The Lincoln Highway

The Lincoln Highway. America’s First Coast to Coast Highway. , The idea that America needed better roads did not originate with the invention of the automobile but with bicyclists known as “wheelmen”. Challenged by rutted roads of gravel and dirt and faced with antagonism from horsemen, wagon drivers, and pedestrians, more than 100,000 cyclists across the United States joined the League of American Wheelmen in 1880., In 1892, the league published Good Roads Magazine to further their cause, and within three years it reportedly had a million subscribers. Particularly notable and influential was a pamphlet published by the league, The Gospel of Good Roads: A Letter to the American Farmer (1891), which emphasized the ways in which better roads would serve farmers and make it easier to get crops to market, families to church, and children to schools. The following year a thousand people came together in Chicago and formed the National League of Good Roads., One of the first of the Good Roads highways was conceived in 1912. It not only promoted the idea of national tourism but also served to publicize the need for federal involvement in road building. Originally called the “Coast-to-Coast Rock Highway”, it was the brainchild of automobile enthusiast and entrepreneur Carl Fisher of Indianapolis, who manufactured automobile headlamps and whose automobile dealership was perhaps the first one in the United States. Fisher had made headlines the year before with another American institution – the brick paved Indianapolis Motor Speedway and its famed Indianapolis 500 automobile race., Encouraged by Henry Bourne Joy, President of the Detroit-based Packard Motor Car Company, they named the road “The Lincoln Highway” as the first national memorial 10 the 16th President, Abraham Lincoln., On July 1, 1913 these businessmen created The Lincoln Highway Association to promote the concept and by October of 1913, the Association announced the cities and states through which this memorial highway would run., In 1913, 180,000 cars were registered in the nation of 2.5 million miles, but less than seven percent were improved in any fashion. Most travel was in urban areas, with travel into the country being attempted in fair weather. Rain quickly turned country roads into thigh-deep mud ruts, making travel extremely difficult. Many travelers had to enlist the aid of a nearby horse team to extract them from the quagmire., The original route extended from Times Square in New York City for 3,389 miles to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, passing through 31 states (the route out of Pennsylvania was later routed into Ohio through West Virginia making 14 states) including Indiana. Although the route would not go through Michigan, the offices of the LHA would be headquartered in Detroit. Over time, the Lincoln Highway would be referred to as the “Main Street Across America” and with realignments for straightening the route, safety and the increased speed with which new automobiles could travel, the length of the road was shorted to 3, 142 miles., By the mid-1920’s, the Nation was crisscrossed by a network of approximately 250 named trails. Some were major routes, such as the Jefferson Highway, the Lincoln Highway, the National Old Trails Road, the Old Spanish Trail, and the Yellowstone Trail, but most were shorter. They had become a confusing tangle, often o routes selected more because of the willingness of local groups to pay “dues” to a trail association tha because of transportation value., The start of the federal-state joint highway effort began in 1916 with the passage of the Federal Aid Road Act. This Act provided funding for the improvement of any rural road over which the U.S. mail was carried. Because aid was provided only if states had a highway department capable of designing, constructing and maintaining designated roads, the Indiana State Highway Commission was established in 1919., Additional legislation over the next few years, along with the establishment of the U.S. numbered highway system, between 1925-1928, marked the completion of the main goals for the Lincoln Highway Association., In 1928, LHA ended its active promotion, but not before one last publicity stunt. The Lincoln Highway was officially marked and dedicated to the memory of Abraham Lincoln on September 1, 1928. On that day, at 1:00 p.m., groups of Boy Scouts placed approximately 2,400 concrete markers at sites along the route. They were placed on the outer edge of the right-of-way at each important crossroad, at minor crossings, ad at other intervals to assure motorists that they were on the right road. The signs carried the Lincoln Highway insignia, a bronze medallion (“This Highway Dedicated to Abraham Lincoln”) and a directional arrow., On the 25th anniversary of the Lincoln Highway, Carl Fisher said: “The Lincoln Highway Association has accomplished its primary purpose, that of providing an object lesson to show the possibility in highway transportation and the importance of a unified, safe, and economical system of roads…Now I believe the country is at the beginning of another new era in highway building (that will) create a system of roads far beyond the dreams of the Lincoln Highway founders. I hope this anniversary observance makes millions of people realize how vital roads are to our national welfare, to economic programs, and to our national defense…, To promote the Highway, the Lincoln Highway Association called on the patriotism of the people and their memory of Abraham Lincoln. For a five-dollar donation, one could receive a great-looking certificate to proudly frame. For one-dollar, you could get two large LH pennants to attach to your vehicle., Over ninety magazines and trade publications included frequent articles as well as advertising by auto manufacturers and tire companies that included references to the Lincoln Highway. Between 1940-1942, the Lincoln Highway Radio Show was broadcast on NBC and sponsored by Shinola Show Dressings., [Captions]: , Carl Graham Fisher , Jan. 12, 1874 – Jul. 15, 1939 , President of Prest-O-Lite (forerunner to Union Carbide) , Created the North-South Dixie Highway , Real Estate development of Miami Beach , Inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame 1971 , (Photo courtesy of the University of Michigan Special Collections Library), Henry Bourne Jay , November 12, 1864 – November 6, 1936 , First President of the Lincoln Highway Association , Son of James F. Joy of Michigan Central Railroad , Served in the Spanish American Wat / World War I , Stated that the Lincoln Highway was “the greatest thing I ever did”. , (Photo courtesy of the University of Michigan Special Collections Library).