The Lincoln Highway was dedicated on October 31, 1913 — 100 years ago tonight. Bonfires, parades, concerts, and speeches were held all along the coast-to-coast route on Halloween.
West of Chambersburg, Pa., Shatzer’s Fruit Market (2197 Lincoln Way West) has been serving the public since 1933. Outside is one of the decorated fiberglass pumps sponsored by the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor along with one of LHHC’s interpretive panels. ~ Photo by Brian Butko, October 2007.
Have you wondered if there was any significance, or is the date a coincidence? Most likely, the LHA’s directors chose it knowing it was a time for public celebrations. The U.S. was just beginning to celebrate Halloween in 1913 but there was a centuries-old tradition of bonfires, parades, and dressing up on All Hallows’ Eve that recent immigrants had brought here. LHA leaders were masters at harnessing public relations, and what better date to choose for fanciful nighttime celebrations than the one day a year that such activities already took place?
The San Francisco Chronicle (October 26, 1913) reported, “It is the idea of the boosters of the transcontinental motorway that the dedication be a sort of spontaneous expression of gratification and it has been left to each city and town along the route of the proposed highway to devise and carry out its own plan of celebration.”
On the 31st, the Chronicle added, “The exercises will be a fitting Halloween celebration, but overshadowing all the goblins and ghosts of the evening there will be the spirit of the great national boulevard.”
In the dedication proclamation from Wyoming, Governor Joseph Carey stated, “It is thought especially fitting that on the evening of October 31st there should be an old-time jollification to include bonfires and general rejoicing; this for the purpose of impressing upon the people and especially the younger generation-the services and unselfish life of Lincoln, and for the further purpose of painting a big picture so far as amusements are concerned of the highway which is to cross our state.”
Some of that wording likely came from an LHA press release, as an article in the November 1 Salt Lake Tribune noted it had been “the request of the directors of the Lincoln Highway to make October 31 an evening of general rejoicing.”
And so the Lincoln Highway was dedicated that night 100 years ago in a spirit of pride and optimism. May we do the same for the coming century.
The Nebraska Lincoln Highway Scenic and Historic Byway Association has published a Centennial Travel Guide to promote attractions along the Lincoln Highway. Nebraska’s portion of the coast-to-coast road 450 miles, makes it the state’s longest byway. Print versions are available or see it instantly online HERE.
Sarah Focke, LH byway president, says “The centennial of the Lincoln Highway in 2013 will mean increased tourism…. This will help them visit all the hidden treasures located along the way.”
The guide includes historical information about the highway and key byway attractions and historical sites, maps to find lodging, meals and entertainment and a schedule of activities along the way.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The most revolutionary event for the Lincoln Highway since it was founded 99 years ago is now available — free, detailed, online maps of the Lincoln Highway!
The LHA Mapping Committee (myself and 2 dozen others) has worked for a decade to map all generations of the Lincoln Highway, from the obscure Proclamation Route to the equally-rare city feeders. Mapping software expert (and committee chair) Paul Gilger has done a stunning job, spending hundreds of hours to apply our info to DeLorme and now Google Maps. The maps are now available to the public for free. Click www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/map to see for yourself this stunning resource detailing exactly where the LH went from coast-to-coast. Here are some samples that you should be able to easily identify.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
As the former Serro’s Diner moves closer to being back in service, the diner’s first waitress got to visit the restoration project. The Serro family opened the brand new 1938 O’Mahony-brand diner in Irwin, Pa., as a Lincoln Highway bypass was being built around the town for the coming Pennsylvania Turnpike terminus. The diner will soon be part of a museum complex being built by the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor between Greensburg and Ligonier.
A story in the Tribune-Review (including the two images here by Eric Schmadel) reported how 95-year-old Jenny Baloh recently visited the diner where she began waitressing in 1938. As one of the 10 Serro siblings, she was THE first waitress:
My brothers (Louis and Joseph) bought the dining car when I was a teenager. I told them I didn’t know a thing about waitressing. They said, “You’ll learn.”
The diner was rescued from likely demolition in 1992 when I had the pleasure of arranging for its purchase and move by the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, now the Heinz History Center. With no practical place to display the diner, it was given to the LHHC. After almost 2 years of work, the diner is almost ready for it’s new home, a soon-to-be-constructed addition at the Lincoln Highway Experience Museum along Route 30 East, across from the Kingston Bridge.
