Blairwalk 2014 – Another big success!

Posted on July 16, 2014 by admin

Blairwalk 2 was completed in May and raised over $12,000. Jeff Blair, Indiana Lincoln Highway Association (INLHA) President, walked form Dyer, IN to the Ohio border (152 miles roughly) along the 1928 alignment of the Lincoln Highway to raise awareness and funds for both the INLHA and the Alzheimer’s Association. Jeff reported good weather for the most part and wonderful Hoosier hospitality in every way. He even went “national” being interviewed by Dave Nemo for Sirius radio one morning.

This is Jeff’s second walk on the LH having completed the 171 mile walk along the original 1912 route of the LH in 2011. He wants to thank all of those who walked along with him, those who made donations for these causes, his wife for putting up with his shenanigans, and the many people who welcomed him into their businesses, museums, restaurants and hotels along the way. The INLHA offers a big thanks to Jeff for this wonderful project!

Carl Fisher IN State Historical Marker Will Be Dedicated in Greensburg, IN

Posted on May 15, 2014 by admin

A public dedication ceremony for an Indiana state historical marker commemorating American entrepreneur, Carl Fisher, is scheduled for Friday, May 16, 2014. The marker will be dedicated at 5:00 P.M. (EDT) at the Washington Street entrance to the Decatur County Courthouse, located at 150 Courthouse Square, Greensburg, IN 47240. Parking is available around the Courthouse Square.

The text follows for the state marker entitled “Carl Fisher”:
Fisher, an entrepreneur who helped make automobiles a viable form of transportation, was born in Greensburg, 1874. He co-founded Prest-O-Lite Co., 1904, which developed acetylene gas vehicle headlights distributed nationwide. Co-founder and president of Indianapolis Speedway, site of famous annual 500 mile race and testing ground for new automobile technology. Proponent of the Good Roads Movement to expand and improve the nation’s road networks. Fisher advocated construction of U.S. transcontinental roads including east-west Lincoln Highway (1912) and north-south Dixie Highway (1914). Such roads enabled long-distance travel by automobile. He also developed Miami Beach into major resort destination. Died July 15, 1939.

The public is invited to attend the dedication ceremony for this Indiana state historical marker that honors Fisher’s legacy as a pioneer of the automobile industry and a promoter of automobile culture in Indiana and the nation. A reception will follow the ceremony from 5:30-7:00 pm at the Decatur County Historical Society Museum at 222 N. Franklin St., Greensburg, IN 47240.

State historical markers commemorate significant individuals, organizations, places, and events in Indiana history. These markers help communities throughout the state promote, preserve, and present their history for the education and enjoyment of residents and tourists of all ages. For more than 95 years the Indiana Historical Bureau, an agency of the State of Indiana, has been marking Indiana history. Since 1946, the marker format has been the large roadside marker, which has the familiar dark blue background with gold lettering and the outline of the state of Indiana at the top. There are approximately 500 of these markers across the state.

For more information about this marker, the Indiana Historical Marker Program, and other resources about Indiana, visit the Indiana Historical Bureau’s website at www.IN.gov/history or call 317-233-8940.

Jeff is on the move – Blairwalk 2014 has begun!

Posted on April 25, 2014 by admin

Jeff Blair has begun his walk across the Lincoln Highway in Indiana following the 1928 route. Today Jeff visited the St. John Township School District #2 (1853 to 1907) school house located at 1515 W. Lincoln Highway in Schererville, Indiana. This one-room school house is currently used as an educational field trip for St. John Township fourth grade students. It is run by retired teachers, who wear period clothing, to demonstrate what life was like for students in the 1800s.
There is still time to pledge for this project. Help the Indiana Lincoln Highway Association raise the matching funds necessary to receive our National Parks Service Byway Grant for a Corridor Management Study. Your support is appreciated. You can pledge by PayPal on our home page: https://indianalincolnhighway.org

Blairwalk 2 is coming soon — April 25 – May 5, 2014

Posted on March 22, 2014 by admin

Jeff Blair, the President of the Indiana Lincoln Highway Association is walking across Indiana again. This time he is walking the 1928 route of Indiana Lincoln Highway. The purpose of the walk is to raise funds which will be divided equally between the Indiana Lincoln Highway Association and the Alzheimer’s Association. You can read more out it on our home page, where you can pledge and contribute via the PayPal link.
https://indianalincolnhighway.org/

Also visit Jeff’s Blog: http://www.blairwalk.com/
Download the pledge form: http://blairwalk.s3.amazonaws.com/blairwalk-pledge-2014.pdf

