An original mid-1930s Lincoln Highway service station in Grand Island ,
Nebraska , continues in operation .
This post in San Francisco ’ s Lincoln Park marks the western terminus of the Lincoln Highway .
The post is nearly 3,400 miles distant from the eastern terminus in New York City ’ s Times Square .
Getting the Project Up and Running
To get the project off the ground , the Lincoln Highway Association was formed to raise funds to be matched by government . Theodore Roosevelt and Thomas Edison , both friends of Fisher , were early contributors , as was then U . S . President Woodrow Wilson . The majority of Association funds were spent for publicity which proved successful in that most work on the highway - much of which was a gravel trail - was funded and completed by government . The highway ’ s proposed
3,400-mile route through 13 states was announced September 14 , 1913 . New York City ’ s famed Times Square was a natural eastern base , while Lincoln Park in San Francisco was selected as the western terminus . The route would be altered and the distance decreased over the years .
Traffic was sparse during first few years after the highway ’ s completion , but journeys picked up after the Lincoln Highway Association began publishing a guide containing information about towns along the way . The guide also offered driving advice and suggestions for spare equipment to take along . Depending on the number and length of side-trips , the journey required from 20 to 30 days , assuming a ten-hour day at an average speed of 18 milesper-hour . By the mid-1920 ’ s numerous municipal campgrounds had been established along the route . These were followed by private cabin camps , also referred to as tourist camps or motor courts , on the edge of towns .
One of the final acts of the Lincoln Highway Association was designating a marker - a bronze head of Lincoln with the highway logo and a blue directional arrow - for the Lincoln Highway . On September 1 , 1928 , at 9 AM , three thousand concrete makers were placed coast-to-coast by members of the Boy Scouts at one-mile intervals along the highway ’ s original route . Some of these historical markers remain today to mark our country ’ s first transcontinental highway .
May 2024 | Valdosta Scene 33