Lincoln Highway Finds

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.

We got to meet the couple that owns it, and while it is for sale, they'll only sell to someone who will maintain it.

What an awesome slice of Americana! Imagine all of the stories from this place...

Switching gears, we come to Latrobe, home to Fred Rogers. 

Latrobe is famous for the TV works of Mr. Rogers as well as golfer Arnold Palmer. Here's a statue of Rogers you can snap a picture with!

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!

More Fun Along the Lincoln Highway

Picking up from two posts ago, here are some more sights along the Lincoln Highway in Pennsylvania (with one extra). The "Coffee Pot" in Bedford is an example of novelty architecture. It fell into major disrepair before being restored and relocated by the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor. It's a tiny building, and you can't go inside.

Bedford is also home to a cool old art deco Gulf station that has been operated by the same family for generations.

This train station is a museum in Everett, just east of Bedford, but it was not open on our visit.

The Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor's main goal is to promote one of the road's best-preserved stretches through Pennsylvania. One of the ways they do this is by getting local trade schools to create "roadside giant" sculptures, like this quarter. Other examples include a giant gas pump, Packard, and fruit truck.

It's easy to tell which year this log church was built. Open to the public, it has a wine glass pulpit and a perilous upper balcony.

The popular name of the view below is "seven mile stretch." We set our odometer, and it came out as a lot less than seven miles!

A special sight along the Lincoln Highway is these concrete markers. Planted during a cross-country promotion trip by the Boy Scouts in 1928, these markers' installation was the last hurrah before the Lincoln began to fade out of the mainstream. There are only a hundred or so left in their original locations, which can range from a parking lot to a private lawn (below right).

This lookout was once the location of the famous "Ship Hotel," which claimed that you could see three states and seven counties from this spot. What do you think?

This is a pretty big leap forward in history, but an offbeat stop along the Lincoln is the "Big Mac Museum." It's not so much a museum as a few displays in a McDonald's, with the "World's Largest Big Mac" (!!!) in the Play Place.

Irwin, PA - where the "museum" is located - was the headquarters of the franchisee whose chain invented the sandwich. However, the restaurant at which the Big Mac was actually first served is less than ten minutes from my house.

Switching gears once again, this time off the Lincoln Highway, here's a wacky landmark in West Virginia, a collection of large fiberglass statues at a private home. You're allowed to stop and take pictures. It's a destination of sorts for fans of "Muffler Man" statues (like the one at center).

I don't know if there's anywhere else where you can see fiberglass statues riding a roller coaster.

As you pull away, make sure not to miss Santa!

I hope you've enjoyed these roadside finds!