Franklin Grove, Ill. (Photo by Michael E. Grass)
In June 2013, I embarked on a cross-country road trip to document the Lincoln Highway, the nation’s first transcontinental roadway. I’ve always loved road trips but before this trek, I never had actually driven from coast to coast. Since the Lincoln Highway Association was celebrating the road’s 100th anniversary, it seemed like a good time as ever to do my own Lincoln Highway trip.
Using the highway’s route as a general guide, my trip was also influenced by “American Road: The Epic Transcontinental Journey at the Dawn of the Motor Age” by Pete Davies, the various western explorations of John C. Fremont and Horace Greeley’s “Overland Journey” in 1859 from New York to San Francisco published in the New York Tribune.
I built a website, LincolnHighwayGuide.com, in an effort to document my east-to-west transcontinental journey and wrapped up posts — about 60 of them — this fall. But this is an ongoing project. I’ve gone back and revisited portions of the route, particularly in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Here’s a sampling of posts from my Lincoln Highway adventures …
- GETTYSBURG, Pa: “The Lincoln Highway from Philadelphia to Gettysburg“
- SHANKSVILLE, Pa.: “The Flight 93 Memorial’s Natural Harmony and Simple Beauty“
- PITTSBURGH: “Finding Pittsburgh BBQ and Motor History Along Baum Boulevard“
- LISBON, Ohio: “On the Road to Lisbon, Reminders of a Confederate Thunderbolt“
- WOOSTER, Ohio: “Discovering Atlantes, Hungarian Pastries and a Great Public Space“
- VALPARAISO, Ind.: “Beware of the ‘Socialist’ Roundabout in Valparaiso“
- STERLING, Ill. “Storm Dodging in Northern Illinois“
- ARCADIA, Iowa: “A Fine View ‘Extending in Every Direction as Far as the Eye Can Reach’“
- LEXINGTON, Neb.: “Seeing Rural Nebraska’s Demographic Shift“
- BRULE, Neb.: “California Is Over That Hill, Eventually“
- LONGMONT, Colo.: “Jack Kerouac (And Sal Paradise) Slept Here“
- WOLCOTT, Wyo.: “A Place to Appreciate the Power of Emptiness“
- BAKER, Nev.: “‘Give Me Solitude’ Among the ‘Grotesque’ Trees“
- SAN FRANCISCO: “Not Quite the End of My Trip“