''Note: A fully interactive online map of the Lincoln Highway and all of its re-alignments, markers, monuments and historic points of interest can be viewed at th
Lincoln Highway Association Official Map website
'' As the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...

was one of the earliest transcontinental highways for automobiles across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and was widely publicized since its inception, the route of the Lincoln Highway was determined not only by

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

considerations but also by

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

. See throughout, but especially index entry "Lincoln Highway route controversy". In many regions, there was general consensus among those who had power or interest in influencing the route. But in a few regions the choice of route was a contentious topic during the 1920s. The highway took the following route:

New York

The very short Lincoln Highway section in New York went west from

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

on 42nd Street to the

Weehawken Ferry Weehawken Terminal was the waterfront intermodal terminal on the North River (Hudson River) in Weehawken, New Jersey for the New York Central Railroad's West Shore Railroad division, whose route traveled along the west shore of the Hudson River ...

. It was realigned down

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

from which it turned right and passed through the

Holland Tunnel The Holland Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under the Hudson River that connects the New York City neighborhood of Hudson Square in Lower Manhattan to the east with Jersey City in New Jersey to the west. The tunnel is operated by the Port Author ...

after it opened in 1927.

New Jersey

The original route of Lincoln Highway came off the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

's ferry at

Weehawken Terminal Weehawken Terminal was the waterfront intermodal terminal on the North River (Hudson River) in Weehawken, New Jersey for the New York Central Railroad's West Shore Railroad division, whose route traveled along the west shore of the Hudson River ...

and climbed the Palisades on Pershing Road. At the top it went west on 5th Street (now 49th Street) to the Hudson County Boulevard (now John F. Kennedy Boulevard) on which it travelled south to Communipaw Avenue in

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Route 1 Extension, the Lincoln Highway travelled along the upper level of what is known as

State Highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

to the Boulevard. Veering west it crossed the Hackensack River and

Kearny Point Kearny may refer to: People *Cresson Kearny (1914–2003, American author and researcher **Kearny fallout meter ** Kearny air pump *Eleanor Kearny Carr (1840–1912), American planter and political hostess, First Lady of North Carolina *Jillian K ...

on what is now

U.S. Route 1-9 Truck U.S. Route 1/9 Truck (US 1/9 Truck) is a U.S. Route in the northern part of New Jersey that stretches from the eastern edge of Newark to the Tonnele Circle in Jersey City. It is the alternate road for US 1/9 that trucks mus ...

and where the road is still known as Lincoln Highway. Some sources indicate the Highway bypassing the corner of Hudson County Boulevard and Communipaw Avenue by passing through

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...

, which had been the route of

Newark Plank Road The Newark Plank Road was a major artery between Hudson Waterfront at Paulus Hook (in today's Jersey City) and city of Newark further inland across the New Jersey Meadows. As its name suggests, a plank road was constructed of wooden planks laid ...

. Crossing the Passaic River, the Highway entered the

Ironbound The Ironbound is a neighborhood in the city of Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. It is a large working-class multi-ethnic community, covering approximately of well maintained streets and homes. Historically, the area was cal ...

district of

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

along Ferry Street and Market Street, now the eastbound side of a

one-way pair A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities. Descriptio ...

with

Raymond Boulevard Raymond Boulevard is a major thoroughfare in Newark, New Jersey. The eastern portion of the road acts as the westbound member of a one-way pair; eastbound traffic uses Market Street and Ferry Street. Raymond Boulevard carries eastbound and westb ...

. In

downtown Newark Downtown Newark is the Central Business District of Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. Downtown is the site of the original Puritan settlement of Newark located at a bend in the Passaic River. The first settlers, led by Robert T ...

Four Corners The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...

, it turned south on Broad Street, at what was claimed to be the "third busiest traffic center in the United States". By 1924 this had been bypassed using Jackson and Lafayette Streets. From Broad Street, the Highway cut over to Frelinghuysen Avenue, possibly on Clinton Avenue or Poinier Street, or via Elizabeth Avenue and Meeker Avenue. After construction of the

the ferry portion was abandoned and traffic travelled over

Bergen Hill Bergen Hill refers to the lower Hudson Palisades in New Jersey, where they emerge on Bergen Neck, which in turn is the peninsula between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers, and their bays. In Hudson County, it reaches a height of 260 feet. Rai ...

