iowa – Prairie Rivers of Iowa

A New Memorial to Lincoln for 2025

by Jeanie Hau | Mar 4, 2025

10 millionth Ford photo by Greene County Historical Society 2024

Hello from the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway- A National Scenic Byway and the Iowa Valley Scenic Byway. We have had an exciting year on the byways. The Ten Millionth Model-T Ford celebrated a 100-year Anniversary by trekking across the country and stopped at many of our beloved locations.

And who could forget the Big Boy Steam Locomotive No 4014 and Jay Leno jumping on to film an episode of Jay Leno’s Garage? How many of you were fortunate enough drive beside the Big Boy along the Lincoln Highway? So how can 2025 compare those exciting events?

On February 17^th, Presidents Day, the Union Pacific Railroad unveiled their newest commemorative locomotive. The Abraham Lincoln No 1616 – a symbolic tribute to the nation’s 16th president. The Abraham Lincoln Locomotive will, “travel the rails, serving as a traveling ambassador and participating in community events and education programs that highlight the historic role of railroads in American’s growth and its continued contribution to our country, communities and economy,” said Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena. Read the complete press release and see the limited edition poster.

The Abraham Lincoln No 1616 advertisement

Lincoln in Council Bluffs

In 1859, before our 16^th President was elected an Illinois State Senator, he made a trip to Council Bluffs to purchase land to use as collateral for a personal loan (17 plots between 9^th and 16^th Ave).

Lincoln and Dodge in Council Bluffs Iowa

While in Council Bluffs, Mr Lincoln met with General Grenville Dodge, a Civil War veteran who had moved his family to Council Bluffs. During his trip Dodge convinced Lincoln that the eastern terminus for the first Transcontinental Railroad should start in Council Bluffs and head west to the Pacific.

In 1862, President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act creating the railroad that connected the eastern and western United States.

postcard of lincoln monument in council bluffs iowa

In 1911, Council Bluffs built an obelisk Lincoln Monument overlooking the Missouri Valley west of the historic Fairview Cemetery where the meeting between Dodge and Lincoln took place.

More Memorials

In 1913, when Carl Fisher, Frank Seiberling, and Henry Joy were just finishing up the planning of the first improved Coast-to-Coast Rock Highway, they decided that naming the road after Abraham Lincoln would be both a tribute and would give great patriotic appeal to the highway. The town of Jefferson, Iowa was the first to build a statue of Abraham Lincoln along the new highway in 1918. Memorials to the president have since been plentiful across Iowa and the United States along the Lincoln Highway and now the Railroad!

Lincoln Locomotive Poster by the Union Pacific Railroad.

Iconic Lincoln Highway Bridge is Protected by Alternate Route

by Jeanie Hau | Jan 16, 2025

It is official, the City of Tama, Iowa, home of the iconic Lincoln Highway Bridge, has announced that they are going forward with an alternate traffic route of 5th St, thereby avoiding the historic bridge. Construction of the alternate route is to begin in April with work to be done by PK Construction. The route will curve around the bridge on the west and connect with Business 30 to the north. There will no longer be access to the bridge by vehicles.

The now iconic Lincoln Highway Bridge was built in 1915 by architect, Paul N. Kingsley, who became world renowned for his design talent. He designed the Tama bridge based on the slab bridge design by the Iowa Highway Commission. Instead of balusters, the decorative railing spells out the words, “Lincoln Highway.” It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in March 1978.

Architect plaque on Lincoln Highway Bridge Tama

The bridge was paid for by the citizens of Tama who were proud that the Lincoln Highway route went through their town and saw the design of the bridge as a way to advertise and distinguish their bridge form hundreds of others across the U.S. Long time Tama resident, Charles Betz, recently found a photo with additional local advertisements on the bridge railing.

Historic advertising photo of Lincoln Highway bridge

For over 100 years Lincoln Highway travelers and then enthusiasts from all over the world would drive over the bridge, stop to see it up close, and take photos. They have been known to ship their cars to New York, travel the entire Lincoln Highway route from Times Square to San Francisco, and then ship their cars home.

