Lincoln Highway PA by Brian Butko


Lincoln Highway - Media Information

Click below for press releases about this book. To access the hi-res pictures:
1) click on the thumbnail for a full-size image, 2) right-click (Mac users just click and hold) to download.

Please credit the book The Lincoln Highway: Pennsylvania Traveler's Guide 2nd Edition by Brian Butko.
For more information, contact Stackpole Books at (800) 732-3669 or sales@stackpolebooks.com

PRESS RELEASE #1
300 Words

PRESS RELEASE #2
800 Words

PRESS RELEASE #3
10 facts about the Lincoln Hwy in PA

Book cover of The Lincoln Highway: Pennsylvania Traveler's Guide 2nd Edition by Brian Butko. Author Brian Butko with one of the few remaining 1928 Lincoln Highway concrete markers. This one is in Forest Hills, east of Pittsburgh. This Gulf publication from the mid-1910s had a map and directions to guide motorists across Pennsylvania on the Lincoln Highway. An old bridge still crosses Poquessing Creek, the divider between Philadelphia and Bucks counties. This Lincoln Highway remnant is just a few yards from Roosevelt Blvd./Route 1. The 1920s Anthony Wayne Theater in Wayne, about 12 miles west of downtown Philadelphia. The Italian Villa restaurant, east of Lancaster, has been incorporated into an adjacent Rodeway Inn. Old postcards advertised "A touch of Italy in Dutchland." The Shoe House, west of Hallam, was built by Mahlon Haines in 1948 as the ultimate advertising gimmick to promote his shoe business. The Modernaire Motel still serves travelers on the east side of York. The Lincoln Highway here is now marked Route 462. A pennant from Bill's Place, a mountaintop attraction east of Breezewood. Bill's was destroyed about 1968 when the Pa. Turnpike was rerouted. The Coffee Pot, on Bedford's west end, in better days. Plans are underway to restore the café. Cabins at the Lincoln Motor Court on Tull's Hill, west of Bedford. A Curt Teich postcard view of the S.S. Grand View Ship Hotel, a year after it opened in 1932. The Ship closed about 1990 and burned down in 2001. A vintage postcard of the Blue Dell swimming pool in East McKeesport. The giant pool closed about 1990 and has since been replaced. The Westinghouse Bridge opened in 1932 to avoid traffic tie-ups caused by the Westinghouse Electric plants in Turtle Creek valley. Looking west along a yellow brick stretch of Lincoln Highway in Glenfield, northwest of Pittsburgh.
Feel free to use these images, but please credit the book
The Lincoln Highway: Pennsylvania Traveler's Guide 2nd Edition by Brian Butko.

Also see my Lincoln Highway postcards and Ship Hotel pages.

PRESS RELEASE #1 - 300 words

LINCOLN HIGHWAY ACROSS PENNSYLVANIA EXPLORED IN NEW BOOK

The Shoe House near York, the Coffee Pot in Bedford, and the Airplane Diner in Penndell are just some of the hundreds of roadside attractions explored in The Lincoln Highway: Pennsylvania Traveler's Guide 2nd Edition.

Pop culture historian Brian Butko, known for his books on diners and Klondike ice cream bars, has completely revised his book on America's first coast-to-coast automobile road. The new edition features 330 completely different photographs.

"So many great images surfaced after the first edition debuted six years ago that I couldn't resist using them. It never seemed like work - it was fun looking for new pictures and postcards."

Many places photographed for the original book have since disappeared.

"We knew the roadscape was changing," says Butko, "but once you're out on the highway, you realize just how quickly businesses come and go."

The S.S. Grand View Hotel near Bedford is a perfect example. Opened in 1932, the "Ship" fascinated everyone who saw what appeared to be a steamboat on the side of a mountain. It seemed like it was always there and always would be - until October 2001, when it burned down.

"It was probably the best-known roadside attraction," says Butko. "Souvenirs from it can be found across the country. It was both fun and elegant. The fire is heartbreaking to anyone who remembers it in its heyday."

There are more subtle changes happening along the road too.

"Sometimes it's replacing a neon sign with plastic, or new owners introducing a different menu at a diner, but there's always something changing on the Lincoln Highway."

