The Lincoln Highway, Interstate 80 and a 2006 Show
In spring 2006 a Cambridge, Ontario gallery showed black-and-white photographs of the old Lincoln Highway route in the western United States. The photographer, Donald McKay, taught at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture, which has its campus in Cambridge. A Lincoln Highway Association news page picked up the announcement, and that link ties the subject to Cambridge. Below are notes on the road and the school.
Quick facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Road | Lincoln Highway, coast to coast from New York City to San Francisco |
| Dedicated | October 31, 1913 |
| Original length | 3,389 miles (5,454 km) |
| Modern successor | Interstate 80 for much of its length |
| Photographer | Donald McKay, School of Architecture, University of Waterloo |
| Exhibition | March 7 to April 9, 2006 (from the original announcement) |
The Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway was conceived in 1912 by the Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher and formally dedicated on October 31, 1913. It was one of the first transcontinental highways in the United States and one of the first designed for automobiles. It ran from Times Square in New York to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, and originally crossed 13 states, among them Wyoming, Utah and Nevada. The Lincoln Highway Association, set up in 1913, promoted and signed the road.
In 1919 an Army motor convoy crossed the country on the route. One participant, Lieutenant Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower, later cited the experience in connection with his support for the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which funded the Interstate system.
Replacement by Interstate 80
After the U.S. Numbered Highway System began in 1926, most of the route became US 30 between Pennsylvania and Wyoming. When the Interstate Highway System took shape in the 1950s, the old alignments were largely superseded by Interstate 80. I-80 was designated in 1956, its last segment opened in 1986, and it runs about 2,900 miles from San Francisco to the New York area. It is the Interstate that most closely follows the Lincoln Highway.
In parts of Wyoming, Utah and California, I-80 is paved directly over old Lincoln Highway alignments. Elsewhere the old road survives beside it, carrying less traffic. Between Cheyenne and Laramie in Wyoming, a monument to the association's first president, Henry B. Joy, was relocated in 2001 to a spot on I-80. Sherman Summit, east of Laramie, is the highest point on the entire Interstate at 8,640 feet, and a bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln stands at a rest area there.
The School of Architecture in Cambridge
The University of Waterloo School of Architecture is part of the Faculty of Engineering and is on a satellite campus in Cambridge. It moved in September 2004 into a former factory building, partly to support downtown activity. The building is the Riverside Silk Mill in Galt, also known as the Tiger Brand Building. A gallery there, Design at Riverside, is described as one of two publicly funded galleries in Canada dedicated to architecture.
The 2006 exhibition
According to the original announcement, McKay followed the 1919 route of the Lincoln Highway alongside I-80 and photographed what he called a cultural fault line between the America of the present and the one left behind. The show ran from March 7 to April 9, 2006. These details have not been checked against another source.
Frequently asked questions
What was the Lincoln Highway? One of the first coast-to-coast roads for motor vehicles in the United States, dedicated in 1913.
Does the Lincoln Highway still exist? Parts do, under names such as US 30 and as local roads. Much of it was replaced by Interstate 80.
Where is the University of Waterloo School of Architecture? In Cambridge, Ontario, in the former Riverside Silk Mill in Galt.
When did the school move to Cambridge? In September 2004.
How long is Interstate 80? About 2,900 miles (4,668 km).
Sources
Wikipedia articles on the Lincoln Highway, Interstate 80, the University of Waterloo School of Architecture and Hespeler, Ontario.