LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
I’m catching up on some old articles, including this nice feature in The Quad-City Times of Davenport, Iowa, that recounts the story of the Lincoln Hotel along the Lincoln Highway in Lowden Iowa.
Beautiful Lincoln Hotel brightens Lowden, Iowa
January 21, 2013Lincoln Highway News is still lincolnhighwaynews
January 21, 2013LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
While all things should look similar, the “hidden” address of Lincoln Highway News has changed slightly. You’ll still find this blog at http://www.lincolnhighwaynews.com but the new “hidden” address is http://lincolnhighwaynews.wordpress.com.
The former address, http://brianbutko.wordpress.com, will now serve as the “hidden” address for my website, whose main address is http://www.brianbutko.com. The old version had become impossible to update.
Confused? Don’t be. Nothing has changed much except the behind-the-scenes addresses. I made a few minor tweaks, and about the only regret is the site visits counter had to start over.
So welcome to the same Lincoln Highway News!
Popular Joliet museum gets Lincoln Hwy exhibit
November 2, 2012LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The newest project by Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition is not a mural or gazebo, it’s an exhibit at the Joliet Area Historical Museum in Joliet, Illinois. The unveiling coincided with the first-ever Illinois Scenic Byway Week, recently designated by Governor Quinn.
The new exhibit offers striking graphics and vintage photos complimented by stories that convey the Lincoln Highway’s impact on America and its increasingly mobile society. A detailed map and a replica 1928 Lincoln Highway marker help visitors find the route on paper and on their next rip on the road. The Joliet Area Historical Museum is a popular jumping-off point for followers of Route 66 heading west from Chicago to the Pacific coast.
Poster Commemorates Lincoln Hwy Centennial
October 29, 2012LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
A new poster commemoratees the forthcoming centennial of the Lincoln Highway in 2013. The Merrillville-Ross Township Historical Society Museum of Merrilville, Indiana, commissioned Mitch Markovitz to create the evocative image.
An article at nwitimes.com explains:
“We started this project more than a year ago,” said Dan Kleine, the project manager for the poster commissioning and a member of the Merrillville-Ross Township Historical Society board. “The whole idea was to build awareness that the Old Lincoln Highway is 73rd Avenue, just outside the museum’s front door.”
In his oil-on-canvas painting that is reproduced as a poster, Markovitz of Knox, creates a scene from 1929 when the Lincoln Highway was a major thoroughfare that led to Broadway and then north to Gary and Chicago….
Jeff Blair, Indiana’s national director on the Lincoln Highway Association, traveled from Leesburg, Ind., to witness the poster’s unveiling.
“Last year, I walked the Lincoln Highway west from Ohio to Illinois for charity. Next May, I’m going to walk east from Illinois to Ohio and I’ll pass right by here on the first day,” Blair said.
The article claims that the poster shows a 1929 Ford Model T, which is impossible. More likely it’s a Model A, though just as perplexing is why the image is said to portray the LH in 1929, a year after the LHA ceased active operations. Perhaps it was to include a 1928 concrete post, but that too is in an incorrect orientation, i.e., not facing the road.
Carl Fisher featured on Lynwood IL mural
October 12, 2012LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The Village of Lynwood, Illinois, sports the newest mural in the Illinois Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor’s series that spans the 179-mile Illinois byway corridor. Lynwood marks the eastern terminus to the Illinois portion of the Lincoln Highway. The mural wasinstalled October 10, 2012, at 21490 East Lincoln Highway, on Lynwood’s Senior/Youth Center building.
ILHC works with artist Jay Allen (above, installing the mural), owner of ShawCraft Sign Company; every mural is a hand painted, unique work of art. Upon completion, the series will be one of the largest works of public art in the country. This mural depicts Carl G. Fisher, the “Father of the Lincoln Highway” and elements of his life that helped turn his dream of the first transcontinental highway into a reality.
For more information on the Illinois Lincoln Highway, places to see and things to do, stories of the highway’s significance and history, or to download an Illinois Lincoln Highway Visitor Guide, visit drivelincolnhighway.com. To see the mural larger, visit my Facebook page at facebook.com/groups/28162312417/.
The Lincoln Highway in Basin and Range
August 14, 2012LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
I’ve been meaning for more than half a year to post about an impressive, engaging, and informative blog. Grover Cleveland, via his ”Camera and Pencil in the Mountains,” has been regaling us with detailed trips along “The Lincoln Highway in Basin and Range, ” that is, across Utah and Nevada. sierratraveler.wordpress.com
The latest trips cover Fish Springs, the John Thomas Ranch, and what Grover calls Black Point, above, a few miles west of Fish Springs. I really appreciated the link to the 1859 report of Captain James Simpson, who explored the major wagon and Pony Express route throughout Nevada.
New Lincoln Highway mural for Batavia, Illinois
August 8, 2012LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
A new mural was placed in Batavia, Illinois, today as part of a series sponsored by the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition. The large works of public art stretch along the 179-mile Illinois byway corridor, in over two dozen communities. The latest mural is on the Batavia Floral building at 109 South Batavia Avenue. Artist Jay Allen, owner of ShawCraft Sign Company, created the interpretive mural series.
The Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition’s multi-site mural project showcases the history of the early highway, bringing the intriguing stories into people’s lives so they can recognize its impact on American travel and the communities. Visit drivelincolnhighway.com for more information on the Illinois Lincoln Highway, places to see and things to do, stories of the highway’s significance and history, or to download an Illinois Lincoln Highway Visitor Guide.
Lincoln Highway Buy-Way Yard Sale this weekend
August 6, 2012LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The 8th Annual Buy-Way Yard Sale along the Lincoln Highway starts this Thursday and runs through Saturday, Aug. 11. Started in Ohio, it has grown to include West Virginia and parts of Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa’s Lincoln Highway communities.
“If you are looking for it, it’s out there somewhere waiting for you to buy at a bargain price,” says Mike Hocker, executive director for Ohio’s Lincoln Highway Historic Byway. “This three-day BUY-WAY Yard Sale has not only introduced people from all over the country to the history of America’s first coast-to-coast paved roads, but it also provides an economic boost to the communities that participate, and it serves the thrifty side of all of us who find that bargain.” Visit www.historicbyway.com for more info.
Shelton Lincoln Highway Festival on Sunday
July 27, 2012LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The 15th annual Lincoln Highway Festival and Car Show is set for this Sunday in Shelton, Nebraska, which bills itself as the “Lincoln Hi-way Capital” of the state. As reported in the Grand Island Independent, festivities include a car show, antique tractor display, live music, and a photo contest on display at the Lincoln Highway Center. The festival is sponsored by the Shelton Historical Society.
Lunch served at the American Legion Hall will include sloppy joes, Polish dogs, chips, drinks, and pie. The United Methodist Men will be serving homemade ice cream at the north end of Main Street. Organizer Cyndy Ryan said a new addition to this year’s festival will be an antique tractor drive from Shelton to Gibbon and back.
100th birthday party honors Bernie Queneau
July 16, 2012LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Bernie Queneau, known to Lincoln Highway fans for his 1928 cross-country Boy Scout trip, celebrated his birthday Saturday July 14 with friends and family. An elegant dinner in Pittsburgh, Pa., included toasts and jokes ranging from his children to his young doctor. PBS’s Rick Sebak handed out DVDs of his Lincoln Highway program that includes the story of Bernie meeting LHA past-president Esther Oyster, and how that led to their marriage. A Powerpoint show by his daughter showed many fun times including the coast-to-coast trip.
