Everyone who knows a little history and is a grown-up know the story of the Lincoln Highway as the first highway linking both coasts of the United States. This interpretive tells the story.
The marker answers many questions about the Lincoln Highway and its historical development. The interpretive is part of a much larger collection made possible by the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor whose purpose it to educate American's about the historical significance of the Highway. The Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor installed 150 Lincoln Highway signs along the Corridor; completed this Interpretive Plan, and is in the process of implementing the 200-mile Roadside Museum with interpretive exhibits and murals.
The location of this sign is along a rotary in the very heart of Abbottstown, a town that has stood still and remains firmly in the early 20th century. The 1985 movie, Back to the Future, which took place partly in 1955, could have been shot here. This is an authentic old-fashioned town along the Lincoln Corridor in Eastern Pennsylvania. Another interpretive, a few miles away in New Oxford is identical to this waymark both in location to the central rotary, type of sign and type of town. The sign has one really neat feature: it has this electronic gismo underneath that if you touch a key completing a circuit, you can hear a recording of a man talking about his memories of the Lincoln Highway.
The interpretive reads:
The Beginning of the Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway was the first coast-to-coast highway built in 1913. A group of visionary businessmen from the automotive industry, led by Henry B. Joy and Carl Fisher, formed the Lincoln Highway Association.
The Association successfully spearheaded the creation of a publicly-funded road that stretched from New York City, NY to San Francisco, CA. The road would be the first transcontinental highway. The Association engaged in very little actual road building, but it did fire the public's imagination and soon their project was under way. When it was done it stretched 3,389 miles.
In Pennsylvania, much of the Lincoln Highway was constructed by improving and linking pre-existing roads. It was a focal point of the Good Roads Movement, which would ultimately lead to the development of the highways all over the nation.
The Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor, is a non-profit heritage region that follows the Lincoln Highway through six Pennsylvania counties: Westmoreland, Somerset, Bedford, Fulton, Franklin, and Adams.
The Altland House, established in 1880, is located on one of the oldest tavern sites in Adams County. In 1801 John Fox established an inn here on Abbotstown's square, the oldest town in the county. Carefully restored, the Altland Hosue continues to serve Lincoln Highway travelers fine food and lodging.
Hold a coin or car key against the stainless steel contact pins to listen as Charles Bream Jr. of Gettysburg, PA shares early Lincoln Highway memories.