Historic Lincoln Highway Bridge in Tama, Iowa

The Lincoln Highway through Tama is also a farm-to-market road. For many years, residents, farmers, and truckers have travelled the Lincoln Highway through the town on this main route. Maintenance has been continuous over the last 100 years and the community continues take pride in their bridge. Tama-Toledo has adopted the bridge as their identity by using the image in welcome signs on Hwy 30, in their town logo, with a small replica at city hall, and the annual Bridge Festival in May.

The existing bridge can no longer hold the load of vehicular traffic. With the alternate traffic route for 5th St avoiding the bridge, the future of the concrete bridge continues to be hopeful.

Motor Convoy on Lincoln Highway bridge tama

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway A National Scenic Byway

A core team of stakeholders has been assembled to discuss a future resolution for the bridge. Thank you for your support and patience on this important part of the Lincoln Highway story as we gather more information and work through details and educated options. In the meantime, I will see you on the byway!

Iowa Valley Scenic Byway Iowa Prairie Rivers of Iowa

The Iowa Valley Scenic Byway Audio Tour App Now Available

by Jeanie Hau | Jan 16, 2025

The Iowa Valley Scenic Byway Audio Tour has a long history. Created in 2018, byway travelers could call a phone line, listen to Spotify recordings, read a companion booklet, and follow the essential map to find the History, Curiosities, and Rural Stories found in the Iowa Valley.

Enter 2025, and the Audio Tour “App” is ready to direct travelers from their car to the locations at the 40 stops in the 18 plus communities. We are still using the same provider, however Oncell (seen on the brochure) is now Stqry.

To access the App, your phone or tablet only needs a browser as this tour is not yet available on Apple or Google platforms. Simply type in this address in your search engine: http://iowavalleyscenicbyway.stqry.app and open the site. Then use the share icon to save the site to your home screen. Now you can open the site by clicking on the logo icon that is now on your home screen.

When you enter the tour, you begin on the map with the tour stops numbered. Enter into a tour stop and explore the photo gallery, listen to and/or read the audio tour, find more information and directions! Make sure you allow the site access to your location when you are asked so that Google maps can get you there.

Some links that can be found under the “More Information” include but are not limited to the stop’s website or Facebook presence, articles written about the location, links to the town to find events, nearby activities and places to eat (still in development). You can also view historic and current photos and even videos or oral histories. A rolle bolle video can be seen on the Victor stop and a link to the Rolle Bolle booklet. The tour information is in need of an update so there will be changes and additions to the app from time to time and a new brochure will be printed this spring. If you have any additional information or changes, please let me know!! With additional funding, we do hope to have a downloadable app in the future.

Four-lane Highway 30 finally connects Ames, Cedar Rapids by Jeff Morrison

by Jeanie Hau | Nov 27, 2024

Hwy 30 road construction photo by Jeff Morrison

A vehicle passes a construction crew picking up traffic cones on eastbound U.S. Highway 30 near the Iowa Highway 21 exit north of Belle Plaine, Iowa, Tuesday, October 15, 2024. The segment of U.S. 30 between Iowa 21 and County Road V44 was the last in a nearly 150-mile-long span to open to four lanes. Photo by author.

Now that Thanksgiving, the traditional end to Iowa’s construction season, is here and gone, it’s time to reflect on a big highway milestone that passed with zero fanfare. In fact, its exact date could have gone unknown had the author not been driving to Des Moines at the right moment.

On Oct. 15, the final restrictions were lifted on U.S. Highway 30 in western Benton County. A 142-mile-long segment between Ogden and Lisbon is now an uninterrupted four-lane road. It’s been a long, long time coming — six decades, as a matter of fact.

Let’s switch off the lights and show an educational filmstrip.

The 16-minute movie from the Iowa State Highway Commission in 1960 was a key component in the state’s public relations strategy for a critical section of U.S. 30. From Ogden east to Iowa Highway 330, the rural highway had not been changed since original 18-foot-wide paving in the Lincoln Highway days. A concrete railroad overpass just east of Nevada dated back to 1923. (It would not be replaced until 1973. A narrow underpass a couple hundred yards away remains to this day.) While we now can appreciate the wide array of car makes and colors in the film, the volume of traffic was an important visual aid to pushing for an all-new road that skirted Ogden, Boone, Ames, Nevada, Colo, and State Center. At the time, the proposed relocation was mostly two lanes.

