5 minute read
The Lincoln Highway - PA
By Michael C. Upton, Freelance Writer
Fourteen states have access to one of America’s Top 10 Most Popular Road Trips, the Lincoln Highway. Pennsylvania claims a key stop on this route—Gettysburg—and provides plenty of other highlights along the road.
When the United States was a land of dusty, impassable roads cross-country travel was more a fantasy than a reality. Enter Carl Fisher, the visionary behind the Indianapolis Motor Speedway who dreamed of a transcontinental highway that would link the nation from coast to coast. His ambitious project, the Lincoln Highway, was—and still is—a patriotic tribute stretching from New York City to San Francisco.
By 1921, the highway had evolved into a symbol of progress, sparking the federal government’s investment in road infrastructure. Though it eventually merged into the U.S. highway system, the Lincoln Highway remained a cultural icon, immortalized by Boy Scouts who marked its route with Lincoln busts. Today, the Lincoln Highway is a testament to America’s pioneering spirit, with its legacy preserved by enthusiasts who continue to celebrate this historic road. The Pennsylvania section of the route stretches 292 miles from Morrisville on the Delaware River to Glasgow before entering Ohio.
ADAMS COUNTY and GETTYSBURG
If driving along this route is a history-based endeavor, plan to spend plenty of time in Gettysburg. The David Wills House, on Lincoln Square, is where Abraham Lincoln spent the night before delivering the Gettysburg Address. Part of the Seminary Ridge Museum is housed in one of the largest field hospitals during the Civil War and today features knowledgeable guides and even an escape room. Both stops, and many more, are located along Route 30, a.k.a. Lincoln Highway.
In the surrounding countryside, the route travels through some of the nation’s most fertile orchards. The Historic Round Barn in Biglerville is one of only a few of its architectural design still standing in the United States. It serves as a market today selling local produce (especially apples), goods, and souvenirs. Thirsty Farmer Brew Works is located across the street. The interactive Adams County Crop Hop guides visitors traveling Lincoln Highway to a handful of markets, boutique stores, and orchards to acquire “checkins” for discounts and prizes.
FULTON COUNTY
Lincoln Highway enters Fulton County east of McConnellsburg in a valley known for its bucolic landscape. Be on the lookout for barn quilts— large, colorful, painted wood or metal squares hung on the outside of buildings to resemble quilt blocks—as the area holds many of the more than 200 barn quilts comprising the Frontier Barn Quilt trail. Other highlights along this section include Cowans Gap State Park and Burnt Cabins Grist Mill.
SOMERSET & WESTMORELAND COUNTIES
As the route climbs through the Laurel Highlands the views become increasingly spectacular. But these hills became part of the national interest for a far more somber reality. One of four aircraft hijacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001, was downed in a field only a few miles from the Lincoln Highway. The Flight 93 National Memorial is a five-minute detour, but a must visit—plan to spend several hours here. Afterwards, a stop at Forbes Trail Brewing can help elevate the mood and the brewery always has a beer on tap with proceeds going toward memorial maintenance.
In Westmoreland County, Route 30 passes through the picturesque borough of Ligonier. Side stops include downtown shops, the Compass Inn Museum, and a reconstructed British fort taking travelers back to the 18th century. Heading west toward Latrobe—the home of Mr. Rogers and the banana split—drivers can stop in at the Lincoln Highway Experience, a foundation and museum dedicated to the Lincoln Highway in Pennsylvania.
OLD and NEW
Over the years the Lincoln Highway endured route changes, with the most significant variations coming in 1928. This was also the year Boys Scouts placed markers along the route on the average of one per mile. In Pennsylvania, many of the changes appeared in and around Philadelphia, with Center City detoured after the first round of alterations. Between Lancaster and York Counties a new bridge over the Susquehanna River only moved the route slightly, but as Route 30 became a larger east/west road for state travel, small towns—especially in the western part of the state—veered off 30’s new design.
The greatest change occurred in 1928 when the Lincoln Highway left Pittsburgh on a more southern route. This deviation allowed the famed road to enter West Virginia. Whether you leave the state near Hookstown or across the Ohio River in Glasgow, there is plenty to recollect on this memorial highway.