Order Lincoln Highway Companion from Amazon – click HERE
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition (ILHC) was awarded as Best Cooperative Partnership for their Interpretive Mural Series at the 2012 Illinois Governor’s Conference on Tourism on March 16, 2012 in Rosemont, Illinois. The conference celebrated the groundbreaking work of industry innovators with the “Illinois Excellence in Tourism Awards.”
As the designated Scenic Byway management agency overseeing the Lincoln Highway National Scenic Byway, the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition received a National Scenic Byway Grant from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and an Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Office of Tourism, Attraction Development (TAP) Grant to fund the mural project. Each mural is a hand-painted, unique work of art, approximately 10 x 20 square foot, depicting an exciting story of the early Lincoln Highway. Visit drivelincolnhighway.com for more information on the murals and gazebos, or to download an Illinois Lincoln Highway Visitor Guide.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
We’re once again lucky to have Denny Gibson traveling and documenting part of the Lincoln Highway, this time some of the roads to and from the 2011 LHA conference in Lake Tahoe. You can follow his adventures beginning at www.dennygibson.com/lhfest11/day09/index.htm when he visits bits of the Lincoln in Utah. He starts with the beautiful little Lambs Canyon bridge (below). Then it’s across the Utah desert (below #2) and into Nevada.
At the conference, participants rode the old road at Clarksville, Cal., in Model A Fords (below). We’ll save more for our next blog entry….
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
On Saturday, February 12, 2011, noon, an annual ceremony will be held along the Lincoln Highway at the statue of Abraham Lincoln at the entrance of Lincoln Park, Kennedy Boulevard and Belmont Avenue in Jersey City. Lincoln Association VP Michael Ricciardone will host the ceremony, and Past President Dr. Jules Ladenheim will recite a letter or speech of President Lincoln. A local chorale will provide patriotic music, and the ceremony will conclude with a placing of a wreath at the monument. At 6 pm, the Association will host the One Hundred Forty-Sixth Annual Dinner at the Casino in the Park, Lincoln Park, Jersey City.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
A Des Moines, Iowa, TV station picked up on the story of the 1959 film showing US 30 in Iowa. WHO-TV channel 13 filed a report centered on the complex of gas, food, and lodging at Niland’s Corner in Colo, Iowa, which is seen in a screen shot in my report of the film. Scott Berka, Colo City Clerk, who is instrumental in keeping the buildings going, is briefly interviewed at the Colo Motel, a Lincoln Highway classic!
View the video HERE. Note it starts with a brief advertisement.
The Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor is sponsoring a one-day bus trip along the Lincoln Highway from Greensburg to Everett, Pa., (and back) on Monday, October 11, 2010. The “ultimate road trip” will be guided by Lou DeRose, the ultimate Lincoln Highway fan, and Olga Herbert, the Executive Director of the LHHC. Both know this route inside and out and will share little-known facts about this country’s first coast-to-coast route.
In addition to photo ops at four Roadside Giants and four Lincoln Highway murals, bus guests will be treated to a lunch buffet at the Omni Bedford Springs Resort followed by a private tour. The day begins with a private guided tour of the historic Compass Inn in Laughlintown led by Innkeeper Jim Koontz.
After lunch they’ll head to Everett for a photo op of another Roadside Giant followed by visits to Bedford’s art deco Dunkle’s Gulf Station and the 1927 Coffee Pot. Dinner is at the historic Jean Bonnet Tavern with time to browse the Cabin Gift Shoppe.
Departure is from either Greensburg’s Hempfield Square or Latrobe 30 Shopping Plaza.
Make your reservation TODAY at www.LHHC.org where you can pay online or call (724) 238-9030. The travel package ($115 per person) includes the guided tours of Compass Inn and Bedford Springs, lunch at Bedford Springs, dinner at Jean Bonnet Tavern, and a photo memento. Sorry, no refunds.
James Devitt Jr., who goes by the name Lincolnhighwayman (in the tradition of a 1917 play and 1919 film), is traveling the Lincoln Highway this summer. He hopes to turn the journey into a book that “will be a mixture of popular history and an old fashioned traveler’s tale … like Shelby Foote meets Mark Twain.” James is already the author of The Malone Chronicles, a novel set in 1939 about a boy who runs away from home. Follow the current trip at blog.lincolnhighwayman.com/. Here’s a video of his Ford Model A touring the battlefields at Gettysburg, Pa.
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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Lincoln Highway News 