The campaign worked. By the end of 1964, an all-new road existed along the 55-mile corridor except, ironically, for the highest-traveled segment: Lincoln Way through most of Ames. This segment got bogged down in an argument among the Highway Commission, the city, and Iowa State University on whether, and where, to build an exit south of the university. At one point the plan for the U.S. 30 freeway did not include the single most important entry/exit point for Iowa State events. Although by 1966 the kernel of the idea of the Iowa State Center had been planted, Elwood Drive was “presently a gravel road” (Ames Tribune), Hilton Coliseum would not open for another five years, and the football stadium for another four years after that.

Hwy 30 Ogden to Lisbon
Iowa Highway Ends/Between Two Rivers

The Ames bypass would not be finished until nearly a decade after the rest of the new road had opened — fall 1972. Wrapping up the connection on the west end was prolonged after weather delays including the blizzard of April 8-10, 1973.

Through the turn of the century, only about a third of the 100 miles between I-35 and I-380 were upgraded, mostly south and west of Cedar Rapids.

A photograph of a page from a May 1968 plan shows a proposed four-lane U.S. Highway 30 in Benton County that, in the eastern half of the county, would have dipped half a mile south of the existing road. When U.S. 30 was upgraded to four lanes east of the U.S. Highway 218 junction in 1992 and 1999, it followed the existing road instead. To the west, in the segments that opened in 2024, the four-lane is just a few hundred feet south of the original.

The Highway Commission laid out a comprehensive plan in 1968 envisioning a full statewide network of freeways and expressways — and then the 1970s happened. A substantial percentage of the 1968 network would not be built until between 1994 and 2008 — and then the Great Recession happened.

Midway through that latter time span, a projected funding shortfall put U.S. 30 on the back burner. Other long-awaited corridors received priority instead.

If the state’s plan from 1999 had been carried out, the gap from Marshalltown to U.S. 218 would have been closed by 2005 and finished in eastern Linn County shortly thereafter. Instead, it took until 2024.

A very small ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the U.S. Highway 30 Tama-Toledo bypass at the west end of that bypass August 13, 2011, in Toledo, Iowa. The four-lane road is the fourth alignment of the highway here since 1926. Photo by author.

It’s been more than 10 years in coming, but the Iowa Department of Transportation has marked the beginning of the Highway 30 Mount Vernon/Lisbon bypass project. … Many project specifics — such as cost and the exact bypass route — won’t be determined for some time. Construction is at least five years away.
— Cedar Rapids Gazette, Aug. 27, 1999

The U.S. 30 bypass of Mount Vernon/Lisbon from west of Wilcox Road in Linn County to Charles Avenue in Cedar County will be open to traffic late Friday afternoon, Nov. 22, weather permitting … .
— Iowa DOT press release, Nov. 18, 2019

The "Bohemian Alps" of Iowa near Tama and Belle Plaine

Tama County’s “Bohemian Alps” before 4-land Hwy 30. Photo by Prairie Rivers of Iowa

The final section had to cut through Tama County’s Bohemian Alps. These rolling hills are why the Lincoln Highway originally dipped southward to Belle Plaine. It made for a scenic drive whenever you weren’t trailing a semi, but that wasn’t often.

This segment of U.S. 30 has a relative rarity for Iowa travelers: 45 miles and no gas stations (or restrooms). The route had once been peppered with them, including the historic Youngville station, which was at risk of being demolished in the 1990s but has been preserved. Cedar Rapids Gazette columnist Dave Rasdal wrote about the lack of stops in 1994. The gas station at the Luzerne corner (County Road V44) closed a few years after a manager was shot and killed there. Today, for a fill-up visible from the highway, there’s nothing between Toledo and southwest Cedar Rapids.

Youngville Station when the Lincoln Highway/Highway 30 was the main east-west route across Iowa and after restoration and now accessed by exiting the 4-lane Highway 30 at Highway 218 west of Cedar Rapids.

