Barn Charm - Horse Barn with Basketball Hoop

This horse barn is located north of the Lincoln Highway between Cedar Rapids and Mount Vernon, Iowa. I photographed the barn in February as it stood out from the bleak browns of winter. Perhaps I should return and get a Spring look.

Union Pacific 8044 Passes Through Mount Vernon, Iowa

Union Pacific Railroad's locomotive 8044 rolls eastward through Mount Vernon, Iowa a few weeks ago. From top of the original Lincoln Highway bridge, which is now restricted to pedestrians only, you can get close to rail traffic complete with an aerial perspective. On this day 8044 pulled metal ingots, scrap, tankers, and a lot more. On again/off again talk of adding a third line to accommodate additional freight traffic continues.

George Preston's Lincoln Highway Gas Station

Along the famous Lincoln Highway in Belle Plaine, Iowa is a former gas station and motel once owned by George and Blanche Preston. Over the years they collected signage for gas stations, gas pumps, motor oils, gasoline, tires and other related motoring brands. Collectively the area of interest is called Petroliana.

George died in 1993 and his wife Blanche died in 1998. George appeared on the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson during March 1990.

I don't know the status of these structures but the buildings are still mentioned in area tourism articles. Last summer Iowa's DOT posted signs along the original Lincoln Highway and its many re-configurations to guide modern motorists along America's first transcontinental road. If George was still alive I bet these new signs would find themselves among his collection. Know that.

Photo Study of the "Old" Lincoln Highway Bridge

In my last blog post two barn photographs were featured along a segment of the original Lincoln Highway route through Linn County, Iowa. A portion of that original route remains unpaved and runs from the present Lincoln Highway northward to Marion, Iowa, just a few miles away.

Today this original section is known as Bloomington Road, and is typical of Iowa gravel roads - and probably a step-up from the original gravel roads that constituted the Lincoln Highway. Coincidentally the county's first Seedling Mile (concrete poured section of the highway used to demonstrate the viability of hard surface roads) was located just a few miles from this bridge location. 

Bloomington Road crosses a creek via an old, rusting iron bridge. I haven't found much information about this bridge (yet) but it makes an interesting photography subject - especially during low sun angles. Seen in the middle image is the red barn featured in the last post. Both bridge and road remain in good shape considering their three phases of automotive use; the initial county gravel road, then part of a nationwide route known as the Lincoln Highway, and finally the present status of a simple road again long after the highway was straightened in Linn County.

Old and New Along Original Lincoln Highway in Linn County, Iowa

Along a portion of the original Lincoln Highway in Linn County, Iowa, where the old gravel road veers from today's paved Lincoln Highway motorway, is an iron bridge flanked by two farm buildings either side of it.

Sidenote: The original Lincoln Highway was not a straight line bisecting the county as it does today. Back in the day the highway took a northwest route shortly after traveling west from Mount Vernon. The old route went on to Marion then aimed southwestward toward Cedar Rapids. About a decade later this route was streamlined twice, finally settling on its current path. A story for another day. 

These two barns, separated by a pasture and creek, have something in common - metal roofing and exterior. The top barn is much newer than the white barn but each can boast a stainless steel skin that still looks pretty good today. If the sky is clear, around 4 PM local time the setting sun produces golden light (actually its quite stunning) that is ideal in capturing these structures.

Original Lincoln Highway Posts Still Present in Linn County, Iowa

The Lincoln Highway bisects 42N country's Linn County. Here in Lisbon, Iowa is one of three original concrete posts left in the county with a bronze colored profile of old Abe and the red, white, and blue color scheme that identified the road with the big "L."

East Main Street in Lisbon, like many other Lincoln Highway communities has posted historic route signs along the route. Other cities have painted telephone poles or fly flags to mark the route. Some of the Lincoln Highway route changed over time and those portions are also marked - sometimes.

In Linn Country there are a series of Lincoln Highway displays that begin at the Lisbon History Center. There you can see the route through the county as well as read about the road itself, gas stations, overnight cottages, restaurants (where mobsters from Chicago in the 1920s-30s stopped) and so on.

In Lisbon, this LH post (close-up of medallion portion) still exists for all to see for 80 plus years. Go see it or some other LH post in your community. Send me your photo next to your version of the Lincoln Highway, Route 66 or National Road (Pike) type of historic route. Let me know what the road means to you. Know that.  

Union Pacific 7821 Passes below Lincoln Highway

Union Pacific's 7821 pulls freight cars westward through 42N country's Mt. Vernon, Iowa about 4:30 PM today. The tracks run east-west at this location with the south set of tracks (on the right) being of heavier gauge for heavier loads. A neighbor to this location told me that coal bearing cars travel from out west through here on the south tracks headed for all the metro centers in the east. The neighbor also told me that the UP is considering adding a third set of tracks to the left in this photo. That decision could entail two residential properties losing some lawn. 

The opportunity to view the train was from a footbridge that once was the historic Lincoln Highway. The town preserved the iron structure when a more modern bridge was constructed nearby. Today walkers and joggers can traverse these tracks with the original brick pavement still visible.

See more of Union Pacific #7821 here. As quick as the #7821 was moving today it may be near you soon - look for it. Know that.

