Belle Plaine Museum | An American Songline

The modern Lincoln Highway Association had its rebirth in Iowa, and for good reason – many of the historic roads and places on the route are still unchanged and/or in use today. Agriculture is still the prominent industry along the route as it would haven been across the nation a century ago. The road has been categorized as a “Heritage Byway” by the state, and the signage here is excellent. You even have the options to take special loop sections along the original gravel routes to really get the old experience of what the route would have been like long ago.

My travels in Iowa thus far on the original route have been tricky. Due to the excessive rain in the state, many low-lying areas and rivers have flooded, and this includes some of the original gravel stretches in Eastern Iowa. Now normally I wouldn’t balk at a little water on the road, but when it has a current running through it, I didn’t want to take the chance. Between the Iowa mud (known as “gumbo”) and the rain travelers faced on the Lincoln Highway 100 years ago, I can see why many travelers turned back at this point.

Before I left Illinois, I received an unexpected but very cool phone call. A 94 year old man by the name of John Schild (known as “Dick” by most), heard of what I was doing. He then asked if we were related, as he had a cousin with the last name of “Otto”. I told him I wasn’t sure, but between us being possibly related, what I was doing for my project, and just exchanging general pleasantries, I had an invitation to visit and tour Belle Plaine, Iowa with John who had spent his whole life in town watching the Lincoln Highway grow and change before his eyes.

I spent about whole day touring the whole city with him, plus I had the pleasure of also having lunch at the Lincoln Cafe and afternoon conversation with him and Bill Sankot, the owner of the Sankot Garage, a place that is on the National Register of Historic Places. The intermittent rain that day facilitated some of the deepest conversations I’ve had on this tour thus far. Back in the heydays of the highway, men would gather at the garage to talk about the news of the day. This particular gloomy Wednesday in June, a 94 year old (Dick), a 60 something year old (Bill), and a 30 something year old (me) sat in the same garage and talked for hours about any and every topic you can think of in society. What did I (Cece) think of the country’s future? Are computers really the downfall of human society? If you could have one modern thing to take back with you a 100 years ago, what would it be? Take these questions and sprinkle in fun stories and anecdotes from our lives (including a few famous people), and you have an amazing, living aural history right in front of you. By the time my day had come to a close my brain was swimming with so much information, I was relieved I had recorded about 80% of our conversations that day.

Before you check out all of the cool photos in the picture gallery below, here’s a couple websites that give more information about the pictures below.

1) Belle Plaine Museum: This museum is quite a find for the area, and has several wonderful collections. A must stop for any Lincoln Highway buff.

2) Youngville Café: Built in 1931, this was a fully functioning gas station, café, and small cabin court along the highway until the late 1960’s. It too is also on the National Register of Historic Places, and now is open a couple days a week for lunch.

And now onto the gallery!

Here’s what both the modern and old Iowa Lincoln Highway Signs looks like.

I’m guessing Lincoln Highway travelers encountered high water like this along the road 100 years ago, but unlike me they didn’t have another route to follow!

Located in Mt Vernon, this is an abandoned stretch of brick road.

Here’s a section of the Mt. Vernon Brick section that has some special details about it.

This abandoned stretch of the Lincoln has a beautiful example of what early an concrete road looks like.

Here’s some detail of the concrete in the abandoned stretch.

Here’s the sign for the Seedling Mile in this part of Iowa which is East of Cedar Rapids.

You can see the change in the pavement in this photo from the original seedling mile pavement to the regular road asphalt that we use today.

This banner on Dick’s barn will greet all of the drivers from a few car tours this summer.

Dick showed me this old picture of what the tourist camp would have looked like along the original route back in the 1920s.

The Lincoln Cafe is another great old stop along the Lincoln, and they’ve got great food.

The Henry Tippie Annex is a great new exhibit in the museum. A prominent businessman, you can see his top ten rules for life.

Some great old sheet music on a piano in the music room of the museum.

Belle Plaine’s piano player reel collection is huge. They have about 200 rolls of music that can still be heard on their player pianos.

This is one of the most beautiful chandeliers I’ve ever seen. On display at the Belle Plaine Museum, this Egerman glass chandelier is a wonderful example of what was the Czech people created with glass in the 1920s. My blue necklace is also made of Czech glass from this period.

Here’s some cool old hotel signs from the Herring Hotel. We’ll see some of the building in later shots.

The Sankot Garage has been a fixture of the Lincoln Highway and Belle Plaine since the 1920s.

Here’s the Neon Sign outside the garage.

Interior shot of the Sankot Garage. Had my father been alive to see this place, I’m guessing he never would have left there! I’ve never seen so many different car parts.

Here’s another view of the front room in the Sankot Garage.

Detail of the Sankot front room’s floor.

Old Clock in the Sankot Garage, which Bill roughly dated to the 40s.

This is an old Edison Trickle Charger. This was used to charge old car batteries.

Here’s a picture of the Model A that Bill is currently restoring. They fired it up, and it runs great!

From Left to Right: Bill Sankot, Me, and John “Dick” Schild

Dick drove me in/around Belle Plaine so I could see some of the original gravel roads of the LH. Here’s the view from the car.

The Herring Hotel was an operating hotel in the heydays of the highway in Belle Plaine. It’s currently under renovation, and hopefully will be restored to its glory.

Dick can around the corner to talk to the owner to see if we could get in so I could take some photos of the area. While I was waiting I took this detail of the original floor.

A few pieces of the hotels’ original ceiling still appear.

Preston’s Garage in Belle Plaine is an important fixture of the highway. It originally was a working gas station on the original route, but when the route was moved in the 20s, the building was pulled by a horse team to the location where it is today.

Anyone who loves old signs will love stopping to view this place.

The Youngville Cafe is one of those place that you wish was open all of time. Open for lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays afternoons, as well as on Fridays for pie and the Farmer’s Market. This early 1930s cafe has been restored beautifully from top to bottom, and is run only by volunteers.

View of the Lincoln Highway from inside the Youngville Cafe.

LOVE this sign, and want it in my kitchen!

Listed on the National Historic Register, Tama’s Lincoln Highway Bridge was built in 1915.

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