The dream of a full four-lane U.S. 30 across Iowa refuses to die. In the last legislative session, there was a bill that took a non-nuanced approach to make the Iowa Transportation Commission “prioritize” the road and “expand all portions of the highway … until the entire length of the highway is made up of four-lane divided roadways.”

The new U.S. 30 can serve as a relief route for I-80 and provide a smooth ride from Cedar Rapids to Ames or Des Moines. The entire corridor provides drivers with a hassle-free trip…

…until the Iowa DOT puts at least one and maybe up to three roundabouts on the south side of Boone.

My other work can be found on my website, Iowa Highway Ends, and its blog.

–Jeff Morrison

Between Two Rivers

Books for the byways

by Jeanie Hau | Oct 16, 2024

Hello byway readers!

The theme for the Iowa Byways newsletter last month (be sure to sign up if you haven’t already) was “Books on the Byway.” I definitely did not have room to list all of the books that I found on the topic of The Lincoln Highway! I also realized that I don’t even have a complete “list” for either the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway or the Iowa Valley Scenic Byway. We were also given the option to list where to buy books on the byways or where to enjoy reading books while on the byways. With approximately 43+ communities on the Lincoln Highway in Iowa, that would be a task for our tiny newsletter and even this tiny blog!

What I will do is tell you about some of the newer books that are on my reading list. I will give you the local bookstores that I found and let you find your own favorite café or park to read in!

Check out our Lincoln Highway Activity Guide, our Lincoln Highway Recreation and Camping Guide, and our Iowa Valley Resources Map for ideas of places to enjoy a byway book.

Iowa Valley Scenic Byway Map and Resource Guide

The best recently published book about the Lincoln Highway is After Ike: On the Trail of the Century-Old Journey that Changed America. Author, Michael Owens provides a narrative for the First Transcontinental Convoy of 1919, as he crosses the same route in modern times (2022). Everyone should grab this book and read it before the documentary comes out in 2025. I have seen an early viewing of the documentary at the Lincoln Highway Association’s Annual Conference. The documentary does a wonderful job of portraying the historic highway and includes a favorite cast of characters from the Lincoln Highway Association.

FAA142B69BB0CE68D887D061759C347C688B476A

The book that I am most excited about reading is Eric Steven Zimmer’s Red Earth Nation: A History of the Meskwaki Settlement (2024). Located in Tama County, Iowa, the Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa, is known as the Meskwaki Nation, or the “People of the Red Earth.” The Meskwaki Nation purchased an 80-acre parcel of land along the Iowa River in 1857. That parcel has grown to more than 8,000 acres. Zimmer spent ten years writing this book to be certain that he got it right for the Meskwaki Nation. Through the Iowa Meskwaki Nation’s story, he explores the #Landback movement of Native nations.

Back Roads and Better Angels: A Journey into the Heart of American Democracy by Francis S. Barry (2024) focuses on a man and his wife who take the ultimate RV trip across America along the Lincoln Highway. Barry uses Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War as a guide to gain insight on Americans today amidst recent political divisions. I am hoping that this book is inspirational to a point that it can propel me through the 560 pages.

The Worldly Game: The Story of Baseball in the Amana Colonies by Monys A. Hagen edited by Peter Hoehnle

The newest book to be published about the Amana Colonies that I am looking forward to reading is The Worldly Game: The Story of Baseball in the Amana Colonies by Monys A Hagen, edited by Peter Hoehnle, published by Penfield Books (2024). When baseball was first introduced to the Colonies, the elders deemed the sport forbidden (verboten). With little else to do in their free time, the game quickly became the most popular sport of the seven Amana Colonies. Then the automobile was introduced to the colonies and the communities were suddenly introduced to the world. Baseball’s popularity dwindled.

The Iowa Baseball Museum of Norway located north of the Amana Colonies would be a great stop to get the full experience of this book.

The Lincoln Highway in Iowa: A History by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby (2023).

The Lincoln Highway in Iowa: A History is a recent book by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby (2023). I must admit that I have this book but that I haven’t read it all the way through yet. It has functioned more as a source book for me to find an interesting place or story. Which makes it a great glove compartment book for a trip on the byway.