Here is Jeff’s schedule:
April 25 Dyer to Merrillville    11 miles
April 26 Merrillville to Valparaiso   15 miles
April 27 Valparaiso to Hanna    12 miles
April 28 Hanna to Hamlet    13 miles
April 29 Hamlet to Plymouth 15 miles
April 30 Plymouth to Etna Green    15 miles
May 1 Etna Green to Warsaw    15 miles
May 2 Warsaw to Columbia City    17 miles
May 3 Columbia City to Ft Wayne    14 miles
May 4 Ft Wayne to New Haven 13 miles
May 5 New Haven to IN/OH border 14 miles

Lincoln Highway Centennial Programs in South Bend

Posted on September 23, 2013 by admin

The Indiana Lincoln Highway Association, in cooperation with the Studebaker National Museum and the Center for History, continue the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln Highway by presenting two events during the week of September 29. Each talk will be held at 1:30 p.m. EDT in the Wiekamp Auditorium, and are funded in part by a grant from Indiana Humanities with the support of the National Endowment of the Humanities.

Sunday, September 29 – Carl Fisher, The Lincoln Highway, and the Evolution of the Highway System in America
Author and Historian Dennis Horvath, presenter, with Professional Actor Jeff Kuehl portraying Carl Fisher
This talk will show how the Lincoln Highway served as a model of the evolution of the highway system in America and cover the evolution of travel from rural roads to improved federal highways in the early part of the twentieth century. “Carl Fisher” will be on hand to describe his vision for the first coast-to-coast rock highway.

Cost: free with admission to the Studebaker National Museum ($8 adults, $6.50 senior, $5 children over six, free for SNM members and children five and under) www.studebakermuseum.org

Wednesday, October 2 – Insights in History – Competitive Spirits: Celebrating 100 Years of the Lincoln Highway
South Bend native and Lincoln Highway historian, Bill Arick, Presenter
This talk will introduce the founders of the Lincoln Highway. It will also explore the many connections between South Bend and the Lincoln Highway. Included will be a tour of the exhibit, The Lincoln Highway: Centennial Reflections.

Cost: $3.00 regular, $1.00 CFH members – reservations required by September 30. Phone (574) 235-9664 www.centerforhistory.org

Complete information including presenter biographies are available on this pdf file:
https://indianalincolnhighway.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/INLHA-Press-Release-9-13.pdf

Indiana Lincoln Highway Fall Tour Featured in National Geographic Traveler

Posted on September 6, 2013 by admin

From National Geographic – Best of World Weekly – Lincoln Highway Fall Foliage Road Trip, Fort Wayne to Dyer, Indiana:
Each week National Geographic Traveler editors select a seasonal trip showcasing the world’s best destinations to visit right now.

Photograph by Todd Zeiger, Indiana Landmarks

2013 Best Fall Trip #2

Hoosier Carl G. Fisher was one of the people who spearheaded construction of the original 3,389-mile Lincoln Highway in 1913, making the Indiana portions of America’s first coast-to-coast highway ideal for a centennial celebration-fall foliage road trip. Pull off along the way at the Johnny Appleseed Festival, September 21-22; Wanatah Scarecrow Festival, September 27-29; and Westville Pumpkin Festival, October 4-6.

When to Go: September-October

How to Get Around: There are two distinct Lincoln Highway routes in northern Indiana. To retrace the original 1913 sections, start in Fort Wayne and head northwest on U.S. Route 33 following “Indiana’s Lincoln Highway Byway: A Turn-by-Turn Road Guide for the 1913 Route.”

Where to Eat: Teibel’s Family Restaurant at the intersection of U.S. 30 and Highway 41 in Schererville has been a Lincoln Highway lunch and dinner favorite since 1929. Seven days a week, Stephen and Paul Teibel serve up hearty, homemade staples like Grandma Teibel’s fried chicken, buttered lake perch, and broccoli chicken casserole.

Where to Stay: Built 37 years before the Lincoln Highway (and with 96,650 bricks) the stately Kimmell House Inn on U.S. 33 / Lincolnway S in Kimmell has three romantic guest rooms in the main house and a standalone cottage that once served as the estate’s summer kitchen. Trails lead through the inn’s six wooded acres (an additional six are mowed), where by late September the leaves of the hundred-year-old sugar maples typically glow brilliant orange-red.

What to Read Before You Go: Greetings from the Lincoln Highway: A Road Trip Celebration of America’s First Coast-to-Coast Highway, Centennial Edition, by Brian Butko (Stackpole Books, 2013)

What to Watch Before You Go: A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway, a PBS documentary by film director and narrator Rick Sebak

Helpful Links: Indiana Lincoln Highway Association and Visit Indiana

Fun Fact: At 1 p.m. on September 1, 1928, groups of Boy Scouts simultaneously positioned 2,450 directional markers at intervals along the Lincoln Highway. Only 15 markers remain in Indiana, including one displayed outside the New Haven City Hall.