The Lincoln Highway: Pennsylvania Traveler's Guide 2nd Edition, published by Stackpole Books, is available at all bookstores and online booksellers.

Visit http://www.brianbutko.com to learn more about Brian Butko's three books, all published by Stackpole, plus his forthcoming projects.

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PRESS RELEASE #2 - 800 words

LINCOLN HIGHWAY ATTRACTIONS IN PENNSYLVANIA EXPLORED IN NEW BOOK

The Shoe House near York, the Coffee Pot in Bedford, and the Airplane Diner in Penndell are just some of the hundreds of roadside attractions explored in The Lincoln Highway: Pennsylvania Traveler's Guide 2nd Edition.
Pop culture historian Brian Butko, known for his books on diners and Klondike ice cream bars, has completely revised his book on America's first coast-to-coast automobile road. The Lincoln Highway was established in 1913. With the government not yet involved in road-building, the road was mostly underwritten by the manufacturers of cars and accessories.
The new edition of Butko's book features 330 completely different photographs.
"So many great images surfaced after the first edition debuted six years ago that I couldn't resist using them. It never seemed like work - it was fun looking for new pictures and postcards."
Many places photographed for the original book have since disappeared.
"We knew the roadscape was changing," says Butko, "but once you're out on the highway, you realize just how quickly businesses come and go."
The S.S. Grand View Hotel near Bedford is a perfect example. Opened in 1932, the "Ship" fascinated everyone who saw what appeared to be a steamboat on the side of a mountain. It seemed like it was always there and always would be - until October 2001, when it burned down.
"It was probably the best-known roadside attraction," says Butko. "Souvenirs from it can be found across the country. It was both fun and elegant. The fire is heartbreaking to anyone who remembers it in its heyday."
While some of the great old attractions have disappeared, many can still be found on a one-day trip.
"Not too far from the Ship is the Lincoln Motor Court, a precursor to today's motels. The shady site has a dozen cabins arranged in a U. They're faced with Insulbrick and each one has a couple metal lounge chairs out front. It's a real time warp to visit or stay overnight."
The motel opened in 1945. Owners Debbie and Bob Altizer have run the place since 1983. At one time, it was called the Country Comfort Motel, but the Altizers changed it back to capitalize on interest in the old road. Bob even named his other business Lincoln Highway Photography.
While the motor court is in a rural setting, other businesses have had commerce surround them. East of Lancaster, the mid-century strip of Amish-themed attractions has given way to outlet malls and fast foods. Recent years have seen a tourist farm fall to Wal-Mart and a motel/restaurant replaced by a music theater, but a few remain and are thriving.
Dutch Haven, easily identifiable by its tall windmill, can be traced back to at least 1946, when Roy and Alice Weaver opened the restaurant and gift shop. They served classic Pennsylvania Dutch staples like "bot boi" (chicken pot pie) and Amish-style turkey filling, and even made their own root beer and pretzels.

Current owner Paul Stahl bought it in 1991. With tourists increasingly going to chain restaurants, Stahl reinvigorated the attraction by changing its focus to crafts, collectibles, and Amish pine furniture.

He also still sells the restaurant's famous shoo-fly pie, a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch dessert made with white flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, refiners syrup, and other ingredients that make for a gooey pie. Dutch Haven's recipe has never contained raisins or any other fruit, so they're able to be shipped all over the world. Every visitor gets a free warm sample topped with whipped cream.
Next door are newer businesses, but one harkens back to the days of outlandish attractions. The Outhouse is a country store gone mad, selling trinkets, crafts, and fudge, plus featuring wacky displays like a two-headed pig and a barking dog bone (just try to pick it up!). Behind the buildings you can watch performing pigs and goats.
The Lincoln Highway also offers a lot for fans of old roads.
"Pennsylvania probably has the most sections of bypassed road," says Butko. "The hills and valleys made the original route pretty erratic, so engineers have been straightening it ever since. The northern edge of Philadelphia has a wonderful bridge remnant hidden in the woods just yards from where traffic whizzes by. North of Pittsburgh, there's a beautiful stretch along the Ohio River made of yellow brick. And most everywhere in between, little sections of pavement can be found in the woods."
Some of the changes are more subtle.
"Sometimes it's replacing a neon sign with plastic, or new owners introducing a different menu at a diner, but there's always something changing on the Lincoln Highway."
The Lincoln Highway: Pennsylvania Traveler's Guide 2nd Edition, published by Stackpole Books, is available at all bookstores and online booksellers.
Visit http://www.brianbutko.com to learn more about Brian Butko's three books, all published by Stackpole, plus his forthcoming projects.

