Winter 2022 California Chapter Meeting and Officer Elections THIS SATURDAY, January 15, 2022 Sign in starts — 12:30 PM (US Pacific Time) Meeting starts — 1:00 PM (US Pacific Time) Open to the public
The California Chapter of the LHA will have our winter meeting and officer elections online via Zoom. Chapter members without access to a computer or smartphone are still welcome to join us, but will need to ask family or friends to view the meeting on their computer or smartphone.
The meeting will begin this Saturday at 1:00 PM. The host will be chapter president Joel Windmiller and chapter secretary Paulette Johnston, with Jimmy Lin providing Zoom tech support.
Agenda
Officer and Committee reports
Officer elections
Updates on LHA National Conference for 2022 and 2023
The above photo from our fall 2008 Forum shows the Terminus at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. We know this photo is from after 1928 as The Boy Scouts placed the concrete terminus post all across the county in 1928. In 1917 a flag pole was erected to the memory of Betsy Ross, creator of the flag of the United States. We can see the pole and base in the photo above. Attached are two bronze plaques on the side facing the Palace. On the side facing us, the bronze plaque read, “END OF THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY.” In the 1970s, someone removed the flagpole and concrete base and lost the components, until now!
Our attentive members, located in the eastern part of the country, noticed this item for sale and notified our California Chapter of the LHA of its existence. I had the great honor to retrieve the object and save it for the Lincoln Highway Association. Gaze upon the beauty below.
The object is bronze and has been bent slightly on the right side due to being torn off the concrete in the 1970s. There are some etched scratches on the top left from what we believe was a back-hoe pulling it off the base. The bronze has taken on an aged patina since being exposed to the damp San Francisco weather between 1917 and the 1970s. This history makes the object the longest lasting of all the various terminus signs or markers placed at this location.
The photo on the cover of The Forum is seen above with an arrow showing the location of the bronze “END OF THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY” plaque. The bushes behind the flagpole are hiding the fountain, which still stands today. The shrubs have long since been removed.
We took the bronze plaque over to the replica concrete Terminus post, installed in 2002 by the California Chapter of the Lincoln Highway. While all the markers and signs describe this spot as the “Terminus” of the Lincoln Highway, the plaque is the only one that says’s “END OF THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY.”
Automobile tourists visited the Mountain Inn thirty-five miles east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the Lincoln Highway c.1920s. Imagine hopping into your auto and heading out of town into the country, all on your schedule.
With the Lincoln Highway dedication on October 31, 1913, towns along the way had huge celebrations like this one in Ohio. Imagine the fun! “Onion eating contest,” “nail driving race, for ladies,” and “The biggest torchlight processions since the days of the Civil War.” At this date, some of the attendees might have very well been alive to see those Civil War processions.
In the early days of automobile travel, various auto associations signed sections of the highway so the new”autoists” could find their way. In the above photos, we see the California Auto Association putting up some of our signs, likely in the early c. 1920s.
The photo above is a CSAA road sign department truck.
Autos headed east on the Lincoln Highway at Donner Summit c. 1920s. Notice the railroad snow sheds and the subway at the left. The highway wasn’t plowed until the 1930s. Locals in Truckee would hand dig and apply soot (black stuff on snow ) to help early melting.
If Amor Towles’s new novel, “Lincoln Highway,” has fired up your wanderlust and you want to learn more about the old road, check out this link to the author’s web page. Full of fantastic photographs and history of the highway. Check out this map which is featured at the beginning of the book.
The photo above shows Monica Pitsenberger, California Chapter, touching up a replica marker at Big Bend in the High Sierra of California. The Lincoln Highway Association (LHA) comprises members who are passionate about road history and seeing it preserved. When you join the Association, you will work with your state chapter to encourage markers and signs to be placed along your section of the highway.
Monica is painting an LH “L” on a bridge at Big Bend, CA.
Here in California, as with the other Lincoln Highway states, members petition local authorities to help recognize the highway. Often monuments and signs need repair or repainting, and it’s the members of the various chapters that get the work done. If you like to see history saved and even brought back to life, then the LHA is just the organization for you. You can join online here.
Fall 2021 California Chapter Meeting: Lunch on the Lincoln 2 Saturday, October 9, 2021 10 am–4 pm Lunch: MUST RSVP BY THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7 Open to the public
“In the Barn” at the home of Kristen Dieterich 1395 Orange Hill Lane Penryn, CA 95258 (916) 316-6254 Google Map
Directions: From I-80, take Exit 112 (Penryn Rd), and head north over the freeway. Turn right on Taylor Road (Old US 40/Lincoln/Victory Highways). Turn left on Sisley Road, just past the Valencia Club. Turn left on Orange Hill Lane. Street parking is available (look for parking signs).
Enjoy lunch along the longest section of intact 1916 Lincoln/Victory Highway concrete in Placer County.
10:00–11:30 Meet and Greet
11:30–1:00 Buffet lunch: MUST RSVP BY THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7
$15 per person Enjoy lunch in the barn or relaxing by the pond.
BBQ tri-tip and chicken
Green and potato salad
Bread, fruit, dessert
Water, soda, beer & wine
1:00–4:00 Meeting and presentation
Please bring a folding chair – only limited seating available.
Officer and committee reports
Signage and marker updates
Website updates
Presentation: Caldor Fire damage to the Lincoln Highway Pioneer Alignment
