Lincoln Highway
- Thread starter Ragman
- Start date
Paying attention to history like this makes expeiting that much more fun and life on the road that much more interesting.
21cExp
Veteran Expediter
I started reading about it long time ago, when I bookmarked the Lincoln Highway DVD (actually three different Lincoln Highway items at that link), and would see the signs here and there around the country. Started reading about it again when Ragman posted the 100th Anniversary link, and realized a lot of it is US 30, which I have traveled a lot over the years.
Here's the Official Lincoln Highway Map: Official Map of the Lincoln Highway - Lincoln Highway Association
Another cool US highway, that I've done several times instead of sticking only to Interstate, is US 81, which runs along the old Meridian Highway, from the Canadian border in ND all the way almost straight down to Ft Worth TX. It's a great road, too, with a ton of history, like the Chisholm Trail.
US 50 is another really great road, coast to coast. Everytime I see the US 50 signs I smile, having traveled great lengths of it in past years in all kinds of modes of transportation, from hitch-hiking to bicycle to walking to VW bus.
I love these roads, and am glad Ragman started this thread, sparking some cool old memories for me.
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Who has done Route 66. We drove it from northern AZ. to MO. in may of 2000 rite before we started expediting. That was our last spring furniture trip to AZ. Did it in an Isuzu with a 16' box. We took the better part of a week to do it so we could enjoy the sites and things to do. Some places were great and then seeing the shape of others was sad but it was a memorable trip. We also took the time once and ran the loneliest highway in America. Even took the time to stop at the loneliest telephone booth. It was an interesting trip also.
21cExp
Veteran Expediter
**Raises hand** I've done long stretches of Rt 66. Most interesting, to me, is the stretch of Old 66 from Kingman to Oatman AZ...a very windy, narrow, precipitous, up and down road through desert, and scenic as all get out. You can just imagine the Dust Bowlers and others winding their way west.
Another cool, fun spot, is in Seligman AZ at Delgadillo's Snow Cap:
"Malts, Tacos, Burritos, Dead Chicken"
Great burgers too, actually, and great hand made shakes.
The old man is gone now, but his granddaughter is carrying it on. . . and does the same mustard string tricks and silly gags that he did. A great stop on an historic road.
Done long stretches of the Loneliest Road, too, through Nevada. A lot of it is US 50 that I mention above, and much of it follows the Pony Express route, if I recall correctly.
Not roads we normally get to do in Expediting, but sure are fun to explore when you can afford to.
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It is fun to trace this route with Google Maps. Talk about layering history!
The Lincoln Highway passes through Philadelphia and runs within a few blocks of Independence Hall. Follow it a bit further and find yourself in Gettysburg, PA. Think about the cars this road was build for and there you are, in the middle of the Industrial Revolution. Think about the workers who built their part of this road and realize that their experience was probably little different than that of a construction laborer today. Sure, they might have known that they were building something of historic significance, but it was also a job, not much different from all others. They did their work and moved on to the next project, probably unaware that people will be honoring their common labor 100 years hence.
Tracing this route prompts good feelings about America, and those feelings do not rise as frequently as they used to.
The ironic thing is that the people active in Independence Hall, on the Gettysburg battlefield and on the highway work crews likely did not feel as good about their deeds as we feel about them today. This focus on the Lincoln Highway leaves me with the happy thought that maybe things are not as bad as they seem in America today, and maybe the people who look back on the way we met the challenges of our day will be considered yet another positive development in this great country's history.
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purgoose10
Veteran Expediter
I used to love those places, the problem I had is having to stop and get those Home Made Milk shakes with the scooped up ice cream. One look and you can see I've stopped at a lot of them.
