by Janice Gammon | Aug 17, 2015
Summer has been a busy time along the Byway! I did make it to the Mahanay Bell Tower Festival in Jefferson and rode the elevator 120 feet up to the observation deck of the 14-story Tower. What a view!! It gave me a whole new perspective of the countryside and it was great to see the Lincoln Highway as a ribbon running through it. I also enjoyed the beautiful Thomas Jefferson Gardens and RVP~1875, where they make furniture with only hand tools. Its like stepping back in time and they’ll even show you what they are working on!
Another great tour is the Sawmill Museum in Clinton in the Lyons District on the north side of the city. Lyons was the name of the town where the first bridge linked Illinois to Iowa on the Lincoln Highway. Lyons is now part of Clinton. The Sawmill Museum has great displays of the history of the lumber industry in Clinton. It was a “must see” for me and I recommend it for all ages.
The annual Lincoln Highway Association conference was held in Ann Arbor, MI this year. Participants could tour downtown Detroit, the Packard proving grounds, and the archives at the Bentley and Hatcher Libraries at the University of Michigan. Detroit is not on the Lincoln Highway, but has deep connections to the auto industry and to the men who organized the Lincoln Highway and its route.
Another event, although held in Ankeny, did bring a focus to the the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway when the Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.) Rally had, among many rides, a featured ride to Marshalltown and then to Ames via the Byway. Prairie Rivers of Iowa set up a booth at the H.O.G. Rally and gave out information about the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway and the Byway program in Iowa. Motorcyclists are very interested in the 2-lane scenic views as their ride (journey) itself is often more important than the destination.
The most recent event I attended was the 101st Meskwaki PowWow held just outside of Tama. I enjoyed the music and dancing, native items for sale, and food vendors. I especially liked the Indian fry bread. Next time I’ll try it as an Indian Taco. Although they invited the spectators to come join in the last dance, I did not. I’ll do that next time as well! Pacing myself.
I am able to travel the state along the Byway and learn more about the communities and their history, strengths, challenges, and plans for the future. We continued the Corridor Management Plan community input meetings,having now held 15 of them across the state. By meeting many of the community leaders and members in each town, we have been able to gather insight into what the Lincoln Highway has done for their community and what it can do for them in the future.
Many communities and counties are working on future ideas as well such as the Story County Cornerstone to Capstone (C2C) project and the plans for the Nevada downtown streetscape. The Boone Historical Museums are partnering with the University of Iowa in developing their 4 museums. I have been working with residents and government officials concerning bridges in the city of Tama and in Linn County. A new Grant Wood mural has been painted on the side of a building in eastern Iowa. The overpass outside of Grand Junction will be replaced in the next few years. There are so many more projects and Ideas in different phases along the Lincoln Highway. It will be exciting to see them all come to fruition!
We are working on a baseline measurement of the economic impact of the Byway. If you are traveling the Lincoln Highway, please stop in one of these locations and fill out a survey about your trip: Sawmill Museum in Clinton, the Belle Plain Museum in Belle Plaine, Lincoln Cafe and Wine Bar in Mt Vernon, John Ernest Vineyard and Winery outside Tama, King Tower restaurant in Tama, Niland Cafe in Colo, Greene County Museum in Grand Junction, Mahanay Bell Tower in Jefferson, Cronk’s restaurant in Denison, the Harrison County Historical Village and Iowa Welcome Center in Missouri Valley, and the Union Pacific Railroad Museum in Council Bluffs.
There will also be a survey for residents to fill out and we should be rolling that out this fall, so stay tuned.
In the meantime, let’s get traveling the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway!
by Janice Gammon | Apr 20, 2015
John M. presenting in Grand Junction.
This spring, the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway’s Corridor Management Planning process moves forward into the Lincoln Highway’s many communities. We are holding a series of public meetings to introduce the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway, and the concept of a Corridor Management Plan, to residents around the state.
You may recall that a Corridor Management Plan (CMP) is a written document setting out a long-term plan for a byway and its important resources. The Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway’s original CMP was created before the Lincoln Highway was designated as an Iowa Byway, so it no longer reflects needs of Lincoln Highway communities and residents. The new revision of the CMP will reflect the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway as an active and thriving part of Iowa’s past and present heritage.
Upcoming public meetings are April 22 in Ames, April 23 in Toledo, April 25 in Marion, April 27 in Missouri Valley and Denison, April 28 in Carroll, and May 5 in Nevada. Please visit www.prrcd.org/cmp to find out details about the meeting time and location in your area.
State Center CMP meeting.
Previous meetings have already been held in State Center, Jefferson, Lowden, and Clinton. Local residents, Lincoln Highway Association members, elected officials, business owners, and others came out to share their ideas on the Lincoln Highway’s important assets and their dreams for what the Lincoln Highway could be in the future. Each meeting featured great discussions and we are very appreciative for the time and energy of all attendees. We will be taking all these ideas and developing priorities for the whole byway and for future activities in each community.
