4 TRAVEL GUIDE 2021
LINCOLN HIGHWAY DESIGNATED A NATIONAL SCENIC BYWAY
Nebraska’s portion of the old Lincoln Highway — America’s first designated transcontinental highway — now enjoys national as well as state “scenic byway” status. The state’s entire 450-mile-long stretch of U.S. Highway 30 was recently named a National Scenic Byway by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration. It’s one of two byways that became Nebraska’s first on the national list, with the other being the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway on Nebraska Highway 2 from Grand Island to Alliance. Nationwide, 34 National Scenic Byways and 15 “All- American Roads” were added by FHwA this year to its America’s Byways Collection. The roads are recognized for their archaeological, cultural, historical, natural, recreational and scenic qualities. To be designated a National Scenic Byway, a road must possess at least one of those six qualities and be regionally significant. wiDe selection Camping this summer? See us first?
“America’s byways are roads to the very heart and soul of America,” Chris Sieverdes, the president of the National Scenic Byway Foundation, said in a press release. “Byways connect us to this country’s beauty, history and culture.” The roads are the first additions to the 30-year-old national program since 2009. The FHwA has designated 109 National Scenic Byways and 35 All-American Roads in all. Nebraska’s Lincoln Highway byway initially included only U.S. 30 in Dawson and Lincoln counties. The then- Nebraska Department of Roads extended the designation statewide in 2004. A map on the route’s website, which can be found at lincolnhighwaynebraskabyway.com, includes both the original 1913 route through Omaha and Elkhorn and its 1930s rerouting through Blair. The two meet at Fremont. The official state and national Lincoln Highway byway doesn’t include the 1913 route’s 43.8-mile jog south, west and north between Gothenburg and North Platte. Special brown “1913 Route” signs, bearing the Lincoln Highway’s red, white and blue “L” logo, mark the original “stairstep” route before the direct route linking both cities with Brady and Maxwell opened in 1916. If you’re game for the detour, take Nebraska Highway 47 south from Gothenburg and past Interstate 80. A large sign directs motorists to turn right onto Dawson County Road 764, which subsequently becomes Banner Road, Fort McPherson Road and East State Farm Road in Lincoln County. The Fort McPherson Road stretch runs past monuments to the 1850s Cottonwood Springs settlement and the original 1864-80 Fort McPherson, as well as present-day Fort McPherson National Cemetery. Lincoln County’s part of U.S. 30 also includes the spot just west of North Platte where the Lincoln Highway’s initial paving was completed on Nov. 5, 1935. Local and state dignitaries and Nebraska members of the Lincoln Highway Association cut the tape that day between Taft School and the Log Cabin. Both still stand, but the ribbon-cutting’s precise spot is unmarked.
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