The Lincoln Highway

Before Route 66 and the Interstate Highway System, there was the Lincoln Highway—the nation's first transcontinental road. This 3,000-mile project triumphed against incredible odds. From its conception, the project seemed more like a fantasy than a feasible plan. How would they secure funding? How would they determine the best route from New York City to San Francisco in a time when most roads became impassable mud after rain? Despite formidable challenges like these, the Lincoln Highway was born, and Carl Fisher's vision to pave the way for automobiles and connect the country's coasts became a testament to persistence, innovation, and determination. Read on to discover how the Lincoln Highway transformed American travel and became the proving ground for what was possible in the nation.

The Dream

A year after hosting the first Indy 500 on the brick-paved Indiana Motor Speedway, Carl Fisher realized that automobiles could be the future, but only with better roads. In 1912, he began promoting his idea for the first transcontinental highway. As a well-known automobile entrepreneur, the manufacturer of the Prest-O-Lite carbide-gas headlights used on early vehicles, and one of the first investors of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he hosted a dinner with industry friends to propose his dream. He projected the highway would require $10 million in funds but could be opened by 1915. Fisher argued, "The automobile won't get anywhere until it has good roads to run on," and that the highway would, "stimulate as nothing else could the building of enduring highways everywhere that will not only be a credit to the American people but that will also mean much to American agriculture and American commerce." Though Henry Ford refused, arguing that such a project should be the government's responsibility, early investors included Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, and the then-president, Woodrow Wilson. Though the project initially went through several names, the Lincoln Highway was the final choice, making it the first national memorial to President Abraham Lincoln. The next year, the Lincoln Highway Association (LHA) was formed, made up of automobile enthusiasts and industry officials, "to 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 Plan

The Lincoln Highway Association's first goal was to make a rock highway from New York City's Times Square to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, California. To accomplish this, a route needed to be finalized. East of the Mississippi River was a relatively well-established set of roads, but the west required scouting. The LHA formed a team called "The Trail-Blazers," made up of 17 cars and 2 trucks, that headed west on July 1, 1913. The trip to San Francisco took 34 days and revealed the desperate need for the highway after experiencing the Iowa mud pits, sand drifts in Nevada and Utah, flooded roads, and automobile damage that had to be repaired while en route. The Trail-Blazers were greeted with enthusiasm by townsfolk along the way, who saw their presence as evidence the town would be a part of the nation's first transcontinental highway. The tour ended with a parade down San Francisco's Market Street where they were met by thousands of excited spectators. The Trail-Blazers then headed back to Indianapolis by train.

In spite of the hullabaloo, Packard president and LHA leader, Henry Joy, stated that the route should be as straight as possible, and the Trail-Blazers' route didn't necessarily provide that. Town officials in Colorado and Kansas were disheartened to hear their towns wouldn't make it as a part of the Lincoln Highway route, and rightfully so, as the highway would boost commerce and development for anyone on its path. Regardless, on September 14, 1913, the route was announced and dedicated on October 31. On that day, celebrations were held across 13 states, with bonfires, fireworks, concerts, parades, and in two locations, the roads were even swept and washed for celebratory dances along the highway. In a dedication ceremony in Iowa, State Engineer Thomas MacDonald advocated the creation of a transcontinental highway system with radial routes. In 1919, he became the Commissioner of the Bureau of Public Roads.

With the route announced, it was time to start building—but building a transcontinental highway would require funding. This meant boosting the project via publicity and marketing techniques. Fisher hired F.T. Grenell, the Detroit Free Press's city editor, to work part-time for the Lincoln Highway. The Trail-Blazer tour had included representatives from several newspapers, magazines, and telegraph companies to transmit their dispatches. This also led to the creation of the "Seedling Miles" program in 1914. The LHA donated cement to communities asking them to pave their section. Some went above and beyond, adding electric lights and artwork, but it wasn't necessary. The paved road alone was enough to experience the difference. Fisher's hope was that once people experienced the vast improvement of the paved road, communities would fund the improvements across the way. However, Henry Ford had been right: Fisher's idea of funding the Lincoln Highway via the auto industry and private contributions was abandoned. Instead, the LHA used funds for publicity and promotion to encourage travel across the highway, and to encourage State, county, and municipal officials to fund their own improvements.

The Effect

In 1916, the LHA published an Official Road Guide for the cross-country trip. It said the trip from the Atlantic to the Pacific would take approximately 20–30 days, as long as the motorist averaged 18 miles per hour, 6 hours a day, only during daylight. The trip could be done for $5 a day per person, including gasoline, oil, and food, though any car repairs were not included in this cost. Gasoline was rare across the country, so motorists were urged to top off fuel at any opportunity. In order to determine the depth of flooded roads, motorists should wade through themselves. The LHA included a list of recommended equipment and the advice, "Don't wear new shoes." West of Omaha included recommendations for full camping equipment and a warning against drinking alkali water. If someone needed help near Fish Springs, Utah, "build a sagebrush fire. Mr. Thomas will come with a team. He can see you 20 miles off." Other suggestions included stopping "at the Orr's Ranch for advice," and eastbound travelers should "check with Mr. K.C. Davis of Gold Hill, Nevada."