As always, to stay informed about the latest CMP activities in your community, sign up for our email list (visit www.prrcd.org/cmp and click the blue “sign up” button), email me at lincolncmp@prrcd.org, or call me at 515-216-4005. Looking forward to seeing you at a community meeting soon!
by Janice Gammon | Apr 17, 2015
The Iowa League of RC&DS received a Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) and a REAP Conservation Education Grant to create two interpretive panels for each Iowa Byway describing an employed conservation method. “The CIG program is a voluntary program intended to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies while leveraging Federal investment in environmental enhancement and protection, in conjunction with agricultural production”, according to the program’s website. “CIG enables the Natural Resources Conservation Service to work with other public and private entities to accelerate technology transfer and adoption of promising technologies and approaches to address some of the Nation’s most pressing natural resource concerns.”
Some of the sites that were considered for these interpretive panels along the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway were bogs, wetlands, prairies, and high tunnel towers. The location needed to be where travelers could pull safely off the road and visibly see the sign. It needed to be on or near a conservation practice site.
The two site selected along the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway were the Lincoln Prairie Park in Ogden and the West Beaver Creek, outside of Grand Junction, at the Lion’s Tree Park. The sign In Ogden educates the reader about the functions of a prairie and the importance of prairie plant root systems in filtering water. The sign at West Beaver Creek describes the effects buffers have on streams and the natural and man-made drains used to move water across (and under) the rolling landscape.
Both signs were tied to the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway through the use of the Byway logo, photo of a Lincoln Highway concrete marker at the Lincoln Prairie Park, and a photo of the many generations of bridges located near the Lion’s Tree Park outside of Grand Junction.
Signs will soon be in the fabrication phase and installed mid-to-late summer. The panels will be installed on a weathered steel base with cutouts of prairie grass or wild flowers. This is in keeping with the Interpretive Plan design created by Schmeekle Reserve from Stephens Point, Wi. The company is creating an Interpretive Plan for each byway.
An event will be held at each location after installation and we will unveil the signs. Thanks to Kevin Griggs for writing the text and Jessica Johnson for her design work on the panels.
by Janice Gammon | Feb 4, 2015
I live just off the Lincoln Highway Byway and travel on it daily. But how well do I know this important piece of history?
There was this new invention- the automobile- being produced and auto makers really wanted to sell their inventions. They needed roads for traveling and thought it would be pretty neat for cars to travel east and west across the entire nation. The Lincoln Highway began in 1913 as an assortment of existing wagon roads, turnpikes, and trails. The road started in Times Square in New York and ended in San Francisco, California.
The Iowa portion was dictated in part by how to cross two rivers- the Missouri on the west and the Mighty Mississippi on the east. Good bridges were identified in Clinton and Council Bluffs and “good roads” were sought to connect these two points. This often proved to be a challenge, because much of Iowa was boggy, spongy soil and roads often turned to mud. Iowa has many creeks and rivers to cross. But roads did exist as farmers needed to not only get supplies to their farms but their produce to market. These farm to market roads often led to railroad stations.
The original national plan for the Lincoln Highway was to create a “seedling” mile in each state. A mile stretch would be paved to show citizens and travelers how traveling could be improved with paved roads. Iowa’s “seedling” mile is just east of Cedar Rapids. Greene County also applied for federal aid to pave 6 1/2 miles extending equal distances from the county seat of Jefferson. These were the only paved portions in Iowa until 1924. As neighboring roads were improved, the alignment (route) changed. Maybe a mile or two north or south was in better shape or a better bridge was built. In 1920, a red, white, and blue band was painted on poles, fence posts, and rocks to show the traveler which way to go. On September 1, 1928, Boy Scout troops installed 3,000 concrete markers with bronze medallions at planned locations about one mile apart. Many of these markers no longer exist due to road construction, theft, and vandalism.
As Lincoln Highway travelers increased, many gas stations, eateries, and motels sprung up. It winds through many Main Streets. In a display I saw a long time ago, The Lincoln Highway was attributed to the birth of the family vacation.
Today, The Lincoln Highway today travels through 13 states. In Iowa, it travels through 13 counties. It crisscrosses Highway 30- the “new” road that mirrors the Lincoln Highway for the most part, but Highway 30 avoids many of the main streets that the Lincoln Highway connected. It is used for those interested in efficient travel time. I do use this road too. But for the most part, I like my “old” road, It has been designated a State of Iowa Byway- The Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway- and has great things happening across the state. I hope to share more about this great road in the future and as you travel it- look for the red, white, and blue signs with the big “L” on the white background. Travel it. Enjoy it. Be a part of history!
