Duncan | An American Songline

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” –Jack Kerouac

With the nearing centennial celebration coming up this weekend in central Nebraska, the highway came to life on a whole other level as soon as I crossed the border. From billboard signs to little Lincoln highway signs taped to telephone poles, the whole state is “Thinkin’ Lincoln” and rightfully so. This past weekend, hundreds of cars of varying ages, makes, and models left both San Francisco and New York City and are heading this way right now. While I’ve certainly longed for this weekend and to see my fellow LHA Members for the conference next week (it will be amazing on so many levels), I have to admit it’s been a little weird to see the metaphorical “wrinkles smoothed over” of the towns I’ve been going through in the last couple days. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see all of the changes and celebrate the highway, but I also wonder what the towns look like when there are no celebrations going on. Are there many Lincoln Highway signs up, or would one get lost trying to find everything? It’s something to think about.

The photos in today’s post are from Scranton, Iowa all the way to Central City, Nebraska. Landscapes start to change from corn fields to rolling hills. The city of Omaha breaks up the highway’s routine of being sleepy and quaint. You drive parallel to a major train route, and you see trains coming and going constantly. Traffic is busier than you would think as it’s still a major thoroughfare for the area. Roads are narrower (with minimal to no shoulder) to keep their historic integrity in some parts, which makes it tricky to drive when it’s super windy as I experienced. You’ll see a TON of brick roads that have been preserved by various communities that I passed through, and it’s interesting to see how different the bricks look in each place. My favorite finds below are the following (and you’ll see pictures of all of this below):

1) The Village of Boys Town – This place is a must stop for you if you take the original route. They do amazing work, and there are several places that visitors can tour. It’s an important part of the highway’s history (as well as US history) that I fear may be overlooked at times.

2) Elkhorn Brick Road Stretch: You’ll find this west of Boys Town. 3.5 miles of a perfectly preserved brick road including signs, markers, and bridges.

3) The “Avenus of Trees” in Duncan: In the heart of Duncan you’ll see two rows of trees which used to flank the original route.

4) Gardiner Station Section: This can be found in between Duncan and Silver Creek, and here you’ll see an iron truss bridge with a wooden plank floor in amazing condition.

New GPS using world, meet the Old Brick stretch of the highway.

These two Lincoln Busts (fully restored) now look over the corner of the LH in Scranton.

I was struck by this part of the road, and had to pull over to photograph it.

My pictures from Woodbine somehow all ended up being taken in Black and White. Here’s one of them.

This stretch of the Lincoln in downtown Woodbine is fully bricked, and it’s about a mile and a half in total.

Detail of Woodbine bricks. This photo I changed from B&W picture to a more Sepia/Antique finish.

At the intersection of Dodge and Saddle Creek Roads in Omaha, you can see this billboard. Sutter’s Creek Mill is right there, and is one of the oldest buildings on the route.

Here’s a picture of Saddle Creek Bridge, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Located right off the original route, Boys Town has been changing the lives of children for almost 100 years. This original sign now hangs in the Visitors Center.

This is the biggest ball of stamps, which is also in the Boys Town Visitors Center. Read the next Photo to get the details.

This Sign was used in the movie “Boys Town”, which starred Mickey Rooney and Spencer Tracy.

Spencer Tracy won the Oscar for his portrayal of Father Flanagan in the movie Boys Town, and he gave it to Father Flanagan. There are two inscriptions on the base showing both Tracy’s official inscription, and the one he added for Fr. Flanagan. It’s my first time I’ve ever seen an Oscar in person, and it was truly a sight to behold.

From 1928-1938, Fr. Flanagan and some talented boys toured around in the area giving performances. As time went on their popularity grew, so much so they started to tour nationally, and then were given a weekly radio show.

Here’s a detail of this reproduced trailer. Again, I love taking pictures of the old sheet music!

Just outside of Elkhorn, NE is one of the longest (if not the longest) preserved brick stretch of the highway. It’s about 3.5 miles in total and has several LH markers along the route. There’s A huge plaque in the middle of the stretch, but it was covered in a tarp. I’m guessing it will be unveiled when the car tour comes through. Can someone please send me a photo of this plaque?

Old LH Pole marker that has been repainted along the route.

Detail of this brick again, but this time showing what the curb looked like.

Here’s what the Lincoln Highway signs look like in Nebraska. They do continue on the route from what I’ve seen so far, but are not seem as regularly as in other states.

This Truss Bridge has been reconstructed as well along the route.

Again, more picturesque brick sections that I had to photograph. So beautiful.

Found this folk art right after I was finished driving the brick section in Elkhorn. Everyone’s thinkin’ Lincoln!

Here’s a brick stretch in Fremont, NE, the next town after Elkhorn. Note it’s a little different than the Elkhorn stretch.

This 1921 Statue of Lincoln was made and placed by the Mullins company, and was made by the same people who made the statue in Wilkinsburg, PA (see my Pittsburgh post for that picture).

This Mural of Columbus commemorates the town’s Sesquicentennial (1856 – 2006). It notes pivotal historic points for the town, including Buffalo Bill’s debut in the Wild West Show here, as well the Columbus arch which welcomed Lincoln Highway travelers in the 1940s and 1950s.

I don’t know much about the Columbus theatre, but I do know it was built in 1926 in the art deco style and is on the historic register. If anyone else has any other stories about this theatre let me know!

Built in 1920, the Gottberg building used to assemble and sell Fords. Today it is a restaurant and brewpub, which makes great batches of homemade root beer.

This Lincoln Highway Garage in Columbus was built in 1915, and is part of the Lincoln Highway Garage Associations (along with many others).

Built in 1876, Glur’s Tavern is supposedly the oldest continuously operated tavern west of the Missouri River.

This is the first time I’ve seen this sign on this tour. I know it’s meant for the car tour that’s coming up behind me, but it’s still nice to feel a part of it.

The “Avenue of Trees” is located in midtown Duncan, NE just east of Columbus. These rows of trees show where the original highway used to go.

While walking the Avenue of Trees, I cam upon these flowers growing where the road used to be.

Just outside of Duncan look for the “Historical Landmark” sign and follow it. There you’ll find the 2 mile Gardiner Station section of the original highway as well as this iron truss bridge with a wooden plank floor. This bridge is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

View of the bridge from the road. This bridge can hold a maximum weight of 8 tons, but I still felt nervous driving it as you can imagine.

Next down the road from Duncan is Clarks, and this is the first of two murals in the town.

There were more bricks in Clarks! As you can see, they were laid in a different pattern at this intersection. The bricks were laid this way to prevent them from “stacking” as iron wagon wheels would turn corners in the early 1900s.

Here’s the 2nd Mural you can find in Clarks.

I thought this sign was an interesting commentary.

A toad hopped out to say hello while I was photographing in Clarks. My first toad I met on this tour was named “Frank” in Hanna’s town in Pennsylvania, maybe this is Frank’s western cousin?

Biggest welcome sign ever. Central City has an interesting past when it comes to the highway. In the 1916 guidebook (as well as one of the songs I perform on tour) there’s a special warning in the margins noting that Lincoln Highway markers were removed by the “Local antagonistic influence”.

The next week will be crazy for me blogging-wise as I have performances in several places over the next 8 days including: Grand Island, Kearney, North Platte, and Sutherland Nebraska. I will post in real time when I can on my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, so if you want to check in to see how things are going until the next blog post you can visit me there. Until then everyone, safe travels wherever you may and have a Happy 4th of July weekend!