from my editor and volunteer readers proves that there’s always room for improvement.
The 15 or so readers have caught misspelled words or street names that have changed or found listings for places that have closed. The maps were only half done, being that they were such a massive part of the project, so they are receiving tons of additional info—street names, landmarks, geographic feature notations, and letters keyed to Must-See attractions.
Hardest to take are the businesses that were included that have since closed. I’m not only sad for the effort that I (or guest writers) put into those stories, but the road is one bit less interesting each time a place closes or is demolished.
I’m proofing so many different aspects, and comparing to so many original sources and maps, that it’s eating away weeks of free time. I’ll be taking a few days now at Thanksgiving to try to finish it.
Sylverta Blaugher writes:
Bought several of your books this summer as my husband and I were traveling Route 30 West [Lincoln Highway] from Chambersburg Pa. I was raised in C’burg but married and moved to Ft Wayne 40 years ago.
I lived with my Great Aunt Pearl and Great Uncle Harry during the summer months in the late 1950s and early ’60s. They owned the Cove Mountain Tea Room that is in your book The Lincoln Highway: Pennsylvania Traveler’s Guide, pages 183-184.
The house is gone and the garage that is still standing was used as an antique store that they operated. My Mother lived with them in the ’40s after they bought the property. She often talked of buses stopping there and serving sandwiches. After Aunt Pearl had a stroke they stopped serving but they still sold Shell gas and had a small store where they sold pop and candy.
My Mother still lives in Chambersburg and going thru my Grandmother’s papers that she has I am always searching for any articles regarding when they bought the property and any menus etc, but I have not yet found any. I do have pictures of us on the top of the roof and many great family picnics.
I still miss the mountains and when I go home I sometimes get off at Breezewood so I can relive old memories of days gone by. Never had the fear of roaming the mountains like I do today.
Keep up the good work so the rest of the travelers can read of places that are no longer there to see.
The cover to The Lincoln Highway across Indiana has been released, showing a classic view of one of the Lincoln Highway’s cast-iron state line markers—this one at the Illinois border. The book was written by Jan Shupert Arick for the state’s LHA chapter. It will retail for $21.99 when published in Spring 2009.
Inspired we hope by our post of last Tuesday, Spiny Norman followed later that day with his first-person impressions and recollections of the Olympia Candy Kitchen. Spiny’s blog, Goshen’s Lincoln Highway, explores the route through that Indiana city and the places along it. It’s a great idea about an area with lots of neat places to see. Yesterday’s post investigated an old alignment south along US 33.
Click the map above for a full-size view of the Lincoln Highway.
Like this blog? You'll LOVE my books!Lincoln Highway Companion features detailed maps and places to eat and stay. Click the book to buy it on Amazon.
Click the Greetings book below to purchase the ultimate guide to the history and route of the Lincoln Highway!
Another fun book! The Ship Hotel: A Grand View along the Lincoln Highway recalls the greatest roadside attraction along the coast-to-coast road.
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