About this group
What is the Lincoln Highway?
The Lincoln Highway was the first road across the USA. Actively promoted by entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, the Lincoln Highway originally spanned coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco through 13 states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California. In 1915, the "Colorado Loop" through Denver was removed, and in 1928, a realignment relocated th…
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What is the Lincoln Highway?
The Lincoln Highway was the first road across the USA. Actively promoted by entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, the Lincoln Highway originally spanned coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco through 13 states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California. In 1915, the "Colorado Loop" through Denver was removed, and in 1928, a realignment relocated the highway through the northern tip of West Virginia. Thus, there are a total of 14 states, 128 counties, and over 500 cities, towns and villages through which the highway passed at some time in its history.
The first officially recorded mileage for the entire Lincoln Highway was 3389 miles in 1913. Over the years, the road was improved and numerous realignments were made. By 1924, the Lincoln Highway had been shortened to 3142 miles.
Conceived in 1912 and formally dedicated October 31, 1913, the Lincoln Highway was America's first national memorial to President Abraham Lincoln, predating the 1922 dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. by 9 years. As the first automobile road across America, the Lincoln Highway brought prosperity to hundreds of cities, towns and villages along the way. Affectionately, the Lincoln Highway became known as "The Main Street Across America".
The Lincoln Highway was inspired by the Good Roads Movement. In turn, the Lincoln Highway inspired the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956, which was championed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, influenced by his experiences as a young soldier crossing the country in the 1919 Army Convoy on the Lincoln Highway.
Based in Detroit, Michigan in 1913, The Lincoln Highway Association (LHA) was established to "plan, promote, and sign the highway. The original LHA disbanded once the US Highway numbering system came into effect, but was re-formed in 1992 and is now dedicated to promoting and preserving the road.
Today, in some areas, the Lincoln Highway is still a road of it's own and can be dirt, gravel or brick, but for the most part you'll find it paved and easy to drive. In other areas, it's been replaced by US-1, US-30, US-50, US-40 and I-80, with US-30 being the longest partner to the LH.
As of 2012, the Lincoln Highway Assn finally put out an online map to the entire Lincoln Highway. You can see this map by visiting this link.
What's welcome here:
Photos from along the Lincoln Highway are welcome here. The highway, the sights, buildings, signs and businesses, the old and the new. Photos should be taken from the Lincoln, or within a few blocks of it. Your photos should be from a traveler's angle. (Let's say you live on the Lincoln and are having a backyard party, those photos wouldn't be on topic here. I think you get the idea.)
Epemera directly relating to the LH is also welcome here. (Postcards, brochures, pennants, maps, etc.)
Note: Photos of the "old rusty Cadillac" near Rochelle, IL should be directed to this group, as we already have enough shots of it here. Thanks!
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Group web address:
www.lincoln_highway.group.ipernity.com
Lincoln Highway
