Lincoln Highway news in Ohio

Posted on by Russell Rein

From the DailyRecord.com – “Lincoln Way Elementary School gained distinction for its heritage on the Lincoln Highway Friday, earning a proclamation from the mayor of Wooster and an official replica of the historical markers that lined the original 1928 route.”:
http://www.the-daily-record.com/news/article/2387292

An article about the Lincoln Highway Buy-Way yardsale from CantonRep.com:
http://xrl.us/6xmh

“Buy-Way Sale a big hit in Crawford County”:
http://xrl.us/6xm4

Canton Lincoln Highway bricks preserved for the Great Platte River Road Archway Museum in Kearney, Nebraska:
http://xrl.us/6xk9

[Anyone have a semi to deliver these?]

and an update:
http://xrl.us/6xmw

The last half of this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article about the National Hamburger Festival is all about the Lincoln Highway Steel Trolley Diner in Lisbon, OH:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07196/801262-34.stm

CantonRep.com, July 31 contained the following letter:

With great interest, I read the article “Book traces the nation’s first coast-to-coast route” (July 23). My parents, Moses and Lydia Gingerich, with five children, made the trip in 1921 with a remodeled 1915 Model T truck on the graveled Lincoln Highway, Route 30, leaving from Bucklin, Kan., in Ford County near Dodge City. How often I would sit and listen to the story of their eight-day trip to Hartville, Ohio, patching tubes, driving on gravel roads and living in a remodeled small pick up truck. My Amish family, too poor to afford a train ticket, was advised to buy the pickup and resell it in Ohio. Precious memories for me – I was born in 1924.

John E. Gingerich, Lake Township

Tragedy at an on-grade railroad crossing in Bucyrus on the LH from the Ahnentafel Blog:
http://agnette.wordpress.com/

Lincoln Highway news in Pennsylvania

Posted on by Russell Rein

LHA PA Director Olga Herbert has been busy – read about her plans for the enhanced PA Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor HQ site, from the Pittsburgh Tribune Review:
http://xrl.us/6yrj

And the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor wins a 2007 Arthur St. Clair Historic Preservation Awards from the Westmoreland County Historical Society:
http://xrl.us/6ytm

Take a virtual drive on the Lincoln Highway care of PennDot – go to this site:
http://www.dot7.state.pa.us/ividlog/video_locate.asp

  • Accept at the disclaimer pager.
  • Make sure pop-ups are allowed in your browser and the Google toolbar if you use it.
  • Read the disclaimer and click on I Accept
  • Select your connection speed
  • At the 1st drop down, Pick a Search Site, select: PennDot Route
  • At the 2nd drop town, Select County, select: Bedford
  • At the last dropdown, Route, select 0030 Lincoln Hwy
  • Then click Go

There is a FAQ page if you are having problems or want more info:
http://www.dot7.state.pa.us/ividlog/ividlog_faq.htm

Brian Butko alerts us to the fact the Twin Hi-Ways Drive-In Movie theater, named for the Lincoln and William Penn Highways has reopened after 11 years:
http://www.twinhiwaydrivein.com/

And from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07193/801011-57.stm

Brian also sends us these stories:

Roadtrippin’ Blog features Lancaster to Pittsburgh:
http://xrl.us/6xe9

Bernie and Esther Queneau were featured in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article in July, Mt. Lebanon man recalls eventful 1928 trip along Lincoln Highway. My favorite quote from Esther: “I got the ultimate Lincoln Highway collectible,” she says, “a 1928 Boy Scout.”:
http://xrl.us/6xhh

and at:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07207/804382-55.stm

Esther writes to let us know about the Big Mac museum on the LH, from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07268/819157-37.stm

Read more about it and check out some pics at the RoadsideAmerica.com site:
http://xrl.us/6xqb

Checkout the wonderful website for the ice cream parlor – the Franklin Fountain in downtown Pennsylvania:
http://www.franklinfountain.com/

Color snapshots of the Grandview Ship Hotel at Suzy’s bloomers Blog:
http://xrl.us/6yqp

“York Sunday News columnist Gordon Freireich recently gave an absorbing tour of the Lincoln Highway – Route 30 – in and around Abbottstown and New Oxford” at YorkTownSquare.com:
http://xrl.us/6ysc

Jalynn’s Window on Nature blog has some pics of the LH near Schellsburg – A Very Scenic Drive:
http://xrl.us/6ysr

Great Thai Food in Amish Country at the Lemon Grass, 2481 Lincoln Highway, Lancaster. Read the review at:
http://xrl.us/6yvu

[barbeque and Thai are my favorite road foods – both are usually at least good or better]

Books on the Lincoln Highway

Posted on by Russell Rein

John & Lenore Weiss have a new books out about a triangle road trip in Illinois covering Route 66, the Lincoln Highway and the Dixie Highway. More information is at their website:
http://www.il66authority.com/
Read a review at Route66News.com.