New tour brochure highlights South Bend history

Posted on September 28, 2012 by admin

From Indiana Landmarks Northern Regional Office – September 2012 Monthly News:

A new heritage tour in South Bend highlights the legacy of several titans of industry who influenced the city’s history and development. The just-released Studebaker Bendix Heritage Trail brochure guides participants on a 13-site tour of churches, homes, and factories associated with some of South Bend’s most prominent businessmen and their families. Download the brochure (click here for a pdf file), or request a copy by contacting Todd Zeiger, 574-232-4534, tzeiger@indianalandmarks.org.

Lincoln Highway Association Releases Free Coast-to-Coast Online Map

Posted on July 29, 2012 by admin

In gearing up for the 100^th anniversary of the Lincoln Highway in 2013, the Lincoln Highway Association released a complete, definitive online map of the entire highway, from New York City to San Francisco, freely available on the Association’s Website. The online map represents more than twenty years of historical research and ten years of mapping by over a hundred expert volunteers.

Established in 1913 and named for Abraham Lincoln, the Lincoln Highway crosses fourteen states, including a loop through Colorado, and represents the first coast-to-coast improved road in the United States. The year 2013 will be the Lincoln Highway’s Centennial; the online map’s release comes just in time before numerous car clubs and families will drive the road next year.

Powered by Google’s interactive mapping software, the online map shows satellite and street views of the Lincoln Highway and hundreds of points of interest along the way. The interactive online map represents the first detailed mapping of the entire Lincoln Highway, including several generations of road improvements and realignments with points of interest to visit, in one free resource. Additionally, the online map shows special feeder routes from the Lincoln Highway to Washington, D.C. and Chicago. Users can zoom in on a state or a particular location, trace the Lincoln Highway, and check the Points of Interest button to view places to see along the road.

The online map includes both the 1913 and 1928 routes of the Indiana Lincoln Highway. Anyone planning a trip or is just curious about where the Lincoln Highway goes is welcome to use the map at: http://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/map/. There will also be a permanent link to the map on our Map / Directions web page.

Indiana Lincoln Highway Turn-By-Turn Driving Guides

Posted on July 29, 2012 by admin

Indiana Lincoln Highway Association board member Bruce Butgereit and his wife Marcia
created detailed turn by turn road guides of the 1913 and 1928 routes of Indiana’s Lincoln
Highway Byway.

In addition they produced a listing of Indiana Lincoln Highway Educational Discovery Stops with GPS coordinates. This program was made possible by an Historic Preservation Education Grant from Indiana Landmarks, Indiana Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The documents are all pdf files, and require the free Adobe reader. These are now available on our Maps / Directions web page.

New Lincoln Highway Kiosk Dedicated in La Porte

Posted on June 13, 2012 by admin

On May 5, La Porte became the fourth town along Indiana’s Lincoln Highway routes to display an informational kiosk; it joins Warsaw, New Carlisle and Plymouth.

La Porte Kiosk Dedication

The newest kiosk can be found in front of the town’s restored NY Central and Lake Shore Depot (803 Washington St.), now the home of the Greater La Porte Chamber of Commerce. One side of the kiosk highlights the Lincoln Highway’s history through La Porte County, featuring such landmarks as Bob’s Bar-B-Q, the Hotel Rumely and the county courthouse, as well as the depot. The reverse side offers a brief history of “The Lincoln Highway: American’s First Paved Coast-to-Coast Highway.”

The kiosk, which was painted in a color scheme to match the depot, was unveiled by Indiana Lincoln Highway Association members Jim Bevins and Fred Sachtleben. Both men are La Porte County natives who spent more than two years on construction and installation of the kiosk.

La Porte Mayor Blair Milo, and Greater La Porte Chamber of Commerce President Mike Seitz, were presented with a Proclamation prepared by Indiana Lincoln Highway Association President Jan Shupert-Arick. Click here for the Proclamation.

La Porte Mayor Blair Milo & Chamber President Mike Seitz

The annual meeting of the Indiana Lincoln Highway Association followed at B&J’s American Café. The group learned of opportunities for partnering with businesses in a presentation from Chamber President Mike Seitz.

The Indiana Lincoln Highway Association’s accomplishments of the past year – highlighted by the highway’s designation as a Byway– were outlined in a presentation by President Jan Shupert-Arick.

Photos courtesy Tim Ashley. Click photos for larger views.

Jim Bevins & Fred Sachtleben

Restored La Porte Depot

Indiana Lincoln Highway Association

One Road – Many Stories

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