Stumbling onto "The Main Street Across America"

Following our noses south out of Toledo, Linda and I found ourselves in the twin community of Tama looking for their Carnegie library. The address I had turned out to be their current library so that was a bust but ...

Out front of the new library was the concrete post you can see in the image in the lower left. The medallion embedded in the concrete is captured in the center image; the inscription reads "This highway dedicated to Abraham Lincoln." Curiouser and curiouser. As we left the library, I saw an oddly painted telephone pole (wonder how much longer we'll be calling them that!) It had the same red, white, and blue striping as on the side of the concrete post and the same blue 'L' on the white. Having run into a similar use of poles with the White Pole Road, we had a clue.

We stayed on the street with the pole and soon came across the very unique concrete bridge shown in the upper and lower images. The side rails were formed to spell out "Lincoln Highway." Nearby was a plaque with the following inscription:

The Historic "Lincoln Highway" Bridge

This bridge, constructed in 1915, was an early advertisement for the Lincoln Highway, which was the first successful effort to mark, promote, and build an automobile highway spanning the United States. Initiated in 1913 as a memorial to the martyred president, the Lincoln Highway linked Iowa to both coasts and crossed the state by way of Tama. Motorists today can travel the original route through the city by following signs that begin at the bridge and continue west on 5th Street. Guard rails spelling out the name on both sides make this a unique bridge on the Lincoln Highway. On March 30, 1978, the briedge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and community donations paid for its restoration in 1987. It stands as a dramatic reminder of a time when few roads were paved and the campaign to "Get out of the mud" had just begun.

We'd stumbled across the Lincoln Highway! Another nice find!