to connect with Hudson Boulevard. A reroute in 1928 took the Lincoln Highway onto the new Route 1 Extension (now U.S. Route 1/9) from east of downtown Newark to North Avenue in Elizabeth, and west on North Avenue back to the old road. The Highway was also moved to the new

and approach east of the Hudson County Boulevard (now Route 139). By then the

U.S. Highway System The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

was marked, and the Lincoln Highway was fading in importance. From the corner of Frelinghuysen Avenue and Poinier Street in Newark to Brunswick Circle in Trenton, the Lincoln Highway followed today's

Route 27 Route 27, or Highway 27, may refer to: Australia * Burke Developmental Road (Queensland) * Zeehan Highway (Tasmania) Canada * Alberta Highway 27 * British Columbia Highway 27 * Manitoba Highway 27 * Prince Edward Island Route 27 * Saskatchew ...

and U.S. Route 206. Many parts are still known as Lincoln Highway. The only changes have been the following: *The original road may have followed Clinton Avenue to Elizabeth Avenue in Newark and North Broad Street in

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

. *Route 27 now has a

. The northbound side, on Cherry Street, is the old Lincoln Highway. *In 1919, the

New Jersey State Highway Commission The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transportat ...

built a new road on the west side of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

(now the

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...

) from near the northeast of Dow Avenue between Colonia and Iselin to Cedar Street in Menlo Park, to avoid two railroad crossings. The old road is now Middlesex-Essex Turnpike and Thornall Street, on the east side of the tracks. A 1905 map shows the main road using Thornall Street all the way to its end at Evergreen Road and crossing the tracks there, with the road on the west side existing north to Cedar Street as a stub; this may have changed between then and 1919. However, until 1919, the main road used Colonia Boulevard, New Dover Road and Middlesex Avenue to get from

Rahway Rahway () is a city in southern Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A bedroom community of New York City, it is centrally located in the Rahway Valley region, in the New York metropolitan area. The city is southwest of Manhattan ...

to Green Stree

*Until 1919, the main road was what is now named Old Road, lying east of the current road north of Kingston, New Jersey, Kingston. *The old bridge over the

Millstone River The Millstone River is a tributary of the Raritan River in central New Jersey in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''Garden State Canoeing'', Seneca Press, 2002. The Millstone River begins in western Monmouth County and flows westward throu ...

at Kingston still exists, south of the current bridge (built in 1969). The Lincoln Highway entered Trenton along Brunswick Avenue, now northbound US 206 and BUS US 1. Until 1920 the Highway used the Calhoun Street Bridge over the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

into

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

;
1920 map
indicates that it probably used Warren Street (now southbound US 206 and BUS US 1) and West State Street to reach the bridge. In 1920 the Highway was moved from the tolled Calhoun Street Bridge to the free Bridge Street Bridge. To get there it probably continued south on Warren Street, turning west on Bridge Street to the bridge. This path is now followed by southbound BUS US 1, with a realignment from

Assunpink Creek Assunpink Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in western New Jersey in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''Garde ...

to the bridge due to redevelopment. In 1916, the Lincoln Highway was designated the following State Highway numbers: * Route 1 (Later Renumbered to Route 25) from

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

* Route 13 (Present Route 27) from New Brunswick to Trenton The Highway in Trenton, and in and north of Elizabeth, did not receive a number. In 1927, the whole Lincoln Highway in New Jersey was assigned the number

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...

, though that number was soon moved to newer bypasses. The Route 1 Extension, built in the late 1920s, was considered a bypass of the Lincoln Highway, but the old road has continued to be known as the Lincoln Highway, except possibly between Communipaw Avenue and

Tonnelle Circle The Tonnele Circle is an intersection in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States. It is named after Tonnele TUN-uh-lee"Avenue, the north–south road that runs through it. Entrances and exits Entrances to and exits from Tonnele Circle are liste ...

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.TRUCK US 1–9).

Pennsylvania

The path of the Lincoln Highway was first laid out in September 1913; it was defined to run through Canton, Ohio, Beaver Falls, Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Ligonier, Bedford, Chambersburg, Gettysburg, York, Lancaster and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey. This bypassed Harrisburg to the south, and thus did not use the older main route across the state between Chambersburg and Lancaster. From Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, this incorporated a number of old turnpikes, some of which still collected tolls. This original 1913 path of the Lincoln Highway continued east from Philadelphia, crossing the Delaware River to Camden, New Jersey on the Market Street Ferry. By 1915, Camden was dropped from the route, allowing the highway to cross the Delaware on a bridge at Trenton (initially the Calhoun Street Bridge, later the Bridge Street Bridge). In 1924, the entire Lincoln Highway in Pennsylvania was designated Pennsylvania Route 1. In late 1926 the route from West Virginia to Philadelphia (using the new route west of Pittsburgh) was assigned

U.S. Route 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route in the system of the United States Numbered Highways, with the highway traveling across the northern tier of the country. With a length of , it is the third longest ...