When the U.S. Army undertook its own transcontinental convoy in 1919, the LHA made sure to highly promote and publicize the trip, knowing that it would reveal the dire need for better main highways and Federal aid. The convoy left the White House on July 7 and headed for Gettysburg, PA to meet the Lincoln Highway, and continue to San Francisco. On the route, they experienced failing bridges and terrain that either damaged their automobiles or left them stuck in mud. They reached the end on September 5. The Lincoln Highway Association considered this convoy a huge success. The publicity promoted the Lincoln Highway and the need for road improvement, leading directly to county bond issues for highway building.

As the first automobile road across the U.S., the Lincoln Highway brought growth and prosperity across the nation, affectionately nicknamed "The Main Street Across America." This nickname was in part because the highway went through towns along the main road, but in others, served as the literal main street, connecting communities' essentials. Its success led to an economic boost for the governments and citizens along the way and inspired the creation of many long-distance roads (now called National Auto Trails). In 1926, the U.S. Numbered Highway System required routes to be renamed, but numbered highways didn't always correspond to their named counterpart. This turned parts of the Lincoln Highway into U.S. Route 30 from Pennsylvania to Wyoming, US 40 in the Midwest, and US 50 elsewhere. The Lincoln Highway Association requested that the Lincoln Highway keep one number the whole way through, to maintain its significance as a single route. When this was denied, the LHA was concerned that the Lincoln Highway would lose its meaning. In an effort to preserve their legacy, on September 1, 1928, groups of Boy Scouts placed 2,400 concrete markers along the route to officially mark and dedicate it to Abraham Lincoln. Urban areas erected 4,000 metal signs as well. Russell Rein, field secretary of the LHA, believes that numbering different sections of the Lincoln Highway and rerouting portions led to its decline. By the end of 1928, the Lincoln Highway began seeing less traffic.

The End

A decade later, the Lincoln Highway celebrated its 25th anniversary. A nationwide radio broadcast on NBC noted the 1938 occasion with a message written by Carl Fisher himself:

The Lincoln Highway Association has accomplished its primary purpose, that of providing an object lesson to show the possibility in highway transportation and the importance of a unified, safe, and economical system of roads. ... Now I believe the country is at the beginning of another new era in highway building (that will) create a system of roads far beyond the dreams of the Lincoln Highway founders. I hope this anniversary observance makes millions of people realize how vital roads are to our national welfare, to economic programs, and to our national defense ...

By this time, Fisher was suffering from cirrhosis. A victim of the Florida real estate boom in 1926, the Miami hurricane of the same year, and the Wall Street Crash in 1929, he had lost his fortune. He abandoned his final project and turned to alcoholism. Fisher died of a stomach hemorrhage in a Miami Beach hospital in 1939.

The Legacy

Though the Lincoln Highway and Carl Fisher had met their end, all was not lost. The convoy from 1919 had sparked inspiration in one of its participants, Lieutenant Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower. He would later write about the convoy experience as "difficult, tiring, and fun." His 1919 experience on the Lincoln Highway, as well as experiencing Germany's autobahn network in the 1940s, would culminate in what formed his "Grand Plan" for highways in 1954. This would later result in the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 and the construction of the Interstate Highway System. Thomas MacDonald, who had spoken in Iowa at Lincoln Highway's dedication about the importance of a transcontinental highway system in 1919, left his position as the Commissioner of the Bureau of Public Roads to oversee Eisenhower's Interstate System. (For more about the start of the Interstate Highway System, go here.) Today, Interstate 80 is the highway most closely aligned with the old Lincoln Highway, and in Wyoming, Utah, and California, parts of the interstate are paved directly over the old route.

The Lincoln Highway remains a source of mystery and romance, representing a time when people marveled at the idea of travel, desperate to experience new things and feel connected to the surrounding communities. In 1985, Drake Hokanson's article in Smithsonian explained,

“If it was restlessness and the desire for a better way to get across the continent that brought the Lincoln Highway into existence, it was curiosity that kept it alive--the notion that the point of traveling was not just to cover the distance but to savor the texture of life along the way. Maybe we've lost that, but the opportunity to rediscover it is still out there waiting for us anytime we feel like turning off an exit ramp.”

For the highway's 100th anniversary, the Lincoln Highway Association hosted a Centennial Tour in 2013 with 270 people in 140 vehicles, from 28 states and around the world. Two tours started in June of 2013 in New York and San Francisco, and in one week, they reached Kearney, Nebraska, the Lincoln Highway's midpoint. The cars spanned 100 years, from 1913 to 2013, representing 100 years of history and the significance of the first road that connected the nation through time.

Time continues to eat away at the beloved highway. The once thriving hotels, restaurants, and attractions have fallen into disrepair, some of which have fallen victim to fire and other disasters. Sarah Focke, a member of the LHA board of directors, encourages people to still explore the Lincoln Highway: "It's a two-lane road that takes you through rural America… You're going through a small town every seven to ten miles, past cafes and post offices and historic buildings." Rein says, "It's a way to see the U.S. It goes through little towns, big cities like Philadelphia and Cheyenne… There's all sorts of great stuff." Rein's biggest reason for encouraging folks to explore the Lincoln Highway is, "Because tomorrow might be too late."

As you travel across the country, hitting any of the interstates that now make up our vast paved road system, remember the Lincoln Highway. Should you decide to ever take a trip along our first transcontinental highway, remember the people from a century ago who danced along the unpaved roads, celebrating being a part of a route that would connect the nation. Interstate Signways will be marking the way.