The Lincoln Highway: Main Street Across America Book

In revisiting my own library for background reading for writing about Leora Goff Wilson's stories before WWII, I came across The Lincoln Highway, written by the instructor of two summer workshops at the U. of Iowa when I was learning to write. He'd even autographed it, but I'd never read the entire thing. 

The book is an exciting history of one of the first main roads to cross the entire continent, capturing the dream as well as the drudgery. There were arguments about which route each section would take. In 1915, Henry B. Joy, president of Packard and who'd made yearly trips to the west, drove from New York City to the Panama Pacific Exposition in time for his automobile to be on "muddy display" in the Palace of Transportation. By then, the route was marked, even though parts were a mudhole.

I was shocked at Iowa's infamous reputation as having some of the muddiest and worst roads of the entire route. Most of the Lincoln Highway in Iowa is part of Highway 30, near where my husband grew up not far from the town of Glidden. 

Compelling black and white photos accompany the very thorough history of this one iconic American highway, named for President Abraham Lincoln.

It even includes a quote by Mr. Toad in The Wind and the Willows when he first encounters an automobile.

I especially enjoyed Drake Hokanson's description of the Model T:

"The Model T was an plain as a workboot, as spendthrift as a farm wife with her egg money, as hardworking as a threshing crew, and occasionally, when the weather was damp and affected the ignition timer, as unpredictable as any Missouri mule. It was cheap to buy and cheaper still to operate.

"When first introduced in 1908 the open touring model sold for $850, a fine bargain, but by 1926 the price had plummeted to $290--electric starter and demountable rims extra, of course. . . . this car would go farther on a nickel's worth of gas and a dime's worth of parts than anything else on the road. . . . Parts were available at thousands of Ford dealers; it was the only car Ford made, and all Model Ts shared the same basic chassis, engine, and drive train."