, while the rest of the Lincoln Highway and PA 1 became part of

West Virginia

The Lincoln Highway did not enter

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

until 1927, when it was rerouted between

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and

East Liverpool, Ohio East Liverpool is a city in southeastern Columbiana County, Ohio, United States. The population was 9,958 at the 2020 census. It lies along the Ohio River within the Upper Ohio Valley and borders Pennsylvania to the east and West Virginia to the ...

. The piece in West Virginia ran roughly along present

, splitting onto the old route at

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

. There it turned southwest on Carolina Avenue (

West Virginia Route 2 West Virginia Route 2 is a state highway in the US state of West Virginia. It generally parallels the Ohio River along the western border of the state, from U.S. Route 60 in Huntington (just west of the East End Bridge) northeasterly to U.S. ...

) before turning northwest on 3rd Street, southwest on Virginia Avenue and north on 1st Street to cross the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

into East Liverpool on the 1897

Chester Bridge The Chester Bridge is a continuous truss bridge connecting Missouri's Route 51 (Missouri), Route 51 with Illinois Route 150 across the Mississippi River between Perryville, Missouri and Chester, Illinois. It is the only motor-traffic bridge spa ...

. The only realignment before the bridge was demolished in 1970 was in 1938, when US 30 was moved to take Carolina Avenue directly to 1st Street after a new bridge opened over the railroad. Until the current US 30 was finished in 1977, US 30 continued along Carolina Avenue to the Newell Bridge in Newell.

Ohio

The routing through Ohio followed modern US Route 30 to Canton, then west on State Route 172 through Massillon to

Dalton Dalton may refer to: Science * Dalton (crater), a lunar crater * Dalton (program), chemistry software * Dalton (unit) (Da), the atomic mass unit * John Dalton, chemist, physicist and meteorologist Entertainment * Dalton (Buffyverse), minor cha ...

(where it rejoins US Route 30). West of Wooster it turns northwest on

U.S. Route 250 U.S. Route 250 (US 250) is a route of the United States Numbered Highway System, and is a spur of U.S. Route 50. It currently runs for from Richmond, Virginia to Sandusky, Ohio. It passes through the states of Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio. ...

to Ashland, then southwest on Clairmont Avenue which eventually becomes modern U.S. Route 42 to

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...

. West Fourth Street to US Route 30 which it followed to Bucyrus (temporarily leaving US 30 to follow Mansfield Street and Lincoln Highway), then continued to

Upper Sandusky Upper Sandusky is a city and the county seat of Wyandot County, Ohio, United States, along the upper Sandusky River, which flows north to Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie. The city is approximately 59 mi (96 km) south of Toledo and 62 mi ...

(went through on Wyandot Avenue to County Route 330). It is a combination of US Route 30 and local roads (mainly former alignments of US 30) to the Indiana state line.

Indiana

The Lincoln Highway entered Indiana on current

US Route 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route in the system of the United States Numbered Highways, with the highway traveling across the northern tier of the country. With a length of , it is the third longest ...

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

. It turned northwest on modern

U.S. Route 33 U.S. Route 33 (US 33) is a United States Numbered Highway that runs northwest–southeast for from northern Indiana to Richmond, Virginia, passing through Ohio and West Virginia en route. Although most odd-numbered U.S. routes are north– ...

to Elkhart. It turned west on Lincoln Way through

South Bend South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

U.S. Route 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...

. It followed US Route 20 to Rolling Prairie and continued on State Road 2 to Valparaiso where it rejoined US Route 30 to the Illinois state line. In time, the route was shortened, following U.S. Route 30 through the entire state. Many cities along U.S. 30, including

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

Merrillville Merrillville is a town in Ross Township, Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 35,246 at the 2010 census. Merrillville is in east-central Lake County, in the Chicago metropolitan area. On January 1, 2015, Merrillville became the ...

and Schererville contain stretches of the Lincoln Highway (usually marked as "Old Lincoln Highway", "Lincolnway", "Joliet St" or "Joliet Rd") while modern U.S. 30 runs just outside the cities.

Illinois

The route through Illinois was chosen to deliberately avoid

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, instead providing "feeder routes" to the city. The main feeder routes included

Illinois Route 1 Illinois Route 1 (IL 1) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Illinois. Running parallel to the Indiana border, the highway starts at the free ferry crossing to Kentucky at Cave-in-Rock on the Ohio River and runs north to the south sid ...

