Iowa Lincoln Highway Association

06/02/2026

Youngville Cafe opens for the season today!

Happy 250th USA 🇺🇸
Just a little extra Blue with Youngville’s Red and White

05/30/2026

The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated on this day in 1922. Construction of the memorial took over eight years to complete. At a cost of $3 million (about $59 million in today’s money), it was the most expensive monument in America to that point.

The ceremony was attended by over 50,000 people and was broadcast nationwide by radio (then a relatively new medium). The keynote address was delivered by Robert Russa Moton, president of Tuskegee Institute. Moton had been required to edit his remarks to make them less provocative, and the black and white attendees (other than Civil War veterans) were seated in separate, segregated sections.

After Morton’s speech, Edwin Markham read his poem “Lincoln, The Man of the People” and the Marine Corps Band performed “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Chief Justice (and former U.S. president) William Howard Taft, president of the Lincoln Memorial Commission, then formally turned the memorial over to President Warren G. Harding. In accepting the monument on behalf of the federal government, Harding concluded by remarks by saying, “Fifty-seven years ago this people gave from their ranks, sprung from their own fiber, this plain man, holding their common ideals. They gave him first to service of the nation in the hour of peril, then to their pantheon of fame. With them and by them he is enshrined and exalted forever. Today American gratitude, love and appreciation, give to Abraham Lincoln this lone white temple, a pantheon for him alone.”

Architect Henry Bacon’s design for the memorial is modeled on the Parthenon in Athens, although whereas the Parthenon has 46 exterior columns, the Lincoln Memorial has 36 (representing the 36 states of the Union during Lincoln's presidency). The seated statue of Lincoln inside the memorial is by sculptor Daniel Chester French and the murals are by Jules Guerin. Flanking the statue are inscriptions of the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address. Inscribed on the wall above Lincoln’s head are the words: “In this temple, as in the hearts of those for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever.”

The photo is from the 1922 dedication ceremony.

05/28/2026

So this is happening tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the day!

Starting at 8am (weather permitting) digging up of the 50-year-old time capsule!

Come take a peek at the hard work going into presenting the treasures inside begin, but please remember that items will not be brought out of the vault for public viewing tomorrow.

Items will be displayed July 4th at 3pm at the museum once the collection is prepared for viewing.

05/25/2026

The Wall that Heals in Council Bluffs.

The Wall That Heals will remain illuminated in teal overnight in support of PTSD awareness.

The Wall remains on display until 2 pm on Monday at Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs.

05/20/2026

Can you smell this picture?

Two more weeks!

Happy to announce that we will be opening in 2 weeks! Open TUESDAYS for lunch 11am - 1:30pm beginning June 2nd. Our volunteers are gearing up for sunny, busy days ahead.

05/20/2026

Radio and/podcast alert!

Tune in to Iowa Public Radio at 10 am this morning or Talk of Iowa Podcast tomorrow morning!

See you on the byway!

Lyle Henry postcard collection

05/14/2026

I am sure that you have all seen this on Preston's Station Historic District page because you all follow it!!!

But this is exciting, fun, and we can't wait for the next step, which is restoring the Station District!

05/12/2026

So many murals on the Iowa Lincoln Highway!!

Located on the back of New Hope's building artist Dana Harrison is bringing the design by Roger Aegerter to life! Moo.....

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