Michaels Wallis and Williamson’s new book on the Lincoln Highway, and their cross country book tour generated a lot of publicity this summer.

The Lincoln Highway in the New York Times

Posted on by Russell Rein

The New York Times Archive 1851–1980 is now online, with many old articles scanned and accessible as PDF files. There are many articles on the Lincoln Highway starting with the 1912 Hoosier Tour. I created a search for the Lincoln Highway at the link below.

http://xrl.us/7cis

[You may need to create a free account at the NYT]

Reprocessing the Association’s archives

Posted on by Russell Rein

Kathleen Dow, of the Special Collection Library at the University of Michigan, which holds the archives of the original Lincoln Highway Association writes:

In addition to the completion of the Digital Image Archive, I also wanted to let you all know that I received a small grant (donated by a local businessman) to hire an archivist to re-process/re-house the papers of the Lincoln Highway Association.

As those of you who have used the 4 linear feet of correspondence, minutes, printed ephemera, and newsletters know, the papers definitely needed some attention. I’ve hired a UM grad student and she has started working on the archive; one of the first things she is doing is removing all of the acidic sheets of glassine that were interleaved between the documents. Not only will we end up with the papers more comfortably housed, but we will also have a finding aid or guide to the boxes. We will be able to mount this document on the web, which will be a great help to all of you conducting research. I will keep you posted as to the progress of the project.

Military Vehicle Preservation Association convoy

Posted on by Russell Rein

The Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA) will be sponsoring a 2009 Transcontinental Convoy to commemorate the 1919 Army Convoy on the Lincoln Highway. The Lincoln Highway Association (LHA) is partnering with the MVPA to provide assistance with this venture. You can read more about it at their website:

http://www.mvpaconvoy.org/

Lincoln Highway Postcards

Posted on by Russell Rein

In late August and early September 2007, WQED producer Rick Sebak, intrepid cameraman Bob Lubomski and the multi-talented Jarrett Buba are gathering material for a new PBS [TV] program on the history and enduring charms of America’s first transcontinental paved highway. Its working title is A RIDE ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY.

From the blog Lincoln Highway Postcards:

http://www.wqed.org/tv/natl/lincoln_hwy/blog/archives/4

[You navigate chronologically through this blog by clicking the underlined links with the arrows under the bridge pic]

Rick Sebak is a popular producer of public TV documentaries including ones on Pennsylvania Diners, sandwiches and ice cream. You can read more about Rick at the WQED Pittsburgh web site:

http://www.wqed.org/tv/pghist/sebak.shtml

President’s Quarterly Letter

Posted on by Jan Shupert-Arick

July marked the beginning of my term as your president. My connection to the road began before my birth when my father followed his Studebaker Champion down the line at the Studebaker Plant in South Bend, Indiana, and was allowed to drive his new car off the line. My childhood was filled with road trips in Studebakers, many of them along our road.

As an adult I have worked in the areas of education, history, preservation, and the arts. My professional career includes serving as the Education Coordinator at both the Northern Indiana Center for History in South Bend, Indiana and at The Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Both museum experiences placed me in the position of interpreting the historic Lincoln Highway.

It was exciting to share the history, but once I attended a Lincoln Highway conference, I was hooked. The members of the Lincoln Highway Association have the passion for preserving the road and that is what makes me stay the course. I am delighted to serve you and look forward to growing the organization along with a talented board and our new executive director.

This is a very exciting time for our association as we continue to promote and protect the historic Lincoln Highway corridor. David Hay, along with our past president, Bob Lichty, will begin to enter into a new discussion with Congress in hopes of gaining a national byway status for the Lincoln Highway. We believe the LHA is positioned to accomplish this task.

Many of you have worked tirelessly to achieve local, regional, state and national preservation successes and you know that a national designation for the entire corridor would be a grand achievement that would serve to benefit all communities along the route. Certainly this would be a timely endeavor as the nation begins to celebrate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth in 2009.

This effort will require grassroots support. Members, local communities, and state leadership will need to be involved at local and national levels as advocates for the designation. We thank you in advance for being a voice for the Lincoln Highway.

The board of directors and the National Office will roll out a number of projects over the next few months. You will be receiving information in the mail, via email (if you have provided your email address), and in the Forum. Please read and respond to these communications so we can move forward with good speed and direction. We will also be asking for your input. We care what you think, so take the time to share your thoughts with us!

In closing I would like to thank Bob Lichty and Gregory Franzwa for taking the time to assist in a smooth transition of leadership for the organization and a thank you to the 2007 LHA conference planning team for a job well done. Be sure to mark your calendars for Evanston, Wyoming in 2008 and for South Bend, Indiana in 2009. Remember to visit the LHA on the web at www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org.

Take care and enjoy the journey!
Jan