Chicago Heights Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,480 at the 2020 census. In earlier years, Chicago Heights was nicknamed "The Crossroads of the Nation". Currently, it is nicknamed "The Heights". Geograp ...

Illinois Route 4 Illinois Route 4 is a major north–south highway that runs south from the Interstate 55 business loop around the state capital of Springfield, south to Illinois Route 13 just north of Murphysboro. This is a distance of . Route description Illi ...

(later U.S. Route 66) at Joliet, and

Illinois Route 38 Illinois Route 38 is an west–east state highway that runs across northern Illinois. It runs from U.S. Route 52 (US 52) in downtown Dixon to US 12/ US 20/ US 45 (Mannheim Road) in Westchester. It runs concurrently with ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. The Lincoln Highway entered Illinois on

, which it followed to

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

where it became

Illinois Route 31 Illinois Route 31 (IL 31) is a north–south state highway in northeastern Illinois, United States. It travels from U.S. Route 34 (US 34) in Oswego north to US 12, near the Wisconsin state line, just south of Richmond ...

, which it followed to

at Geneva where it turned west to Dixon. From Dixon, it continued west on

Illinois Route 2 Illinois Route 2 (IL 2) is a north–south state highway in northern Illinois. It currently starts at Illinois Route 40 in Sterling and ends at the Wisconsin state line in South Beloit, very near the intersection with U.S. Route 51, Illinois ...

to Sterling where it rejoins U.S. Route 30. It followed U.S. Route 30 to just east of the Iowa state line, where it turned slightly northwest of

Illinois Route 136 Illinois Route 136 is an east–west state route in northwestern Illinois. It runs from the Mark Morris Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River, connecting to Iowa Highway 136 in Clinton, Iowa, east to U.S. Route 30 east of Fulton. This is a di ...

Iowa

The Lincoln Highway entered Iowa on the Lyons-Fulton bridge, since torn down, north of the present-day Iowa Highway 136 bridge. It then went south on Second Street in Clinton along what is now

U.S. Route 67 U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues so ...

. From there, it generally followed these present-day roads: *

from Clinton to

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, including some roads known today as "Old Highway 30" * Local roads and city streets from Lisbon to

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mario ...

and later

Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city. ...

, rejoining present-day 30 on the southwest side of Cedar Rapids * U.S. 30 from there to northeast of Belle Plaine, where it turned south and followed County Roads V40 and E66 through

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and rejoined 30 east of Tama. The famous bridge is just west of where 30 and the Lincoln Highway currently separate. * Local streets in Tama and County Road E49, rejoining 30 near Le Grand * U.S. 30 to four miles (6 km) west of Le Grand, where it followed city streets through Marshalltown and left town on Lincoln Way * County Road E41 from west of Marshalltown which passes through State Center. Then runs west crossing Hwy 65 at Colo and continues onto Nevada. The Nevada Lincoln Highway Committee has hosted for the past 25 years an annual celebration called Lincoln Highway Days. The route continues on "Old 30 to Ames, about a mile north of "New 30", going along the south and west sides of Iowa State University. * Gravel roads to Iowa Highway 17, where it again followed County Road E41 through Boone to Ogden * U.S. 30 from Ogden to Grand Junction, County Road E53 through Greene County, and north through Scranton, then west to near Ralston * From there it generally followed U.S. 30 to the Missouri Valley, where it turned south to

Council Bluffs Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area. It is lo ...

on County Road L20. It crossed the Missouri River to

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

via Broadway and the

Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge The Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge was a Whipple through truss bridge that was the first road bridge to cross the Missouri River connecting Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa. It was replaced in 1966 by the Interstate 480 (Nebraska-Iowa), Interstate 480 ...

Nebraska

Traveling westward from the Douglas Street Bridge. West to 18th or 24th Street depending on year. South to Farnam Street. West to 40th where it turned North to

Dodge Street Dodge Street is the main east–west street in Omaha, Nebraska. Numbered as U.S. Route 6 (US 6), the street starts in Downtown Omaha and connects to West Dodge Road just west of 78th Street. From there, it continues westward through the ...

, Dodge to 78th and North to Cass/West Dodge Road. The Lincoln Highway in Omaha went by several landmarks, including

The Blackstone Hotel The Blackstone Hotel is a historic 21-story hotel on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Balbo Drive in the Michigan Boulevard Historic District in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. Built between 1908 and 1910, it is on the Natio ...

