Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway

Something unusual to see in the town of Woodbine supporting Iowa’s love for art and our rich
agricultural heritage is a 45-foot high metal cornstalk sculpture on a green-and-white striped farm field background
attached to a grain elevator at the south end of town.

Cars of all ages and colors line the brick-paved Lincoln Highway in downtown Woodbine, during its annual AppleFest, bringing thousands of tourists to the 6-block extravaganza.

Two smiling men in shorts pose at the entrance to The Sawmill Museum in the Lyon’s District of Clinton.

Three log cabins, large enough for visitors to enter and view artifacts and interpretation, and benches outside the sawmill glassed-in sawmill demonstration area, sit inside The Sawmill Museum in Clinton.

A new display of four “talking” heads of Clinton’s early lumber Kings are set inside picture frames on easels and stand ready for a push of a button to tell their stories for the visitor.

Youngville Station in rural Benton County is a striking image in wintertime with its white 2-story station/café combo with red trim and three red gas pumps out front.

Members of the Lincoln Highway Association gather at the entrance of the Youngville Station Café, a white two-story structure with red trim and three red gas pumps, while two parked old automobiles look on.

Checkered tablecloths and booths stand ready for hungry patrons at Youngville Station in rural Benton County

Bicyclists on RAGRAI, a week-long bike ride across Iowa, stop in Belle Plaine to visit Preston’s Station Historic District, a popular place for photos, with its famed one-story gas station’s white exterior adorned with metal automotive signs, the red gas pump out front, the Boy Scout concrete marker, and the doors open to the one-story white garage that is chock-full of George Preston’s memorabilia.

Metal automotive signs like “Firestone”and “Autolite Batteries”, the Lincoln Highway logo, and George Preston’s nameplate above the gas station door, adorn the white one-story wooden gas station in Belle Plaine since 1923.

A 3-D brick relief mural on the west side of the Belle Plaine Area Museum pays homage to early settlers who farmed the land, the Union Pacific rail line and Lincoln Highway that connected the town to the world, and the Jumbo Well, often called the 8th Wonder of the World, as it took 13 months to stem the flow of the artesian water.

The Reed-Niland Corner at the intersection of the Lincoln Highway and the Jefferson Highway (HWY 65) in Colo, Iowa contains white one-story structures of a gas station (now used as a museum), the original café (still operational) and several motel units (still operational).

Locals pooled their money to create unique side panels (balustrades) spelling out “LINCOLN HIGHWAY” on the 1915 concrete bridge over Mud Creek on the eastern edge of Tama, near the adjacent Lincoln Highway Bridge Park.

As an Eagle Scout project, an original Boy Scout of America concrete marker and interpretation was installed in the Lincoln Highway Bridge Park, within feet of the famed 1915 concrete bridge with side panels spelling out “Lincoln Highway.”

A black 1930’s Chevy Coupe crosses the 1915 Lincoln Highway Bridge over Mud Creek, heading west into Tama, Iowa.

A concrete memorial with the Lincoln Highway “L” logo was installed after the City of Colo renovated the Reed-Niland Corner and opened 5 connected motel units, each with their own entrance connected by a single sidewalk.

Bike riders on the 2019 RAGBRAI bike ride, a weeklong bike ride across Iowa, stop to fill their water bottles from at a make-shift hose spigot under the neon-lit “Colo Motel” sign.

The 1896 Romanesque Revival restored railroad depot in Carroll, now used by the Carroll Chamber of Commerce, is a two-story brick building with white trim, decorative transoms, and a tower on the northeast corner.

Several old-fashioned glowing streetlights with 4 orbs each, at night light the brick and concrete plaza and sidewalk in front of the 1896 Romanesque Revival restored railroad depot in Carroll and the roof line and attached tower is highlighted with white lights.

A custom-made table seating 16 comfortably and a counter space with a sink are utilized by many groups for meetings in the restored baggage room attached to the depot by a breezeway.

The white with red trim one-story restored “Brick Street Station”, with its blue entrance door and directional and mileage signs to Lincoln Highway’s eastern and western terminus, graces a section of the 11 blocks of brick on the Lincoln Highway in Woodbine, Iowa.

This last block of brick was restored in this residential area in 2018 after the city council decided not to blacktop it, but instead found the necessary funds to complete the restoration project.

This last block of brick was restored in this residential area in 2018 after the city council decided not to blacktop it, but instead found the necessary funds to complete the restoration project.

Aerial view of Harrison County Historical Village and Welcome Center shows ribbon sidewalks connecting the brown Welcome Center and attached two-story museum, a one-room school house, log cabin, many stairs to the overlook , in-ground concrete shape of the United States with Lincoln Highway marked in metal, road demonstration area with original brick, kids’ transportation themed playground with canopy gas station and cabin court building modeled after original structures, and a walking trail.

The overlook at the Harrison County Historical Village and Welcome Center’s concrete posts mimic the Boy Scout of America concrete markers and support the 5 metal railings with cutouts with the words “13 States”, “3389 Mi.”, “Lincoln”, “Highway”, “Est. 1913” making this a wonderful opportunity for a family of 5 to see the expansive views of the Boyer River Valley, the Lincoln Highway, and row crops as they disappear into the Loess Hills off into the horizon.

Under a shelter outside the Harrison County Historical Village and Welcome center, is a 4’x 8’ interpretive panel with 3 columns of text including photos of Carl Fisher, the idea man behind the Lincoln Highway; photos of Abraham Lincoln, for whom the road is named for; as well old maps of the route.