Brian Butko has written several books on the Lincoln Highway and kept an awesome Lincoln Highway blog from 2007-2022. I recently purchased his, The Lincoln Highway ~Photos Through Time (2013). The book I (and every byway traveler) is looking forward to most by Brian is, Scouting the Lincoln Highway: Adventures on the 1928 Safety Tour in an REO Speed Wagon. And honestly, I am full of anticipation for his first novel, The Quarry, described as “a haunted historical mystery.” Will a certain historic highway be mentioned?…

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles German

Speaking of fiction, there is one little book that has brought much attention to the Lincoln Highway. That is a not-so-little book by Amor Towles, The Lincoln Highway (2021). And… there is a movie in the works! Towles is an expert storyteller and although I haven’t read this one yet, I am a huge fan of his style. His story twists can change the view of what a story is really about. Talking about exposure, I just found out that the book has been printed in Spanish, Swedish, Italian, German, and Chinese.

Another fiction book that I found with a setting of the Lincoln Highway is, Niland Corner, by Paul Berge (2021). Berge is an aviation writer and this quick little story is sure to put a smile on your face as the story weaves around the Niland Corner.

The last book I will talk about here is An American Songline: A Musical Journey Along the Lincoln Highway by Cecelia K Otto (2015). What a concept this book is based on! Cece traveled the Lincoln Highway (all of it) and gave concerts of vaudeville-era music in every state she passed through. The book follows her journey bringing music and history together. Oh yes, and there is a CD of the music you’ll need also!

Here are the locally owned book venues that I was able to find on the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway . Send me the ones that I missed!

Dog-Eared Books in Ames

The Book Shoppe, Inc. in Boone

Swamp Fox Bookstore in uptown Marion

Next Page Books in Historic New Bohemia in Cedar Rapids

Next Page Books New Bohemia Cedar Rapids Iowa

Along the Iowa Valley Scenic Byway I was able to find:

Amana Heritage Society Museum is the go-to place for books on the history of the Amanas.

Bumble Books in downtown Amana is taking on the environment by specializing in Print-On-Demand books by independent authors, they also sell new and used books.

Fireside Winery, just outside of Marengo, has a novel new Storyteller book club at the winery! They order their books from Dog-Eared Books in Ames!

Let me know what books you are reading for the byways.

Let me know where you get your books on the byways.

And let me know where your favorite place to read your byway book is.

A little piece of useless information about me:

Drake Hokanson’s 1988 book was a book I picked up back in 1989,

I didn’t know then what propelled me to do so….

See you on the byways!

Add to my book lists below!

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway: This list includes Iowa specific books but does not include other state specific books that exist. Available at Lincoln Highway Trading Post: Buy here first to support the Lincoln Highway Association. If they do not have your book check your local bookstore as they can order and ship to you if the book is still in publication. Thrift sites may have a book that is out of publication.

Scouting the Lincoln Highway: Adventures on the 1928 Safety Tour in an REO Speed Wagon by Brian Butko, Not published yet

Red Earth Nation: A History of the Meskwaki Settlement by Eric Steven Zimmer, 2024, 358 pages

Back Roads and Better Angels: A Journey into the Heart of American Democracy by Francis S. Barry, 2024

Lincoln Highway: Discover America’s Forgotten Main Street by Publications International Ltd., 2023; 144 pages

The Lincoln Highway in Iowa: A History by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby, 2023; Iowa

After Ike: On the Trail of the Century-Old Journey that Changed America, Michael S. Owen, 2022; 224 pages; available at Trading Post

Greetings from the Lincoln Highway: A Road Trip Celebration of America’s First Coast-to-Coast Highway by Brian Butko (Centennial edition w/revised text and new images 2013, 2019) (3 total editions)

Ford Model T Coast to Coast: A Slow Drive across a Fast Country by Tom Cotter, 2018; 224 pages; available at Trading Post

An American Songline; The Book: A Musical Journey Along the Lincoln Highway by Cecelia Otto, 2015; 309 pages; available at Trading Post