, John Sutters Mill (1847) with the oldest billboard on The Lincoln Highway (1913-1930), Highway 30 (1930-1969 until the Douglas Street/AK-SAR-BEN Bridge was torn down) and Highway 6 (which meets in Council Bluffs and says good-bye at Saddle Creek and Dodge to go under The Saddle Creek Bridge South to Center Street), The Tower Gas Station and campgrounds at 78th and Dodge and Peony Park at 78th and Cass St./West Dodge Road. The longest stretch of original Lincoln Highway brick roadway in the country is in Omaha from approx. 174th to approx 203rd. The best way to access is at 180th and Dodge St. and travel North. Leaving the city it took city streets through Waterloo where it joined

U.S. Route 275 U.S. Route 275 (US 275) is a north–south United States highway that is a branch of US 75. It originally terminated at US 75 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The highway's northern terminus is in O'Neill, Nebraska, at an intersection with U.S. Hig ...

to Fremont. From Fremont, it continued west on

through

Central City In urban planning, a core city, principal city metropolitan core, or central city, is the largest or most important city or cities of a metropolitan area. A core city is surrounded by smaller satellite cities, towns, and suburbs. A central city ...

, Grand Island,

Wood River Wood River may refer to: Rivers In Canada * Wood River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Columbia River via Kinbasket Lake * Wood River (Saskatchewan), a river in south-west Saskatchewan In Ireland * Wood River (County Clare), Kilru ...

, Kearney, Lexington, Cozad,

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

North Platte North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later ...

, Ogallala,

Chappell Chappell may refer to: Places * Chappell, Nebraska, United States * Chappells, South Carolina, United States * Chappell (crater) on the moon * Mount Chappell Island, Tasmania, Australia * North West Mount Chappell Islet, Tasmania, Australia Organi ...

, Sidney, and Kimball to the Wyoming state line.

Colorado

The 1913 proclamation included a loop through

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, touching the main route at

Big Springs, Nebraska Big Springs is a village in Deuel County, Nebraska, Deuel County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 400 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History The first name of the settlement was "Lone Tree", after a large cottonwood t ...

and

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistical ...

. This loop was included, as

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

had felt betrayed by the decision not to run through it after supporting the Hoosier Tour earlier that year. The loop was quietly dropped in 1915, but Colorado continued to promote the loop, including a

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

at the Big Springs end. The route is now paralleled by

Interstate 76 Interstate 76 may refer to: Interstate Highways in the United States * Interstate 76 (Colorado–Nebraska) * Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey), running through Pennsylvania Video gaming * ''Interstate '76 ''Interstate '76'' is a vehicular ...

and

Interstate 25 Interstate 25 (I-25) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 stretches from I-10 at Las Cruces, New Mexic ...

; it became the following in 1926: * U.S. Route 138, Big Springs to Sterling, Colorado * U.S. Route 38 (now

U.S. Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to P ...

), Sterling to

Wiggins, Colorado Wiggins is a statutory town in Morgan County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,401 as of the 2020 census, up from 893 at the 2010 census. The community was established in 1882 as the Burlington Railroad depot of "Corona". Around ...

*unnumbered ( State Highway 52 and State Highway 79?), Wiggins to

Bennett, Colorado The Town of Bennett is a Statutory Town located in Adams and Arapahoe counties, Colorado, United States. The town population was 2,862 at the 2020 United States Census with 2,443 residing in Adams County and 419 residing in Arapahoe County. B ...

* U.S. Route 40, Bennett to Denver * U.S. Route 287, Denver, Lafayette, Longmont, Loveland, Fort Collins to Cheyenne, Wyoming. US 287 was not created until 1935, so the Lincoln Highway may well have used a portion of: *Unnumbered (

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbere ...

), Fort Collins to Cheyenne. Today this highway does not run north out of Ft. Collins, but it may well have in 1915 or so, perhaps having been absorbed in the "new" US 287 (which does not enter Wyoming at Cheyenne, but rather at Laramie).

Wyoming

The Lincoln Highway entered Wyoming east of Pine Bluffs. It followed county roads through

Egbert Egbert is a name that derives from old Germanic words meaning "bright edge", such as that of a blade. Anglo-Saxon variant spellings include Ecgberht () and Ecgbert. German variant spellings include Ekbert and Ecbert. People with the first name Mid ...

and Hillsdale to

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

where it rejoined US Route 30. It followed US Route 30 (now largely

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

) through

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

, Laramie, Medicine Bow, and Rawlins to Granger Junction. From there, it followed former U.S. Route 30S and

U.S. Route 530 U.S. Route 189 is a spur of U.S. Route 89. It currently runs for 322 miles (518 km) from Provo, Utah at Interstate 15 in Utah, Interstate 15 to Jackson, Wyoming. The highway was not part of the original 1926 U.S. Highway system. The highwa ...

