Log cabin near Lincoln Highway closer to landmark status

Members of the Will County Historic Preservation Commission have voted to recommend landmark status for a cabin in New Lenox, Illinois, built in 1829. It is located about a half-mile southwest of the intersection of Lincoln Highway and Cedar Road.

Folsom, CA construction project yields its secrets

The reconstruction of Sutter Street in Folsom, California is yielding a variety of historical artifacts, including “parts of the Lincoln Highway,” which are being displayed in an exhibit at the Folsom History Museum.

Lincoln Highway on San Francisco TV

A local TV show in San Francisco, Eye on the Bay, will be airing an episode featuring the Lincoln Highway and many of its attractions in the Bay Area, on Monday, February 7 at 7pm on KPIX Channel 5.

Some of the featured locations include Attitude Aviation, EJ’s Cattle & Feed, Summit Garage, the Altamont Pass windmills, and Alameda County’s Mountain House.

The episode is also available online on Eye on the Bay’s web site.

12/4: Indiana chapter holiday gathering in Kimmell

The public is invited to the Indiana Lincoln Highway Association’s Holiday Gathering and House Tour at the Kimmell House Bed & Breakfast on the historic Lincoln Highway!

Kimmell House Inn Bed & Breakfast
1397 N US Highway 33
Kimmell, IN 46760

Saturday, December 4, 2010 at 2 p.m. EST
(pre-register by Wednesday, December 1)
Cost: $16 (includes entrée, beverage, tax, and gratuity)
Bring a friend!

This unique event includes food and drink; a tour of the historic rural property, which is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places; and auctioning of holiday gift baskets. Lincoln Highway merchandise will be for sale, and attendees are invited to share news from along the Lincoln Highway. An update on the Indiana Lincoln Highway byway application with INDOT will be given. Come join the holiday festivities in grand style and get acquainted with members of this non-profit organization that are working to preserve and promote the Lincoln Highway and bring economic development to northern Indiana! Casual attire. Antiques autos are welcome!

Please pre-register by December 1 by mailing a check payable to INLHA and mail to:

Indiana Lincoln Highway Association
402 W. Washington Street
South Bend, IN 46601

For more information, call (574) 210-6278 or go to www.indianalincolnhighway.org.

The association is delighted to hold this year’s holiday event at the Kimmell House Inn in Kimmell, Indiana. This unique historic property welcomes overnight and casual dining opportunities to travelers, and we are so fortunate to have it on the corridor.

This bed and breakfast, owned by Dean and Deb Stoops, is one of several bed and breakfasts along the Lincoln Highway corridor in Indiana. It is certainly a beautiful and unique setting for tourists and locals alike. The owners will provide a personal tour of the property to all of those attending.

Places like this lure tourists off the interstates to experience the wide variety of local people, food, and culture across northern Indiana. We hope the public will support the inn and our association’s mission.  The Indiana Lincoln Highway Association works to increase the public’s knowledge about America’s early auto highways and Indiana’s role in auto and travel history. These efforts bring tourism and economic development to northern Indiana.

So, come spend a bit of time in Kimmell, Indiana!

– Jan Shupert-Arick, President, Indiana Lincoln Highway Association

Introduction to Kimmell


Post card courtesy of Russell Rein

Kimmell is located Noble County, Indiana. The first county seat was in Kimmell, which was known as Sparta at the time. The town is located on the old Fort Wayne-to-Goshen Trail, which later became part of American’s first coast-to-coast auto highway, the Lincoln Highway, in 1913, and is now US 33.

Today, Gaerte Grain is the hub of rural Kimmell, with huge silos standing as monuments to this tiny town’s rural past and present. Once one of the largest distribution points in the nation for onions, old warehouses still line the tracks of the B & O railroad. Noble County’s soil made both onion and mint crops some of the country’s best. Popcorn was also stored and shipped from Kimmell warehouses, but today’s commodities are corn and soybeans.

Noble County is also home to the last remaining brick paver section of the Lincoln Highway in Indiana, just south of Ligonier.

Just to the south of Kimmell is the Kimmell House Inn, a stately solid brick Italianate mansion built in 1876. For more information and for driving directions, visit kimmellhouseinn.com.

Next California Chapter meeting: Sat 10/2

Saturday, October 2
12:00 noon

Original Mike’s Diner (in the back room)
9139 E Stockton Blvd #3
Elk Grove, CA 95624
(916) 686-8488

The first topic will be the lost two miles of the pre-1927 Lincoln Highway, between Arno and Valensin Ranch, presented by Mike Kaelin and Bruce McFarland. We will have a short field trip afterwards on parts of the old roads near Arno that are drivable.

The second topic will be preparations for next year’s national conference at Tahoe, by Paul Gilger, conference co-chair and chapter vice-president. Other agenda items will be announced by chapter president Norm Root and state director Bob Dieterich.

Members of the Wilton History Group, Elk Grove Historical Society, and Galt Area Historical Society will be joining us.

2010 Lincoln Highway Buy-Way Yard Sale: August 5-7

The fifth annual Lincoln Highway Buy-Way, a yard sale that stretches across hundreds of miles, will be held from Thursday, August 5 to Saturday, August 7. This year, five states are participating: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia. Here is more information on how to participate in the Buy-Way:

  • Iowa
  • Illinois
  • Indiana (currently no link)
  • Ohio
  • West Virginia (currently no link)

Next California Chapter meeting: Sat 4/10

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

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.