The Lincoln Highway, one of the first transcontinental automobile highways in the United States, was conceived by Carl G Fisher and routed from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco. Built in the early 20th century through government, commercial and private support, it emerged from a period when manufacturers and related industries promote systematic, high-quality road development to replace scattered networks of unpaved local routes and pioneer trails. Fisher's proposal for a paved, well-marked coast-to-coast route lead to the formation of the Lincoln Highway Association in 1913, which selected the alignment, funded demonstration sections, and mounted extensive publicity campaigns. Communities along the route added their own promotional efforts, erecting Lincoln memorials and marking roadway segments; the booster-funded decorative railing of the Tama bridge in Iowa is a prime example. - AsNotedIn
| Y/M/D | Description | Place |
|---|---|---|
| 1912/00/00 | The state of Iowa has about 107,000 miles of road, most of these are referred to as "wagon" roads indicates their condition and their use. Iowa's mud is legendary, roads are virtually impassable in bad weather. | |
| 1912/00/00 | Prest-O-Lite manufacturer Carl G Fisher proposes that the nation should build a paved, well-marked transcontinental highway as a demonstration of modern road building, setting the idea that becomes the Lincoln Highway into motion. | |
| 1913/00/00 | Beginning in 1913, Carl Fisher develops the Lincoln Highway, from New York to San Francisco. | |
| 1913/09/14 | Transcontinental route of the Lincoln Highway is announced. Of the nearly 2,500,000 miles of roads in the United States, 93 percent are unimproved dirt roads. | |
| 1913/10/31 | A meeting will be held in every town along the Transcontinental Highway in Iowa on the night of October 31st to ratify the selection of it as the Lincoln Highway across the state. | Iowa, United States of America |
| 1914/10/00 | Using concrete donated by the Lehigh Portland Cement Company, construction work on the first "Seedling Mile" of the paving of the Lincoln Highway is begun early in October near Malta, Illinois, just west of DeKalb. | DeKalb, IL, Illinois |
| 1915/00/00 | Paul Kingsley constructs a reinforced-concrete bridge spanning the Tama Mud Creek in Tama, Iowa. The concrete letters that spell out "Lincoln Highway" in the railings were funded by local boosters eager to advertise the transcontinental highway. | Lincoln Highway Bridge, Tama, Tama, IA |
| 1915/03/01 | Celia D Clemmens, fommer employee at Lowden's Railroad Hotel, and her husband, A F, buy a corner lot at Main and Clinton Strs, on the Lincoln Highway. At the rear there is a livery stable, across the street a wagon shop and a buggy repository. | Lincoln Hotel, Lowden, Lowden, IA |
| 1928/00/00 | Lincoln Highway Marker (1), Jefferson |
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