Across the Continent by the Lincoln Highway by Effie Price Gladding, 2015; 120 pages

The Lincoln Highway: Photos Through Time, Brian Butko, 2013; 136 pages; available at Trading Post

Lincoln Highway Companion: A Guide to America’s First Coast-To-Coast Road, by Brian Butko, 2009; 193 pages

America’s First Highway by Greg Roza, 2009; ages 9-12; 32 pages

The Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast from Times Square to the Golden Gate by Michael Wallis and Michael S. Williamson, 2007; 304 pages

Lincoln Highway: The Road My Father Traveled by D. Lowell Nissley, 2006; 212 pages

American Road: The Story of an Epic Transcontinental Journey at the Dawn of the Motor Age by Pete Davies, 2002; 274 pages

All the Way to Lincoln Way: A Coast to Coast Bicycle Odyssey by Bill Roe, 2000; 192 pages

The Pacesetter: The Untold Story of Carl G. Fisher by Jerry M. Fisher, 1998; 440 pages

Link Across America: A Story of the Historic Lincoln Highway by Mary Elizabeth Anderson and Randall F Ray, 1997; ages 7-13; 52 pages; available at Trading Post

The Lincoln Highway: Iowa by Gregory M. Franzwa, 1995; 187 pages Iowa

The Lincoln Highway: Main Street Across America by Drake Hokanson, 1988; 256 pages

The Lincoln Highway: The Story of a Crusade That Made Transportation History by Lincoln Highway Association, reprint of 1935 edition (reprints: 1995, 2018, 2022); 396-204 pages

The Complete Official Road Guide of the Lincoln Highway, reprint of 1924 edition (5^th Edition); 566 pages; available at Trading Post

The Complete Official Road Guide of the Lincoln Highway, reprint of 1916 edition (2^nd Edition)- print on demand with a leather cover through Walmart

The Complete Official Road Guide of the Lincoln Highway, reprint of 1915 edition (1^st edition of 5 editions); 160 pages

Pan-Pacific International Exposition Miniature View Book by Robert E. Reid, 1915; 66 pages; available at Trading Post

Hints to Transcontinental Tourists Traveling on the Lincoln Highway by FH Trego, reprint of 1914 edition; 12 pages; available at Trading Post

Lincoln Highway: Route Road Conditions and Directions by FH Trego, reprint of 1913 edition; 32 pages; available at Trading Post

Fiction: The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, 2021

Fiction: Niland Corner by Paul Berge, 2021 Iowa

Iowa Valley Scenic Byway:

Red Earth Nation: A History of the Meskwaki Settlement by Eric Steven Zimmer, 2024

The Worldly Game: The Story of Baseball in the Amana Colonies by Monys A. Hagen, published by Penfield Books, 2024.

A Change and A Parting: My Story of Amana by Barbara Selzer Yambura and Eunice W. Bodine, 2022; 264 pages

A Century of Amana Life: Echoes of Elise by Jeremy H. Berger, 2020; 297 pages

Amana Colonies, Iowa, Images of America, 1932-1945 by Peter Hoehnle, 2016; 130 pages

The Inspirationists, 1714-1932 by Peter Hoehnle, 2015; 374 pages

The Amanas Yesterday by Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret, John Zug, 2013, 48 pages

German Recipes Old World Specialties and Photography from the Amana Colonies by Sue Roemig Goree and Joanne Asala, 2013; 128 pages

The Amana People: The History of a Religious Community by Peter Hoehnle, 2003; 96 pages

Village Voices, Stories from the Amana Colonies by Various Authors published by Free River Press, 1996

Ghost of the Amana Colonies by Lori Erickson, 1988; 172 pages

Amana Colonies by Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret and John Zug, 1985 (2^nd Edition)

Amana Today: A History of the Amana Colonies from 1932 to the Present by Lawrence L. Rettig, 1975; 249 pages

Historical Fiction by Melanie Dobson: Legacy of Love Series books 6 & 7: The Society, 2020; 320 pages and The Stranger, 2020; 299 pages

Historical Fiction by Judith McCoy Miller Home to Amana Series and Daughters of Amana Series, 2010-2014

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