Ninth in a series of posts about visiting Colorado and Wyoming.
Summit Rest Area & Visitor’s Center
Top-lofty Lincoln Monument overlooks Highway
We had read that one site to stop at was the Old Lincoln Highway Monument, with a sculpture of the head of Abraham Lincoln. Well, we had no idea where it was when it suddenly loomed ahead overlooking Interstate 80 east of Laramie. It really was a “whoa” moment. It is quite stunning to behold, whether from a distance, or close up.
It’s an easy off, on to stop at the monument and Summit Rest Area. Why is the sculture there? The sculpture was commissioned in 1959 by Wyoming’s Parks Commission. It honors Lincoln’s 150th birthday and the highest point of the Lincoln Highway. The head of Lincoln is two tons and 12 ¹⁄₂ feet high and resting on a 30-foot-tall granite pedestal.
What’s the significance of the Old Lincoln Highway?
According to The Old Lincoln Highway Brochure, the road was America’s first coast-to-coast highway. It was established in 1913 by The Lincoln Highway Association, a private visionary group of investors. Henry B. Joy, president of Packard Motor Car Company, was the first president of the association.
When it opened in 1913, no structured highway maintenance system existed. Each county had to take care of its own section with the help of volunteers. Back then, in the still early days of the automobile, they shared roads with horse-drawn vehicles. Regulations and standards were still evolving. There were no speed limits or drivers licenses.
Motorists were mostly on their own to find their way along a route that could quickly vanish under heavy snow, thick mud or spring floods. The Lincoln Highway Association had their red, white and blue logo painted on telegraph poles and fence posts every few miles. That way drivers knew that they had not lost the road.
As the Lincoln Highway era came to a close in 1928, one of the Association’s last acts was to have Boy Scouts install standardized concrete markers with bronze Lincoln medallions. This was so that the route’s dedication to Abraham Lincoln would not be forgotten.
The Lincoln Highway Association revived in 1992 and holds conventions and other activities. Visit their website to find out more about the Old Lincoln Highway. If you like transportation history, you may enjoy learning about this group.
The Eisenhower Connection
In 1919, then-Lt. Col. Dwight D. Eisenhower was part of an 81-vehicle military convoy that drove the entire 3,250-mile Lincoln Highway. The trip took 62 days and required much rebuilding of bridges along the way.
After that experience, Eisenhower urged the Federal government to make road improvement a priority. Thirty-eight years later, in 1956, when President, Eisenhower signed into law the act funding the Interstate Highway System, initiating the largest public works project in US history.
The Eisenhower Presidential Library has many photos of the 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy that Eisenhower led. Here are some, including those taken in East Wyoming and Laramie, Wyoming.
Henry Joy of the Packard Motor Car Company not forgotten
Henry Joy’s wish was to be buried along the Lincoln Highway. Instead, his relatives chose to erect a monument, which is part of the Summit Rest Area. The site includes four of the cement Lincoln Highway markers in salute to his role in the creation of the Lincoln Highway.
Visit the Summit Rest Stop and Visitor’s Center or download this brochure for further information about the monuments there and history of the Old Lincoln Highway.
Getting our bearings in Laramie
There are two information centers in Laramie. Due to where we parked, we headed to the one on Ivinson Ave. We had a little trouble finding it. It’s also the Laramie Main Street Office which shares a storefront and it wasn’t readily apparent that it was there. The signage wasn’t great. But the person there was awesome! Enthusiastic and full of tips about visiting Laramie and places where we could enjoy a meal outside. She gave us some great brochures including walking tour guides of the town.
Go to the next blog post, Old West Adventure – Laramie, to read about what we found while walking Historic Downtown Laramie.