Speaking of PBS producer Rick Sebak, you’ll feel you’re with him on you own Ride Along the Lincoln Highway when you read his blog. His next dozen entries will be about his trip to the Lincoln Highway Association conference in South Bend. His first two posts have not even gotten him out of Ohio as he stops and enjoys the wonders along the way. Check it out at www.wqed.org/tv/sebak/blog/.
I spent Monday driving across Ohio and Indiana, heading to the annual Lincoln Highway Assn. conference in South Bend. I followed many old stretches of the LH and took many photos — so many that the 6 hour trip took me 14 hours. my camera is overloaded, its batteries are dead, and my head is kinda hurting but it was a great time, I got great photos, and met some very nice people. Here are some photos from the trip.
The Canton Repository reports that a classic 9-unit motel along the Lincoln Highway in eastern Ohio is for sale. Fans will recognize it as being at the eastern end of the famous brick stretch of Baywood Street.
Palmantier’s Motel, opened 1947, was purchased four years ago by Scott Segeti, “lured to these parts by the beauty of nearby farm fields, grazing cattle, grassy meadows, chirping birds, fresh air and an opportunity to be his own boss.” Now Segeti is trying to sell the motel, swimming pool, two houses, and 3.25 acres for $425,000.
“I thought it was a gift from God,” he said.
He bought it on land contract from longtime owner Carolyn Koontz in 2005. He immediately digitized the motel’s old phone system. He hard-wired room fire alarms. He touched up units here and there. He moved into one four-bedroom house on the land and rented out the other.
Four years later, Segeti isn’t sure he can make it work.
The bad economy has squeezed the motel. Even for $50 a night, sometimes not a single room is rented. Its airy one- and two-bed country decor units remain empty. Most guests these days are building contractors who follow jobs into the area, stay for a few weeks and move on….
“It would be the ideal business for a retired couple,” Segeti said. “This place still has the ambiance of the 1950s. From a time when the whole world moved at a much slower pace.”
Hobo Day 2009 was held May 23 along the Lincoln Highway in Bucyrus, Ohio, at the Toledo & Ohio Central railroad station. The Crawford County Post reported that hundreds attended the annual event at the Victorian station, which is being restoredHere is a photo of the station and event by Doug Foreman from the paper’s story:
Train equipment on display included offbeat equipment such as a velocipede, pocket watches, and the bell from president Lincoln’s funeral train. Antique vehicles included a 1916 Maxwell truck and 1930 Ford Model A coupe.
Libraries in five Ohio counties along the Lincoln Highway now have the new PBS DVD, dedicated in memory of a Mid-Ohio Lincoln Highway League member and advocate of the road’s history.
Wayne (Wooster), Ashland, Richland (Mansfield), Crawford (Bucyrus) and Wyandot (Upper Sandusky) libraries were given a copy of the national PBS documentary A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway produced by Rick Sebak and WQED Pittsburgh.
The show’s final segment features Esther McNaull Oyster Queneau, an Ashland native and founder of Ohio’s Lincoln Highway League in 1993.
In its statewide meeting held in Massillon on May 2, the Ohio League voted to provide the DVDs to honor the late Howard Donbar, a long-time member of the Mid-Ohio chapter. The five counties receiving the gifts are in the Mid-Ohio membership area.
Anyone interested in joining the advocacy group can contact President Mike McNaull at (419) 281-3064. The DVD is available for purchase at www.lhtp.com/.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer recently profiled Rita Shisler, owner of the wonderful Shisler’s Cheese House along the Lincoln Highway in eastern Ohio. It’s a fun read and an inspiring story.
Rita’s advice on running a successful business:
Work hard and hire people who are a good fit for your business. You have to love what you do. It reflects back on to your business. People like doing business with happy people. They want to be part of it.
Shisler’s Cheese House is on the corner of US 30 & Kidron Rd., Orrville, Ohio, (330) 682-2105.
The fifth annual Lincoln Highway BUY-WAY Yard Sale is being planned for August 6, 7, and 8, 2009. Sales will stretch from Chester, West Virginia, across the Ohio River through Ohio and on into Indiana and Illinois.
Ohio, the originator and most active promoter, announced that although the “Lincoln Highway Historic Byway” designated by ODOT is the 1928 route across the state, there are several earlier alignments that will also have sales and will celebrate the history of the road, almost doubling the 241 miles of sales across the state. Last year there were an estimated 750 sales.
For the past two years, a Travelers Guide with maps and info on sales and activities has been distributed free along the corridor. Executive Director Mike Hocker encourages churches, restaurants, or any organization to participate and take an ad. Call him at (419) 468-6773 for details before May 15 or visit http://www.historicbyway.com/.
The Ohio Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor issued a press release geared to catch the attention of those planning springtime road trips. Titled Springin’ Along the “Lincoln,” it promotes cruising the Lincoln Highway in Ohio as a fun, close-to-home get-away. Below is a portion.
You may not find the world’s largest ball of twine but you will be able to do some serious antique shopping or visit a museum or two. Travel games can be created around identifying Highway period (1913-1928) buildings, historical monuments, spotting courthouses or locating old road alignments. And there is always plenty of home-style cooking and apple pie eating along the way….
During its 15 years, some “alignments” of the Lincoln Highway were changed to improve travel. Driving these older alignments today reveals charming small communities waiting to be explored. Today these areas may be unknown, but in the early days of the Lincoln Highway, everyone going east or west would pass through them. They were on the nation’s map and known by all who traveled the highway.
The ol’ Lincoln is out there, waiting to share its charm and history. for more information and maps, visit www.historicbyway.com or phone 419-468-6773.
Long-distance runner and Lincoln enthusiast Eric Ebinger will launch a run across Ohio on the 200th anniversary of President Lincoln’s birth on February 12. Appropriately, he’ll be following the Lincoln Highway for its 241 miles. Ebinger, of Norwalk, will start at the Indiana state line near Van Wert, and follow the route completed in 1928 for five days. His wife Misty, who grew up in Orrville, is coordinating. “My wife and I are looking forward to meeting the people along this wonderful scenic highway, and perhaps drawing attention to a man whose wisdom and grace guided our nation through its most turbulent period.”
Ebinger will travel sixty miles each of the first two days, completing half the run in two of the five days. “From Van Wert to Mansfield is nice and flat,” Ebinger said, “which should make for comfortable running. That allows three days for the second half, which is filled with hills.” Ebinger has received numerous emails through his website, www.thelincolnrun.com, from runners across the state who plan on joining him for different parts of the run.
The Review of East Liverpool, Ohio, has published a couple galleries of reader photos featuring Crosser’s Diner, a long-time eatery along the Lincoln Highway in Lisbon. I recently reported here and here that it’s being taken apart. The newest one shows the diner being disassembled for an uncertain future:
Click the screen shot to see the collection – photos are by Patti Schaeffer:
An album from August titled “Death of the Crosser Dinette,” documents its decline. By then, the roof had collapsed, stopped only by the counter, hence the roofline bowing that we reported earlier. You can see water damage and that the wooden framing in the middle was probably not salvageable.
Click the screen shot to see the collection – photos by madbunny/Brin Metzendorf:
Click the map above for a full-size view of the Lincoln Highway.
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