OHIO AT MICHIGAN:
IMPORTANT HOLDINGS FROM THE STATE OF OHIO

THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY COLLECTION

One of the most interesting and heavily used archives in the Transportation History Collection is that of the Lincoln Highway Association. Formed by Carl Fisher (president of the Prest-O-Lite Co.) and Henry B. Joy (president of Packard Motor Co.) in Detroit, Michigan, in 1913, the Association was created to plan, construct, and promote the first transcontinental highway in North America. A number of Ohioans served as officers or board members, including F.A. Seiberling (president of the Seiberling Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio), John N. Willys (president of the Willys-Overland Co., Toledo, Ohio), and G.M. Stadelman (president of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co, Akron, Ohio).

The route, consisting of existing and newly built roads, ran from New York to San Francisco. It was completed in 1927 and portions of it are still in use today. The archive consists of photographs, correspondence, meeting minutes, and maps that were given to Michigan’s Transportation Library after the Association disbanded and closed its offices upon completion of the project.

Snow Plow Clearing the Lincoln Highway near Bucyrus, Ohio (1920?). Silver gelatin print.

Panoramic view of The Lincoln Highway Association’s “Official Lincoln Highway Packard” four and a half miles east of Mansfield, Ohio (1926). Silver gelatin print.

Of the over 2,800 photographs taken by field secretaries and other officials of the Association, some 200 photographs document the route that the Highway follows through central Ohio. The photographs, roughly spanning the years 1915 through 1927, show the preferred scenic route, but they also show construction underway, vehicles, and landmarks. The 1924 Complete Official Road Guide of the Lincoln Highway describes the Ohio route as “comprising the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, in the eastern part of the state, changes as the motorist drives westward to the rich rolling farm land where so much of the vast wealth of the state originates.” Shown above is an interesting shot of a very early motorized snowplow, clearing the Highway near Bucyrus. Bucyrus today is still known for actively preserving and promoting the section of the old road that runs through it. This photograph also memorializes the distinctive brick and mortar pillars which served as the markers along the road. It is in


Crawford County that these markers were first built, an effort spearheaded by State Consul John E. Hopley. Four pillars can still be found standing in Ohio. Also shown, above, is a panoramic shot of lovely rolling farmland east of Mansfield.