Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Map of the Week - The Lincoln Highway

Tomorrow Abraham Lincoln turns 200! In honor of his big birthday here is a Lincoln Highway Map of the Week.
When I was a little tyke in Levittown, PA we had a street map I'd stare at for hours at a time. I noted that the big road with the drive-in theater, ice cream place, Thom McCann shoe store and 7-11 was called the "Lincoln Highway". Years later when I drove past a section of the highway in Nebraska, I began to wonder if it was the same road. I'd heard talk about the highway running from New York to San Francisco and roughly parallel to Interstate 80. Must be another Lincoln Highway? That route would put you way too far north. Turns out the route is not so direct after all.

There have also been many branches and alignment changes so following the route is not completely straightforward.

About a week ago I walked into my living room and the TV was on with people talking about some very familiar places near Levittown. It was a documentary on PBS called "A Ride Along The Lincoln Highway" produced by WQED-Pittsburgh. Apparently this country is full of Lincoln Highway fanatics. The Lincoln Highway Association founded in 1913 while the road was first being developed is once again an active organization and even has a trading post for merchandise including maps, CDs, videos and collectibles. There is also a Lincoln Highway News blog as well as a blog by Rick Sebak the author of the documentary.
After immersing myself in all these highway facts I can see why all the fuss. The Lincoln Highway was the first road to cross the USA. It leaves New York via the Lincoln Tunnel and enters San Francisco on the Bay Bridge (formerly by ferry). They built these cool looking markers along the route. Where they couldn't place markers they use signs or even telephone poles.













Here is the marker at the western terminus in San Francisco - at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park.

Finally, in closing here is a 1924 highway map with the Lincoln in red. I find the alignments of some of the other blue roads to also be interesting. Thanks to the WQED documentary page for most of the above photos.

9 comments:

Ian said...

That's really interesting. Good job!

aditya said...

nice post

http://adityayudha.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I am reading this article second time today, you have to be more careful with content leakers. If I will fount it again I will send you a link

Anonymous said...

Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now. Keep it up!
And according to this article, I totally agree with your opinion, but only this time! :)

Dug said...

Thanks anon. The oldest posts were just e-mails I turned into blog posts. That's why they're not as good. I guess.

Anonymous said...

Is it possible to get a route map of the highway across the country? We live in CA and will drive to NY this summer . We would like to take the Lincoln highway but will need a map.

Dug said...

The problem is that the highway has not always followed the same route and some of it is now on the interstates. Your best bet is to look at the Lincoln Highway Association and their collection of state by state maps to plan your trip. Happy travels!