A Century of Signage Along the Lincoln Highway

Consider the world in 1913. It stood on the edge of almost boundless progress and discovery. Henry Ford’s Model T, generally regarded as the first car affordable for the masses, had only been manufactured since 1908, and peak production was still a few years away. Ford also introduced a moving assembly line that year. Also in 1913, Hudson introduced the first sedan-style vehicle at the NYC Auto Show. A few of the year’s other highlights:

• Prizes were first provided inside boxes of Cracker Jack;
• Ratification of the 16th Amendment enabled the government to collect income tax;
• Harry Brearley invented stainless steel;
• Traffic in Souls, with a gross of $430,000, was the year’s top-earning movie (mass-release movies with sound were still more than a decade away)
• Babe Ruth was a high-school phenom pitching for St. Mary’s Industrial High School in Baltimore;
• Mary Phelps Jacob earned a patent for the first elastic bra (women everywhere presumably rejoiced);
• The crossword puzzle debuted in the New York World.

Yet, for all the 20th Century’s legacy of marvels, perhaps the most significant (or, at least the most fascinating) revolve around America’s love affair with the car. However, arguably, 1913’s most significant milestone for development of U.S. coast-to-cast travel, the creation of the Lincoln Highway, has been unfortunately forgotten by many.

On July 1 that year, Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher – his company produced headlights installed in most early-generation cars, and he was a driving force behind the construction of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway – spearheaded creation of The Lincoln Highway Assn. (LHA), to, according to Wikipedia, “procure the establishment of a continuous improved highway from the Atlantic to the Pacific, open to lawful traffic of all description without toll charges.” The first section was completed in New Jersey in 1913, and, gradually, westward expansion occurred as association officials cobbled together a route between existing, paved roads and newly constructed ones.

Fisher and his investors initially developed the Lincoln Highway entirely from private funds (the federal government later assumed the roads’ upkeep and expansion). It spanned 3,389 miles from New York City’s Times Square to San Francisco’s Lincoln Park. The Lincoln Highway was the centerpiece of the Good Roads movement, which, from the 1880s to the 1920s, helped pave roads outside of urban areas nationwide.
Originally, the Lincoln Highway traversed 13 states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California. The “Colorado Loop” was closed two years later, and a realignment brought the highway through West Virginia in 1928.

As expected, the Lincoln Highway, known as the “Main Street Across America”, brought tremendous development and prosperity to hundreds of cities along its route. The Lincoln Highway made an indelible impression on Dwight D. Eisenhower, then an ambitious Lt. Col., who took part in the Army’s Transcontinental Motor Convoy in 1919, which soldiered through a two-month excursion across the Highway’s entire cross-country duration. He later said it served as a template for the Interstate Highway System, which was begun during his presidency.

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Today, some segments of the Lincoln Highway remain, but many more have been bypassed or integrated into different routes. Much of it was assimilated into U.S. 30, a route that ventures from New Jersey to Oregon. The LHA has survived as an organization that preserves and promotes the historic highway.
From June 30-July 2, LHA members, auto enthusiasts and history buffs will drive from San Francisco and New York, and they’ll meet in Kearney, NE, the approximate Lincoln Highway midpoint, at the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument, to celebrate its centennial. European car and Americana buffs will also have 100 classic cars shipped to the U.S. to drive the Lincoln Highway from July 1-26 before having them returned across the Atlantic.

I suspected an iconic route so rich with history would present an impressive legacy of signage that practically serves as a touchstone to “the way we were.” When I queried for photos, a number of LHA representatives and fans of the route graciously provided photos that highlight the Lincoln’s past and present. I am deeply indebted to their generosity.

I hope you enjoy viewing this gallery as much as I’ve enjoyed compiling it. ST Publisher/Editor Wade Swormstedt once said about a Walldog meet (where artisans paint traditional murals), “If this doesn’t make you passionate about the sign industry, get the hell out and go open a hot-dog stand.” I think the same sentiment applies here.