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.

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.