The Lincoln Highway

The Lincoln Highway was a big reason that the town of Big Springs, Nebraska continued to be a spot on the map. Location, Location, Location really does matter. Initially the pony express went by not too far away, the town was a stop on the Railroad because of the Spring nearby, then when the Lincoln Highway came through it went right through Big Springs, Nebraska and later the interstate highway went down nearly the same path which helps to keep some commerce and traffic going through the area.

There are an abundance of resources on the Lincoln Highway. I’ll share a few of the links I’ve enjoyed and add in a few of the highlights.

Wikipedia tells me that the Lincoln Highway is one of the earliest transcontinental highway routes for automobiles across the United States of America. The highway association was incorporated in 1913 and was recorded at 3,389 miles coast to coast.

This was a big project as the Lincoln Highway Association history tells us that in 1912 there were no good roads. Carl Fisher, who was a principal of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway among other things, recognized an opportunity and ran with it. The notes say that a memorial for President Lincoln was being planned, and the group planning the route thought that a highway would be a better memorial for the former President and they were successful. Two other people who played a key role in the highway development were Frank Seiberling, president of Goodyear, and Henry Joy, president of the Packard Motor Car Company

In 1925, with the advent of a Federal Highway System, the named routes were changed to numbers, and many were broken up or discontinued. Most of the Lincoln Highway still exists as Highway 30, but not fully in it’s original layout. The Lincoln Highway Association has a map of the original route as compared to the current route and some of the iterations. In it’s glory, the Lincoln Highway went through Big Springs, Nebraska, and from there East on the main Highway, or West to Denver or Cheyenne. All traffic to these major destinations went through Big Springs.

So, why don’t we hear as much about the Lincoln Highway as Route 66? That’s a good question. This page has some comparisons between the two – and maybe Route 66 was active for longer, or maybe it’s just the fact that Route 66 had a song.

The Lincoln Highway Association is still active (as of this writing) and there are awards for people who have traveled the entire route, there’s an annual conference, and even swag!

I loved that there is a photo achive from the Highway Collection – and there’s a series of photos from in and around Big Springs. You can view these, or even put in your own criteria and view the larger collection. The cars belonging to Henry Joy (President of Packard Motor Car Company) stuck in the mud, the billboards, and the sign in the cafe are my favorites.

There’s even a travel blog from 2021 on the Lincoln Highway with some fun highlights of the adventure.

Wyoming PBS did a program that’s available on YouTube titled 100 Years on the Lincoln Highway. It’s an hour long, but interesting watching.

Just a few fun tidbits of the highway that helped keep Big Springs on the map.