(now Interstate 80) through Fort Bridger and Evanston to the Utah state line. At places, the road itself is now Business I-80 in Lyman and follows

frontage road A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drivew ...

s in many places.

Utah

The Lincoln Highway entered Utah on modern Interstate 80 to Echo Junction where it joined I-84 and followed the Weber River to Ogden. In Ogden, it turned south to Salt Lake City. In western Utah, the original chosen alignment headed west from

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

to Timpie in order to run around the north side of the Stansbury Mountains, largely along present State Route 171 and State Route 138. From Timpie it turned south roughly along present State Route 196, past Iosepa, to Orr's Ranch (). Orr's Ranch is now a bit north of the east gate of the

Dugway Proving Ground Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) is a U.S. Army facility established in 1942 to test biological and chemical weapons, located about southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, and south of the Utah Test and Training Range. Location Dugway P ...

). Between Orr's Ranch and the north edge of the

Dugway Range The Dugway Range is a 13-mile (21 km) longUtah DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer, pp. 23, 31. mountain range located in central-south Tooele County, Utah, on the Juab County north border. The Dugway Range extends northwesterly into the south of th ...

, the original highway ran through the current Dugway Proving Ground around the north side of the

(). From there it headed south to the Black Rock Hills, joining the old

Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pik ...

route there (). The Lincoln Highway then went west past Fish Springs () and

Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists o ...

() and across the

Deep Creek Range The Deep Creek Range, (often refereed to as the Deep Creek Mountains (Goshute: Pi'a-roi-ya-bi), are a mountain range in the Great Basin located in extreme western Tooele and Juab counties in Utah, United States. The range trends north-south (wit ...

through the Overland Canyon () to

Ibapah Ibapah ( ) is a small unincorporated community in far western Tooele County, Utah, United States, near the Nevada state line. Description The settlement is located near the Deep Creek Mountains. The site was originally established in 1859 by ...

(), crossing into Nevada soon after. This route is now known by the names of Simpson Springs-Callao Road, Pony Express Road, Overland Canyon Road, Lower Goldhill Road, Ibapah Road and Willow Road. Around 1919 a new route, known as the Goodyear Cutoff, and named after

Goodyear Tire and Rubber The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturing company founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling and based in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, motorcycles, S ...

, a major donor to the project, was built across desert that is now largely the Dugway Proving Ground. Around the same time, a realignment was made further east. Thus the new route split from the old at Mills Junction and ran south on present State Route 36 through

Tooele Tooele ( ) is a city in Tooele County in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 35,742 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Tooele County. Located approximately 30 minutes southwest of Salt Lake City, Tooele is known for Tooele Army ...

and Stockton to St. John, where it turned west on present State Route 199 and Redding Road, crossing the Stansbury Mountains at Fisher Pass, also known as Johnson's Pass. At Orr's Ranch it rejoined the old road west to County Well (now the Dog Area of the Dugway Proving Ground), where the Goodyear Cutoff began. The Goodyear Cutoff cut largely across the

Great Salt Lake Desert The Great Salt Lake Desert (colloquially referred to as the West Desert) is a large dry lake in northern Utah, United States, between the Great Salt Lake and the Nevada border. It is a subregion of the larger Great Basin Desert, and noted for wh ...

, hitting high areas at Granite Mountain () and Black Point (), and then passing through the

Deep Creek Mountains The Deep Creek Range, (often refereed to as the Deep Creek Mountains (Goshute: Pi'a-roi-ya-bi), are a mountain range in the Great Basin located in extreme western Tooele and Juab counties in Utah, United States. The range trends north-south (wit ...

via

Gold Hill Gold Hill may refer to: Canada * Gold Hill, British Columbia United Kingdom * Gold Hill, Shaftesbury, Dorset, a steep street used in Hovis commercial United States ;Alabama * Gold Hill, Alabama ;California * Gold Hill, El Dorado County, C ...

() and rejoining the older route about halfway from Gold Hill to Ibapah (). However, Utah did not care much for the Lincoln Highway, instead preferring the

Victory Highway The Victory Highway was an auto trail across the United States between New York City and San Francisco, roughly equivalent to the present U.S. Route 40. It was created by the Victory Highway Association, which was organized in 1921 to locate and m ...

via

Wendover Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road a ...