Happy Fourth of July from the American Midwest

While our favorite 42N country recipient of July 4th best wishes was miles away, we found this young patriot trying to cool Hanson's Grove antique seekers. After 30 years of shows on Independence Day, the nearby town of Mt. Vernon also closed its street to vehicles to make room for a score or two of antique and flea market vendors - most of it on the historic Lincoln Highway. It was a day to buy some real history or chow down on holiday food. Know that.

Tracks Under the Lincoln Highway

Two Union Pacific tracks reach towards the west in 42N country in this snowy scene taken last week. Passing overhead is modern portion of the Lincoln Highway as it winds through Linn County, Iowa. The bridge from which this photo was taken is actually the original Lincoln Highway bridge built in 1915 in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.

Not far from this spot is the seedling mile experiment site (just a few miles west of this location) where the benefits of a concrete highway were first demonstrated in Iowa on this highway. Up until this time the dirt roads were the norm and axle deep clay mud thwarted Model Ts as they tried their luck navigating the early highway road.

My high school French teacher once explained how some regional transportation paths developed. First the paths along waterways (rivers, creeks, streams) which were created by animal trails or local natives were discovered. Sometimes wagon trails widened these paths, then rail service was built along these paths - often with teletype wires overhead. Finally auto roads were built nearby, distances shortened and modifications were made.

This is why along some of the older roads in the country, such as pikes and former tollways you can see this pattern applied.

Belle Plaine Iowa's Lincoln Cafe Status

42N country is bisected by a concrete ribbon - the Lincoln Highway. As the first transamerica highway the route is filled with support businesses of various kinds and ages - some as old as the route itself.

In Belle Plaine, Iowa the locally famous Lincoln Cafe operates. This diner has been feeding the travellers and town folk for generations. However this year something went terribly wrong. One of the cafe's co-owners was murdered at his home.

The co-owner's common law wife, her son and his girl friend were all charged in July with the crime. Their trials begin in December and early 2010.

While Belle Plaine offers a peek at what small town USA looked like back in the 1920-30s with the Lincoln Highway, cafe and Preston's gas station (a very small museum to the Lincoln Highway and other area things) it would not be complete without a lunch stop at the Lincoln Cafe. Check first before planning a trip there as the cafe may or may not be open during the trial period.

If for no other reason Lincoln Highway enthusiasts should stop by and photograph the exterior of the landmark diner. Know that.

Military Convoy Retraces Historic Route through Cedar Rapids

On Sunday, June 21, a convoy retracing the 1919 transit of military vehicles on the Lincoln Highway pulled into Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the night. Some 60 registered military jeeps, trucks, staff cars, and assorted other vehicles, and their support units, filed into the Clarion Hotel parking lot in 42N country. The convoy left Washington D.C. on June 13 and will finish the transit in San Francisco on July 8th while riding on much of the original Lincoln Highway as possible. In addition to the registered convoy vehicles a number of other military surface tracks and cars join the procession along the way for a short period to show off their historical vehicle.

The convoy is part of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA.) As part of its mission to honor our country's military vehicle history, the MVPA decided to recreate the famous 1919 Convoy in 2009 as a 90th Anniversary celebration of the achievement and in conjunction with the nation's President Lincoln Bicentennial celebration. The original convoy in 1919, was part of the US Army's Military Transportation Corps idea to demonstrate the need for a mechanized Army. The plan to modernize America's fighting force involved the idea of a convoy parading the Army's military might from coast-to-coast along the then new Lincoln Highway.

In 1919 the Convoy stopped in Cedar Rapids and was treated to a huge meal in the city's Greene Square Park. Among the original participants of the convoy was Lt. Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower. As a result of the 1919 Convoy he reportedly saw the value of a mechanized land army and the need for better roadway infrastructure to move vehicles across the nation. As President Eisenhower in the 1950s he approved federal legislation to build the country's interstate system - called the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways (Eisenhower Interstate System for short.) Know that.

Lincoln Highway in Linn County

Bisecting much of 42N country is the nation's first continental highway - the Lincoln Highway. The road is remembered in Linn County, Iowa with a series of roadside displays plus many tri-colored red-white-blue painted telephone poles with the characteristic "L" in the white field. This exhibit is located near the Mt. Vernon Road SE and Wilder Drive SE intersection in the eastern part of Cedar Rapids. Its here where the original Lincoln Highway veers to the northwest from the more straightened path of today's Mt. Vernon Road. Why? because the grade up the hill was deemed too steep for early autos to easily ascend. So a winding path on this hill (near the Lincoln Heights neighborhood) was constructed.

The 2004 dedicated display offers sections of original 1919 concrete bridge walls and mentions a four-tenths mile portion of the original Seedling Mile road in the state of Iowa. The Seedling Mile consisted of a concrete section of the Lincoln Highway as a demonstration to local governments and auto travellers that it was possible to pave rural sections of Iowa for economic gain. And even better yet, no one had to drive through axle deep clay mud anymore. The Seedling Mile section in Linn County is located just west of Mt.Vernon on the old Lincoln Highway.

In the above photos a portion of the original 16-foot wide pavement is still visible along with high curb walls designed to keep the Model Ts on the road and out of the ditches. I took a closeup shot of the pavement (above) to provide a glimpse of the 90-year old historic roadway. Double click on the photos to open a larger version. Know that.