A photo feature by Diane Stoneback for The Morning Call in Allentown, Pa., features a couple dozen interesting photos of the Lincoln Highway in central Pennsylvania. Most places, like the Shoe House, get a number of views. And note, when a guy at Dutch Haven holds up a LH book, there are others such as Greetings from the Lincoln Highway that also feature the place famous for its Shoo Fly Pie!
UPDATE: An accompanying article was published on Sunday, June 6.
Olga Herbert, executive director of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor in Pennsylvania, has a friend who wants to sell his collection of Ship Hotel memorabilia. Anyone interested in purchasing part or all of the collection should send their name and phone # to Olga at office@LHHC.org. In about a week, she will send the info to him and he will follow up by telephone. NOTE: no portion of the profits will go to the LHHC, she is doing this as a favor since he doesn’t have e-mail.
The complete story of the Ship Hotel is due out in March in a book written by, well, me. I began researching the Ship in 1988 and became friends with Clara Gardner, granddaughter of founder Herbert Paulson. Clara is gone now but her children graciously permitted me to use many, many family photos. Look for more peeks inside the book in the coming months.
Van & Bev Becker wrote to say that Belle Plaine, Iowa, hopes to encourage tourism by promoting the Lincoln Highway and its importance to the town. Artists have been commissioned to paint historic scenes on local structures. The Beckers sent the photo below of a mural on the outside of the history museum at the corner of 12th St. & 9th Ave.
A word about the dates 1913 through 1937 that were used in the caption at the bottom of the mural. The 1913 date is of course of the beginning of the Lincoln Highway; however, the 1937 date includes the early years when the Lincoln Highway was designated as US 30. Early highway planners routed travelers miles to the south into the city of Belle Plaine to avoid the steep and muddy “Bohemie Alps.” By the late ’30s, highway building techniques, including cut and fill, allowed the then-Highway 30 to run straight west through the extremely hilly region east of Tama, resulting in Belle Plaine being bypassed. This new route straight through the Bohemie Alps is the road you will drive today if you follow Highway 30 between Cedar Rapids and Tama.
So the mural portrays the 1913 route through the terrain it was, in reality, avoiding.
Glenn Wells of Roadsidefans.com alerts us to a Lincoln Highway/US 30 Christmas ornament. Glenn says he and his wife got it from Ornaments To Remember: www.ornaments2remember.com
Glenn writes, “They have other route numbers available too, including Route 66 and US 1, but Susan rejected them because ‘Everybody does Route 66’ and the US 1 sign said ‘Historic’ instead of replicating the actual sign.
Glenn adds that the proceeds from Ornaments To Remember fund a non-profit:
The Learning Community is an Oregon-based organization offering free resources to help parents and families. www.thelearningcommunity.us/. We have no connection to either: we were merely a paying customer, and the ornament is really cool! I wouldn’t recommend an inferior item just to help a non-profit, nor recommend an item that helps a for-profit business, but this one is win-win.
The Mountain View Inn, a historic and beloved hotel located between the Lincoln Highway and Route 30 east of Greensburg, Pa., closed in January but now has a buyer and a potential sales agreement.
According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, First Commonwealth Bank, owner of the historic inn, is in preliminary talks with a private group that has shown interest but there’s no guarantee it would reopen as a hotel.
This occurred a day after the Westmoreland Cultural Trust outlined its own plan to buy the facility and lease it to area colleges to operate as a hotel and convention center.
The inn opened in 1924 and the Booher family bought it in 1940. Descendants Vance and Vicki Booher began experiencing financial problems in 2001 and closed it earlier this year.
After much back and forth debate, Stackpole Books has finalized the cover to my next book, The Ship Hotel: A Grand View Along the Lincoln Highway. It shows the Ship in the early 50s, when crowds were still coming despite the lure of the parallel Pa. Turnpike. I was hoping for more nautical touches but I’m thrilled they chose to feature this beautiful view from good friend Cy Hosmer.
The Grand View Ship Hotel was once the best-known attraction along the coast-to-coast Lincoln Highway. It’s burning in 2001 broke hearts far and wide. Today all that remains are a few scattered scorched remnants below the 1920s wall (see my brief clip below). My book traces the history starting with a roadside stand that served early travelers stopping for the grand view. I got to design the inside, which will feature lots of cool photos printed large. Look for the book in Spring 2010!
This Sunday, May 24, Paxton, Nebraska, will celebrate the centennial of its incorporation as a village. The celebration will include a community pageant recalling Paxton’s history and a chuck wagon feed. Paxton, on the Lincoln Highway/US 30 west of North Platte, has a population of just 614. and one flashing red traffic warning light.
Russell Rein sent a link to a North Platte Telegraph story that gives details. The pageant —with 48 cast members and 30-voice choir — is at 3 p.m. at the Paxton High School with the chuck wagon feed at 5 p.m. in the high school’s bus barn. Tickets for the pageant and feed are $10 for adults; $5 for children, under 5 free.
Among Paxton’s businesses, there are three that have been serving the village for more than half the town’s existence. Kildare Lumber began serving the town and its rural farming and ranching population even before Paxton’s incorporation. Hehnke’s, a meat market and grocery on Paxton’s main street, has served the village for nearly 90 years. Ole’s Big Game Steakhouse and Lounge, in business for more than six decades along main street, has long been known throughout the United States.
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 recession has not slowed development east of Lancaster PA, on a strip that has not stopped reinventing itself for a half-century. Lancaster Online reports that among the projects being considered is redevelopment at 2331 Lincoln Highway East, site of a Rodeway Inn. It would mean the demolition of the former Italian Villa East Restaurant whose motto on old postcards was “A touch of Italy in Dutchland.”
According to a follow-up today, the owners plan to demolish the restaurant and build an 83-room hotel to connect to the existing 39-room Rodeway Inn. The 122 rooms would be operated Rodeway Inn and another chain owned by the same company, sharing a breakfast area between them.
The township engineer expressed concerns regarding an access drive, curbing, excess lot coverage, and that the old building might have historic value.
But the developer “said after a search on the Internet and talking with Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, he couldn’t come up with any records that the dwelling would be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The supervisors, however, still recommended the owners look into somehow reusing materials from the dwelling in the new structure to give it a local flavor.”
The site is across from and very close to the former Congress Inn, a vintage motel that’s set to be demolished and replaced by newer accommodations as I reported a half-year ago.
Route 30: Three Stories, One Highway, a film written, produced, and directed by John Putch, will be shown in Ligonier, Pa., this weekend at the Ligonier Theater, 210 W. Main St. Times are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
Route 30 features three interconnecting comedic stories. The cast of 15 includes TV stars Dana Delaney, Dave Delouise, and Ed Gotwalt of Mister Ed’s Elephant Museum (below, in his own poster pose). The film was shot in October 2007 between Chambersburg and Gettysburg, mostly along the Lincoln Highway/US 30. Putch is the son of Bill Putch and Jean Stapleton, best known as Edith Bunker of All in the Family. The two founded Totem Pole Playhouse along US 30 in Caledonia State Park, between Chambersburg and Gettysburg, and so is where Putch spent his youth. Mister Ed was a regular performer there too.
For more info call (724) 238-6514 or visit www.Route30movie.com.
It will also be shown in Connecticut at the Kent Film Festival on Friday, March 27.
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.
And for those who LOVE diners, click the book below to purchase our completely updated guide to the history, geography, and food of Pennsylvania's Diners!
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