Enthusiasts mark Lincoln Hwy’s 100th

OMAHA, Neb. — Some stretches of the historic coast- to- coast Lincoln Highway over the next week could look like a scene straight out of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel.

Two processions of Model Ts, Model As and other cars are setting out this weekend, making their way from New York and San Francisco to the midpoint of Kearney, Neb., to celebrate the 100th year of the Lincoln Highway, considered to be the nation’s first transcontinental highway.

History buffs, roadtrippers and auto-lovers alike are marking the anniversary. The two- day Centennial Celebration in Kearney begins June 30 with the arrival of some 300 antique cars in the city’s downtown, brick-cobbled streets. On July 1 — the 100th birthday of the highway— the celebration moves to the Great Platte River Road Archway at Kearney that spans Interstate 80.

Predating America’s highway system created in 1926, the Lincoln Highway system was a private venture proposed in 1912 by Carl Fisher — an automobile entrepreneur and a founder of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway — and several other entrepreneurs tied to the fledgling automobile industry.

The group decided to name the highway for former president Abraham Lincoln, said Brian Butko, a Lincoln Highway historian who has written books about the iconic route.

It was no accident, he said, that the men incorporated the highway on July 1, 1913 — 50 years after the beginning of the Battle of Gettysburg, a turning point in the Civil War.

The highway was cobbled together over years from existing trails and beside easy terrain, such as along rivers and rail lines. It was not, however, what most think of as a highway today. Many parts of the route remained unpaved, and even improved sections often were paved with bricks.

A few areas of the road remain much as they did 100 years ago, said Paul Gilger, president of the California chapter of The Lincoln Highway Association.

“There’s no telephone poles; there’s no cellphone service; there are no signs. You really feel what it must have been like to come across the country in 1913.