(present

). Nevada and northern California also favored that route, northern California because it would assure that travelers did not take the

Midland Trail The Midland Trail, also called the Roosevelt Midland Trail, was a national auto trail spanning the United States from Washington, D.C. west to Los Angeles, California and San Francisco, California ('' though the Lincoln Highway guide published i ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and so the

federal aid A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

route chosen under the

Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 (Phipps Act) Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

was the Victory Highway, separate from the Lincoln Highway between

Mills Junction, Tooele County, Utah A number of highway junctions in the U.S. state of Utah have names that appear on maps and in state laws designating the highways. Sometimes the junction name also refers to the surrounding community or area as well as just the highway junction i ...

and

Wadsworth, Nevada Wadsworth is a census-designated place (CDP) in Washoe County, Nevada. The population was 834 at the time of the 2010 census. It is part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area and located entirely within the Pyramid Lake Indian R ...

. Thus the Goodyear Cutoff was never paved, and was closed to the public in the 1940s when the

was formed. In late 1926 the system of

United States Numbered Highways The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...

was assigned, and U.S. Route 40 was assigned to the Victory Highway through western Utah. The next year the Lincoln Highway was rerouted to use the Wendover route, turning south on an unnumbered route (numbered

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...

ca. 1929 and now U.S. Route 93 Alternate and U.S. Route 93) at

West Wendover, Nevada West Wendover is a small city in Elko County, Nevada, United States. The population was 4,410 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Elko micropolitan area. West Wendover is located on the eastern border of Nevada and the western edge of the Gr ...

and rejoining the old route at Schellbourne before turning west on

at Ely.

Nevada

In Nevada, the original 1913 highway entered on county roads west of Ibapah, Utah near the

stop of

Eightmile, Nevada Eightmile is a locale on the Goshute Indian Reservation in White Pine County, Nevada. It is located along Spring Creek. History Eightmile was originally the location of Eight Mile Station, a station on the route of the Pony Express. It was la ...

, and then past the ghost towns of Tippett and Schellbourne. At what is now U.S. Route 93, the Lincoln Highway turned south, passing through

McGill McGill is a surname of Scottish and Irish origin, from which the names of many places and organizations are derived. It may refer to: People * McGill (surname) (including a list of individuals with the surname) * McGill family (Monrovia), a promin ...

to Ely. In the mid-1920s, the routing was realigned to enter Nevada via the

Wendover Cut-off The Wendover Cut-off, also called the Wendover Road or Wendover Route, is a two-lane highway in the western part of Tooele County in the U.S. state of Utah. Stretching from Wendover to Knolls across the Bonneville Salt Flats, a part of the Grea ...

. The road then headed south towards Ely along what is now Alternate U.S. Route 93. From Ely to Fallon, the highway followed

through

Eureka Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...

and

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. A shortcut is now

Nevada State Route 722 State Route 722 (SR 722) is a state highway in Churchill County and Lander County in the U.S. state of Nevada. The highway is an old routing of U.S. Route 50 (US 50), and previously the Lincoln Highway. What is now route 722 crosses the Desato ...

between

and Middlegate. West of Fallon, the Sierra Nevada Northern Route followed Alternate US Route 50 to Fernley, then old US 40 (paralleling I-80) through

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

Verdi, Nevada Verdi ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Washoe County, Nevada, United States on the western side of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area, near Interstate 80. The CDP of Verdi, California lies immediately adjacent across the ...

on the California state line. To get to

Carson City Carson City is an Independent city (United States), independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the List of cities in Nevada, sixth largest ...

from

, the current routing of US 395 Alternate was used. The Sierra Nevada Southern Route continued down US Route 50 from Fallon through

up King's Canyon Grade, over

Spooner Summit Spooner Summit is a mountain pass through the Carson Range, linking the Lake Tahoe Area to Carson City via US 50. The highest point of the pass is located just east of Spooner Lake just before the first set of curves when traveling eastboun ...

, or to

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

following the old Pony Express route then up Kingsbury Grade and around the south end of

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...

Stateline, Nevada Stateline is a census-designated place (CDP) on the southeastern shore of Lake Tahoe in Douglas County, Nevada, United States. It lies next to the California state line and City of South Lake Tahoe. The population was 842 at the 2010 census. ...

on the California state line.