###

PRESS RELEASE #3

10 FACTS ABOUT THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY ACROSS PENNSYLVANIA
1 The Lincoln Highway was America's first coast-to-coast automobile road. Other attempts before and after were never as extensively marked, improved, or promoted.

2 The route was announced in September 1913.

3 The original course ran 3,389 miles through 12 states, from New York City to San Francisco.

4 West Virginia became the 13th state on the highway when the road west of Pittsburgh was rerouted in 1927.

5 The route in Pennsylvania generally followed the course of ca. 1800 turnpikes, such as the Lancaster Pike.

6 The highway in Pennsylvania runs through 14 counties, from Bucks in the east to Beaver in the West.

7 The Lincoln Highway inspired similarly-named roads such as the Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway.

8 Named roads from the same era familiar to Pennsylvanians included the William Penn Highway, Roosevelt Highway, and Perry Highway.

9 Highways with names were superseded by numbered roads in 1925. Except for the Interstate highways begun in the 1950s, it's the same system still in use.

10 Much of the Lincoln Highway became Route 30 across Pennsylvania, though northeast of Philadelphia, it's Route 1. However, the Lincoln usually went through downtowns and is now often an anonymous city street . Other bypassed segments are unnamed traces in the woods.

Source: The Lincoln Highway: Pennsylvania Traveler's Guide 2nd Edition by Brian Butko, available at all bookstores and online booksellers.

Brian Butko has also written about the diners and Isaly's Klondike ice cream bar. Visit http://www.brianbutko.com to learn more about these books, all published by Stackpole, plus his forthcoming projects.

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Home | Lincoln Highway | Diners | Isaly's & Klondike | Roadside Giants | Roadside Attractions

www.brianbutko.com

Book cover of The Lincoln Highway: Pennsylvania Traveler's Guide 2nd Edition by Brian Butko.	Author Brian Butko with one of the few remaining 1928 Lincoln Highway concrete markers. This one is in Forest Hills, east of Pittsburgh.	This Gulf publication from the mid-1910s had a map and directions to guide motorists across Pennsylvania on the Lincoln Highway.
An old bridge still crosses Poquessing Creek, the divider between Philadelphia and Bucks counties. This Lincoln Highway remnant is just a few yards from Roosevelt Blvd./Route 1.	The 1920s Anthony Wayne Theater in Wayne, about 12 miles west of downtown Philadelphia.	The Italian Villa restaurant, east of Lancaster, has been incorporated into an adjacent Rodeway Inn. Old postcards advertised "A touch of Italy in Dutchland."
The Shoe House, west of Hallam, was built by Mahlon Haines in 1948 as the ultimate advertising gimmick to promote his shoe business.	The Modernaire Motel still serves travelers on the east side of York. The Lincoln Highway here is now marked Route 462.	A pennant from Bill's Place, a mountaintop attraction east of Breezewood. Bill's was destroyed about 1968 when the Pa. Turnpike was rerouted.
The Coffee Pot, on Bedford's west end, in better days. Plans are underway to restore the café.	Cabins at the Lincoln Motor Court on Tull's Hill, west of Bedford.	A Curt Teich postcard view of the S.S. Grand View Ship Hotel, a year after it opened in 1932. The Ship closed about 1990 and burned down in 2001.
A vintage postcard of the Blue Dell swimming pool in East McKeesport. The giant pool closed about 1990 and has since been replaced.	The Westinghouse Bridge opened in 1932 to avoid traffic tie-ups caused by the Westinghouse Electric plants in Turtle Creek valley.	Looking west along a yellow brick stretch of Lincoln Highway in Glenfield, northwest of Pittsburgh.