The Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast from Times Square to the Golden Gate [Hardcover]

Michael Wallis (Author), Michael S. Williamson (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 17, 2007

The best-selling author of Route 66 and a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer celebrate America's first transcontinental highway in all its neon glory.

It began in 1913 with a glorious new highway—stretching across 3,389 miles and 13 states—that connected the bright lights of Broadway with the foggy shores of San Francisco. It was a magnificent and meandering road that enticed millions of newly motoring Americans to hop into their Model Ts and explore the fading frontier. The Lincoln Highway. It was the road of Gettysburg, Pretty Boy Floyd, Notre Dame, the Great Salt Lake, and the Gold Rush Trail. Once a symbol of limitless potential, it is now undergoing (as Route 66 did twenty years ago) a miraculous revival. With hundreds of new and rare photographs provided by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Michael S. Williamson, this ode to a bygone era guides us across the true spine of the country, exploring vintage diners, Art Deco buildings, and funky roadside attractions, all waiting to be discovered. 300 color illustrations

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

One look at the retro artwork on the cover of this travel tome will tell you what's in store for you—a visit down memory lane the length of the U.S. Following the 3,000-mile Lincoln Highway—much of it has been replaced or renamed—from New York City's Times Square to San Francisco Bay, Wallis (Route 66: The Mother Road) expertly captures the oft-forgotten and offbeat sights and tales of an America bypassed by superhighways. Most every town, restaurant, mom-and-pop store the author encounters along The Main Street Across America has seen better days, but Wallis still takes the time to celebrate their classic architecture and down-home recipes. With an eye for details and a gift for storytelling, he moves just as smoothly between the role of tour guide and yarn spinner as he does between the road's history and its current incarnation. The juxtaposition between old and new is further underlined by the presentation of classic images and new photographs by Williamson. With a chapter dedicated to each of the 13 states that the highway passes through, this book will delight those looking to uncover their local roots as well as adventurers yearning for that American rite of passage—a cross-country road trip. (July)
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Review

If you liked Wallis' Route 66, you'll love The Lincoln Highway. -- Brian Butko, author of Greetings from the Lincoln Highway and Lincoln Highway Companion

It's just as good as Route 66, which is the highest praise one can give. Another volume of happy memories. -- Tony Hillerman, author of The Shape Shifter

The Lincoln Highway is lovingly resurrected here, with stubborn insistence on the details of its history. A visual, informed, and literate journey. -- Andrei Codrescu, author of New Orleans, Mon Amour

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition edition (July 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393059383
• ISBN-13: 978-0393059380
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #493,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book for travelers or dreamers, July 16, 2007

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast from Times Square to the Golden Gate (Hardcover)

Michael Wallis, author, movie voice over (sheriff in Cars) also authored Route 66 that has sold over 500,000 copies. He joined Pulitzer-prize winning photographer Michael S. Williamson to pay tribute to the America of a bygone era.

During this era, Americans got into their cars and drove across the country to sightsee or visit another city or family who has moved away.

The Great American Road Trip takes us across the middle of the country across California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York--3 states and 3,389 miles.

"If Route 66 was the `Mother Road'--as John Steinbeck wrote in his classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, then the Lincoln Highway is this country's "Father Road." Named after the 16th president, this highway is for travelers, not tourists--people who will take the change to be lead to memorable places or people that are off the beaten path.

The extensive photo gallery date back to 1910, some taken recently, others from Williamson's personal collection. You don't have to read a word to get the idea of the people and places along the route. But you will not want to miss Wallis' wonderful telling words.

The Lincoln Highway was so named in 1919, however it wasn't long before all highways got numbers, so it is also known as Hwy. 30. Unlike modern freeways that are straight slabs of concrete, this highway is a "crooked path" that reflects diversity of cafes, theatres, signs, people, bridges, etc.

Nothing is predictable on the Lincoln Highway--and what more fun could a trip be than unpredictable.

A fun book to look at and reminisce by the photos, postcards, stories, maps--even if you've never been in those area, they are the down-home America of another time.

Armchair Interviews says: A great gift for someone from those areas or who is a true traveler at heart. It will be enjoyed by all.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Nothing is predictable about a trip down the Lincoln Highway.", July 22, 2007

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast from Times Square to the Golden Gate (Hardcover)

This weighty coffee table book is rich with details and photographs, the long corridor of the Lincoln Highway appreciated by a new generation of travelers since the 1980s, a relic of our American past rediscovered by enthusiastic tourists motoring from state to state, the distinctive landmarks that define the vast geographic landscape of this country. Beginning with New York, the chapters address a parade of states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California, from east to west, a staggering panorama of roadside attractions, motels, restaurants and tourist attractions, a great scavenger hunt for the bizarre Americana of which we are so proud. Unable to release the quirky icons of our history, the ever-changing city landscapes retain relics of the past, signs and buildings that refuse to be relegated to obscurity.

How easy it would be to replace history with more modern pretensions; yet there is a reluctance to deny the eclectic images of a memorable America where individualism triumphs over corporate blandness. In text that addresses the particulars of each state and vivid complementary images, the book defines each place and the people who live there, their stories and family histories, generations of articulated hopes and dreams. These are the folks who fought world wars and settled in unfamiliar places, their tales speaking of a respect for hard work and the joy of accomplishment. Illinois boasts the Abe Lincoln Motel and the historical road alignment of the Lincoln Highway and Route 66, which run on the same road for three blocks trough Plainfield, Illinois. Nebraska has a chapter of the Lincoln Highway Association; since 1988, the city of Shelton has sponsored the annual Lincoln Highway Festival and Antique Car Show.

Heading west, Interstate 80 has made devastating inroads on the once-booming commerce along the (imaginary) border between Nebraska and Wyoming, a sad reminder that harried motorists and truckers haven't the luxury of visiting the old places. But the history is there for those with the inclination to bypass Interstate 80 for the Highway towns, Pine Bluffs, Burns and Hillsdale, all used as rail sidings by the Union Pacific. In the Pacific Time Zone, Nevada is rife with iconography, the giant figure of Wendover Will in West Wendover, the familiar miner's image that adorns the façade of Hotel Nevada in Ely, accoutrements of hardscrabble miners dotting the state all the way to Reno, "The Biggest Little City in the World". California, my home state, gets the shortest shrift in this impressive compilation of facts, Placerville singled out, as well as the restored Auburn Hotel in Auburn.

Although many historic landmarks are preserved here in photographs, there is an unfortunate tendency for the economics of the present to prevail over the nostalgia of the past. But for a brief time, traveling along Lincoln Highway from the east coast to the west, I am thrilled to rediscover the intimate face of this proud country. Accessible and refreshing, this book affords a great journey through the not-so-recent past. Luan Gaines/2007.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Lincoln Highway by Michael Wallis, August 9, 2007

By 

R. Rueff (Grants Pass, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast from Times Square to the Golden Gate (Hardcover)

I was very excited to receive this book, as I received my college degrees from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Il....I discovered during my time there that the main street through the old town was part of a national highway, so I was eager to explore it further.

I started to read this book, and found it interesting because of the amount of history that it covered in each state. But the further I got, the more I was annoyed by the writing. The writing seemed very simplistic, and I think it would be adequate for, say, a fifth grader. I almost felt insulted by the lack of any sophistication. On the other hand, the photographs are wonderful!! I think I will stop reading the book and just look at the photos instead; then I will feel as though I've gotten my money's worth.