Another diner loss for New York City is a gain for Wyoming. The Moondance Diner sat near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel in Lower Manhattan, which served the Lincoln Highway when it was re-signed in 1928. After nearly 80 years there, the diner had to move in 2007 and was bought by Cheryl and Vince Pierce of La Barge in southwest Wyoming, 72 miles north of the Lincoln Highway. Here are two views before departure from Forgotten NY:
The Pierces paid $7,500 for the diner then had to move it, but red tape and a rain storm slowed the 2,400-mile trip through nine states. Then snow collapsed the roof last winter. According to the Jackson Hole Star Tribune, the diner is opening this month, perhaps tomorrow.
One of the last free-standing diners in Manhattan, the Moondance served up cheeseburgers, fries, milkshakes and malts to working-class New Yorkers, artists and actors for decades. The diner gained national prominence after being featured in the film “Spider-Man,” and was included as a backdrop in numerous TV episodes over the years. The Moondance became a victim of the times, however, and was scheduled for demolition in 2007 to make room for condominiums.
That paper’s photo, below, shows owner Cheryl Pierce with letters stored from the historic neon-lit, revolving crescent Moondance sign. The menu will include traditional diner fare such as burgers, meatloaf, homemade fries, and milkshakes/malts from an antique soda fountain.
Those wishing to visit can turn north on US 30 where it famously breaks away from the Lincoln Highway at Granger, Wyoming, between Fort Bridger and Green River, then at Opal turn north on US 189.
Renovation plans have been drawn up for the Summit Rest Area and Information Center along I-80 (x 323) and across from the Lincoln Highway in eastern Wyoming. The site is best known for a giant bust of Abraham Lincoln and a monument to LHA president Henry Joy. The site is atop the Pole Mountains in the Medicine Bow National Forest — the highest point on both roadways.
Plans were prepared by the Roybal Corporation, which worked closely with the Wyoming Travel & Tourism Council to create interpretive exhibits providing information to visitors about things to explore along the I-80 corridor in southern Wyoming.
A video was posted in November 2008 showing the drawings in 3-D:
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.
The Wyoming Tribune-Eaglereports that a huge stretch of land west of Cheyenne that includes traces of the Lincoln Highway is being considered for a multitude of projects, from a wind farm to a landfill to a golf course.
The Belvoir Ranch has long included the paths of westward travel, from overland immigrants to fiber optic cable. Then in 2003, the City of Cheyenne bought the land which begins five miles west of town and stretches for 15 miles farther west, with I-80 as its northern boundary.
While some residents see the 18,000-acre purchase as a boondoggle, others see it as acquiring water rights and sites for a landfill, wind turbine farm and recreation. It is also a chance to preserve a microcosm of western cultural history.
Chuck Lanham of the Cheyenne Historic Preservation Board, the guide for a recent ranch tour, pointed out teepee rings at least 140 years old and other archeological features that have yet to be studied….
Ruts across the rolling, shortgrass prairie show the route of the Denver to Ft. Laramie stage line. Other ruts are thought to be Camp Carlin supply wagon tracks to frontier forts. There are vestiges, too, of the old Lincoln Highway, precursor to U.S. Highway 30 and Interstate 80….
Eventually, the early homesteads became part of the huge Warren Livestock Company holdings. F.E. Warren called the main ranch house his “cabin,” complete with tennis courts, pool and a professional horse racing track. Remains are barely visible today.
Because of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, Atlas missiles were installed on what soon became known as the Belvoir Ranch. The above-ground launching facilities were deactivated in 1965, but the concrete structures can be seen south of I-80 at exit 348.
To learn more about the plans, including maps of the proposed developments or photos of the site (as reproduced here), visit http://www.BelvoirRanch.org or call (307) 637-6281.
George Garrett and Tom Shields, driving their 1930s Fords across the US on the Lincoln Highway, have reached the Western Terminus in San Francisco. Including some detours to car shows and museum, they traveled 4,446 miles in 20 days (not counting their biggest detour to Detroit). That’s about 222 miles per day. George says they got about 19 miles per gallon at a time when gas was about $4 per gallon. Here are some images from their blog, which has some fun stories of their adventures:
Above two are Ohio.
Hard traveling on the road west of Rock Springs, Wyoming.
The Laramie Boomerangreports that the ashes of sculptor Robert Russin and his wife Adele have been interred at the monument he created in 1959 to honor Lincoln’s 150th birthday. Its location in eastern Wyoming marked the highest point on the transcontinental Lincoln Highway: 8,835 feet. In 1969, the monument was moved to the nearby Summit Rest Area (exit 323) when I-80 opened between Cheyenne and Laramie, and is now at the highest point along I-80: 8,640 feet.
Above is a screen shot from the article and here’s a bit of the story:
Joe Russin, one of the sculptor’s sons, said his father’s wish was to be laid to rest near the statute [sic].
“The Lincoln statute became his calling card,” Russin said. “It was one of his favorite statutes.”
The mighty statute was actually made in Mexico City and then brought, in pieces, to Wyoming….
“My dad hadn’t thought about how low the wires were over Grand Avenue,” Russin said. “So they had to move it through Laramie really early in the morning and they cut the electric and telephone wires for each block as they went through.”
ABOVE: Sculptor Robert Russin and assistants work on the bust of Abraham Lincoln. Courtesy Jim Kearns, Manager, University of Wyoming Media Relations.
Randy Wagner kindly sent a photo of the new state historical sign marking the original site of the Henry Joy monument. The sign was recently installed just off exit 184 of I-80. The Lincoln Highway runs to its right, and I-80 can be seen heading to the horizon. For more info, see my earlier post.
Also, the Uinta County Herald ran a nice story yesterday about the just-concluded 2008 LHA national conference.
Day 2 of the Lincoln Highway Association conference featured a tour westward into Utah. Here are some scenes from LHA President Jan Shupert-Arick:
Gas station at Echo.
Summit Mercantile and Furniture Company, Coalville.
Studebaker Champion in jumkyard at Castle Rock.
Wayne Pump (manufactured in Fort Wayne, IN) next to Pony Express Service Station/junkyard at Castle Rock.
Cross-country cyclists Buddy Rosenbaum and Bob Chase met up with the conference; here, Jan and Diane Rossiter (Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition) try out the Piaggio MP3s.
Day 3 featured speakers such as Mindy Crawford (above) discussing preservation issues plus:
• Todd Thibodeaux on Ezra Emery and Wyoming Good Roads;
• Chavawn Kelley on the LHA’s Austin Bement;
• John Waggener on the Medicine Bow Route;
• Heyward Schrock on Highway Architecture;
• John Clark on Automotive History in Utah;
• and Robert Rampton on the 1908 New York to Paris Automobile Race.
An AP article reports that rising gas prices this past weekend ranged from $3.39 to $3.95 per gallon — and that the two extremes were both along the Lincoln Highway. The national average price for regular gasoline rose 15 cents in the previous two weeks to $3.62 a gallon according to the Lundberg Survey of 7,000 stations nationwide released Sunday. That’s up 55 cents since 2008 began. The lowest price was in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where a gallon averaged $3.39. The highest average was in San Francisco at $3.95.
Above, a gas pump along the Lincoln Highway in Rock River, Wyoming. Photo by Brian Butko.
Click the map above for a full-size view of the Lincoln Highway.
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Cross-country cyclists Buddy Rosenbaum and Bob Chase met up with the conference; here, Jan and Diane Rossiter (Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition) try out the Piaggio MP3s.
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