Today's post centers around historical attractions along the Lincoln Highway, the first marked transcontinental road in the United States. Starting in Times Square and running through 13 states to San Francisco, the Lincoln is an important road in the nation's history, but it often gets overlooked in favor of its younger brother, Route 66. I've been fortunate to drive several old alignments of the old Lincoln Highway over the years, as it goes in a straight line across Pennsylvania.
The Lincoln Motor Court is from the 1940s and is wonderfully preserved. There used to be hundreds of these "cabin court" style motels (they actually preceded that term) along the Lincoln Highway, but this is the last one.
What an awesome slice of Americana! Imagine all of the stories from this place...
Switching gears, we come to Latrobe, home to Fred Rogers.
Oh wait, I forgot that Latrobe is where the banana split was invented! Moving on,,,
Wow, this is an old traffic light...
You wouldn't recognize Mr. Rogers' grave if you weren't looking for it, as his name isn't on the mausoleum exterior.
I appreciated the opportunity to see this.
The last stop is the recently opened Lincoln Highway Experience museum near Ligonier.
The uniquely-shaped hotel below was an icon along the road in Bedford County before succumbing to arsonists in 2001.
Here's the view from the former ship's lookout point today, where you can reportedly "see 3 states and seven counties!"
The Lincoln Highway Experience is a small museum, but it has a large room with some cool artifacts, like the replica tourist cabin at the left, a Packard, and a neon sign from an old area motel.
Serro's Diner was built in 1938. It was originally going to be part of Pittsburgh's Heinz History Center, but it was unable to fit in that building. Now fully restored, a cup of coffee and a slice of pie are included with your admission ticket!
The 1957 diner that replaced the first Serro's was also saved and moved to Erie, Pennsylvania (not close to the Lincoln Highway at all), where it's used as seating for a large drive-in style restaurant.
I hope you enjoyed these vintage sights!
8 comments:
Andrew, I love this kind of stuff! Those type of motor courts can be seen in quite a few old movies. I was watching "It Happened One Night" not too long ago and Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert are forced to share the last available cabin.....and they aren't married to one another.....SCANDALOUS! Well, it was in 1934!
That statue is a pretty good likeness of Mr. Rogers. Sometimes you see these statues in celebrities' home towns, and they don't look anything like the person! Having him on the bench like that for photo ops, reminds me of the Roy Disney statues at Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland.
I love that those two diners have been saved and preserved. I hope whoever buys that Lincoln Motor Court, does indeed preserve it. All of these places and things are a part of our own history!
I'm glad that you liked the different types of content here, TokyoMagic! I love this old roadside stuff too and really am trying to see as much of it as I can while still possible. The Mr. Rogers statue does look pretty professional! Thanks for the nice comment.
This is some pretty neat stuff, Andrew. Are these from different trips or did you guys do a Lincoln Highway Across the Keystone State trip?
My dad and I drove the route of the Transcontinental Railroad from Council Bluffs, IA, to Promontory Summit, UT in 2019, the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike. There were quite a few Lincoln Highway artifacts and tributes along the way, including the giant Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument, now located along I-80 east of Laramie, WY, but originally located on Sherman Hill overlooking US 30, the Lincoln Highway.
Happy that both diners were saved. And now I want a slice of pie for some odd reason.
And everything TM! said times two.
We've made lots of little stops over the years on the way to my grandpa's cabin in Virginia, Chuck. I remember you mentioning your Transcontinental Railroad trip before, very cool. It's awesome that you got to see that Lincoln head statue. I've seen lots of pictures of it. I give you permission to eat a slice of pie. :-)
Thank you, Andrew. Now if I can just get my wife to concur on that slice of pie...
Andrew, thank you for this FUN post!
Like TokyoMagic!, I also thought of "It Happened One Night" - when I saw the motor court cabins. Cute little cottages! Great classic movie, btw!
I would love to eat at both of those diners - fun atmosphere! I'll have a piece of Boston creme pie or banana cream pie, please!
I've never had Boston creme pie, Sue! Thanks for reading.
Great stuff, Andrew. All the things I have missed being way out here on the Left Coast.
JG
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