Next California Chapter meeting: Sat 4/10

Posted on by Lincoln Highway Association

Saturday, April 10, 2010
12:00 noon
Ciro’s Pizza Cafe
241 Blue Ravine Rd.
Folsom, CA 95630
[Google Map]

Have you ever heard of the Chinese Diggings?
by Norm Root

The Chinese Diggings are a historical destination right beside the Lincoln Highway, located at the northwest corner of Folsom Boulevard and U.S. Highway 50, in southwest Folsom. The diggings are a group of narrow ditches about 18 inches wide and up to 30 feet deep, laid out in a herringbone format, which form a unique sluice box system for washing gold. The system was owned by the Natomas Gold Mining Company and worked by Chinese laborers.

The California Chapter of the Lincoln Highway Association was notified recently by the city of Folsom that the owners of the property have applied to build a four-story hotel on the property. Lloyd Johnson will lead us on a tour of the diggings following the chapter meeting. This part of the Lincoln Highway, Folsom Boulevard, is not on any of our normal tours, so we seldom get to see it.

During the meeting, Kell Brigan will tell about her ongoing research study of Routier Station, which is in this same area. Anyone who has photographs of Folsom Boulevard is encouraged to bring them to the meeting to share.

We will meet for lunch at Ciro’s Pizza Cafe, at 241 Blue Bird Ravine in Folsom, Saturday April 10 at noon. From the Folsom Blvd off-ramp from U.S. 50, head north on Folsom Boulevard. Turn right (east) onto Blue Ravine Road. Ciro’s is on the southwest corner of Blue Ravine and Prairie City Road. Turn right into the driveway off of Blue Ravine at the beginning of the right turn lane onto Prairie City Road. You can eat for $7.37 and up to more than $20. (Unfortunately, the advertised $6.99 buffet lunch is not available on Saturdays.)

Nominations for Preservation Opportunities list open

Posted on by Lincoln Highway Association

The Lincoln Highway Association is taking nominations for sites to be added to our Preservation Opportunities list, which will be used to draw attention to their plight. This list will be announced at the National Conference in Dixon, Illinois in June 2010.

Nominations are due May 1, 2010.

Spring events for Indiana LHA on 4/17

Posted on by Lincoln Highway Association

The Indiana chapter of the Lincoln Highway Association is holding its spring events in Warsaw and Winona Lake Saturday, April 17, 2010.

10:00 am
Lincoln Highway kiosk in Warsaw, IndianaWarsaw: Lincoln Highway Kiosk Dedication
The public is invited!
W Old Road 30 at 350 W

Join the Indiana Lincoln Highway Association and the Kosciusko County Historical Society at the Chinworth Bridge Trailhead for a dedication program and celebration of Warsaw’s Lincoln Highway heritage!

12:30 pm
Winona Lake: Lunch at the Boat House Restaurant and Geocaching
Reservations required

Enjoy this lovely location along the shore of Winona Lake and get geocache locations at closing of this event. The annual gathering of the Indiana Lincoln Highway Association will feature a kick-off of a high-tech Geocaching Adventure along the Indiana Lincoln Highway, updates on the Scenic Byway Application with the State of Indiana, and an annual auction-fundraiser. Enjoy Lunch on the shores of Winona Lake!

12:30 p.m. Browse displays and auction items
1:00 p.m. Lunch with guest speaker

Phil Worrall, Executive Director, Indiana Geographic Information Council, will kick off the INLHA Geocaching Project and entertain us with this new high tech adventure for Indiana’s Lincoln Highway! This project is funded through the Indiana Humanities Council and Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. Attendees will be given locations of caches at the end of this event – be the first to find a cache!

Updates on Indiana LH Byway application, special projects, and a live auction fundraiser!

Cost: $22.00 (includes entrée ordered from group lunch menu, beverage, tax, gratuity, and registration fee)

For reservations, contact Joyce Chambers at (574) 272-5374 by April 10.

Postal cancellation for the 2009 LHA conference available until July 18

Posted on by Lincoln Highway Association

[image of LHA stamp cancellation]Postal cancellations from the 2009 LHA conference are now available for a limited time. [View larger image]

Pictorial postmarks are available only for the dates indicated, and requests must be postmarked no later than 30 days following the requested pictorial postmark date, no later than July 18, 2009.

All requests must include a stamped envelope or postcard bearing at least the minimum First-Class Mail postage. Items submitted for postmark may not include postage issued after the date of the requested postmark. Such items will be returned unserviced.

To obtain a postmark, affix stamps to any envelope or postcard of your choice, address the envelope or postcard to yourself or someone else, insert a card of postcard thickness in envelopes for sturdiness, and tuck in the flap. Place the envelope or postcard in a larger envelope and address it to:

PICTORIAL POSTMARKS/Post Master
South Bend Station
424 South Michigan Street
South Bend, IN 46601

You can also send stamped envelopes and postcards without addresses for postmark, as long as you supply a larger envelope with adequate postage and your return address. After applying the pictorial postmark, the Postal Service will return the items (with or without addresses) under addressed protective cover.

Happy collecting!

WWI-era motorcycles to commemorate 1919 Army convoy at inauguration

Posted on by James Lin

On Jan. 20, the Wheels Through Time American Transportation Museum in Maggie Valley [North Carolina], will be making history once again — this time, participating in the 2009 Presidential Inauguration Day Parade. During the historic event, the museum will bring a small fleet of WWI era motorcycles to Washington to participate in a procession celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the transcontinental Army motor convoy on the Lincoln Highway in 1919.

Obama’s Eisenhower moment

Posted on by James Lin

Tom Lewis, author of Divided Highways, argues that we should learn the lessons from the story of how Eisenhower created and funded the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s and apply them towards Obama’s economic stimulus program.

[Eisenhower] knew firsthand the need for better roads. As a young lieutenant colonel, he traveled in 1919 over the Lincoln Highway in the Army’s first transcontinental caravan, a journey that lasted 62 days and sometimes required oxen to pull the trucks through mires of mud.

Tom Lewis, Eisenhower’s roads to prosperity, Los Angeles Times, December 26, 2008

Jersey City cops honor fallen colleagues

Posted on by James Lin

The Jersey City Police Department held a minute of silence in honor of police officers Robert Nguyen and Shawn Carson, who died in 2005 when they drove off the Lincoln Highway Bridge when the center section was raised. The bridge was renamed after the officers in 2007.

Replica apple truck to be put on display next to LH

Posted on by James Lin

Students from Franklin County Career and Technology Center are building a replica 1920 Selden apple truck, the kind used frequently almost a century ago in agricultural Franklin County.

According to Janet Pollard of Franklin County Visitors’ Bureau, the 1.5 scale truck, when complete, will be displayed somewhere along U.S. 30 as part of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor’s Heritage Giants project.