California

In California, the Lincoln Highway followed two different routes over the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

. The Sierra Nevada Northern Route from

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

followed the old Dog Valley / Henness Pass route from Verdi to Truckee, then westbound on Donner Pass Road (old

US 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America, is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid-Atlantic States. As with most routes wh ...

) up to the top of

Donner Pass Donner Pass is a mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, above Donner Lake and Donner Memorial State Park about west of Truckee, California. Like the Sierra Nevada themselves, the pass has a steep approach from the east and a gradual appro ...

, then continuing west on Donner Pass Rd, Hampshire Rocks Rd and various other mountain roads parallelling

I-80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

through

Emigrant Gap Emigrant Gap is a gap in a ridge on the California Trail as it crosses the Sierra Nevada, to the west of what is now known as Donner Pass. Here the cliffs are so steep that, back in the 1840s, the pioneers on their way to California had to lowe ...

Magra __NOTOC__ The Magra is a long river of Northern Italy, which runs through Pontremoli, Filattiera, Villafranca in Lunigiana and Aulla in the province of Massa-Carrara (Tuscany); Santo Stefano di Magra, Vezzano Ligure, Arcola, Sarzana and Ame ...

, Colfax,

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

, Applegate, and

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

. The route then continued southwest on what became old US 40 through the northeastern Sacramento outreaches of Newcastle, Loomis, Rocklin, and Roseville, then turned south on Auburn Blvd to Citrus Heights, then turned southwest, following Auburn Blvd, Del Paso Blvd, and 12th Street into downtown Sacramento to the

California State Capitol The California State Capitol is the seat of the California state government, located in Sacramento, the state capital of California. The building houses the chambers of the California State Legislature, made up of the Assembly and the Senate, al ...

. The Sierra Nevada Southern Route from

and

to Sacramento followed the Pioneer Trail and Meyers Grade Road to the top of

Echo Summit Echo Summit is a mountain pass over the Sierra Nevada in the western United States, located in eastern El Dorado County, California. At above sea level, it is the highest point on U.S. Route 50 in California, which traverses it at postmil ...

, then westbound on Johnson Pass Rd to

US 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

, then westbound on 50 (with many adjacent parallel jogs on mountain roads) through Twin Bridges, Strawberry, Kyburz, Whitehall, Riverton, and Pacific House. At Pollock Pines, the route followed the

Pony Express Trail The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pik ...

and Carson Road to Broadway and Main Street in Placerville. West of Placerville the route followed Forni Rd, Pleasant Valley Rd, Mother Lode Dr, Durock Rd, Country Club Dr, Old Bass Lake Rd, White Rock Rd, Placerville Rd, and East Bidwell St into Folsom. It turned west through downtown Folsom, then southwest on Folsom Blvd following it all the way into downtown Sacramento, arriving at the California State Capitol on M St (now Capitol Mall). From Sacramento to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, the original 1913–1927 Central Valley Route departed Sacramento southbound on Stockton Blvd to Rt 99, then southbound on 99 to Galt, then south on Lower Sacramento Rd to Pacific Ave and El Dorado St into downtown Stockton. From Stockton, the route departed southbound on Center St to French Camp Turnpike, Manthey Rd, and French Camp Rd to the town of French Camp, then Harlan Rd and Manthey Rd (again) southwest to 11th St into Banta, jogging through Banta, then west on 11th (again) into Tracy (old US 50). From Tracy, it followed Byron Rd, Grant Line Rd and Altamont Pass Rd to the top of

Altamont Pass Altamont Pass, formerly Livermore Pass, is a low mountain pass in the Diablo Range of Northern California between Livermore in the Livermore Valley and Tracy in the San Joaquin Valley. The name is actually applied to two distinct but nearby ...

. It continued west on Altamont Pass Rd arriving in Livermore via Northfront Rd, Vasco Rd, First St and Junction Ave. From Livermore, the route followed today's I-580 westbound into Dublin, then Dublin Canyon Rd, East Castro Valley Rd, Grove Way and A Street into downtown Hayward. From Hayward to

downtown Oakland Downtown Oakland is the central business district of Oakland, California, United States; roughly bounded by both the Oakland Estuary and Interstate 880 on the southwest, Interstate 980 on the northwest, Grand Avenue on the northeast, and Lake ...

it followed Foothill Blvd, I-580 (again), MacArthur Blvd, Foothill Blvd (again), First Ave, 13th St, Harrison St, 9th St and Broadway to a ferry pier on the

Oakland Estuary The Oakland Estuary is the strait in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, separating the cities of Oakland and Alameda and the Alameda Island from the East Bay mainland. On its western end, it connects to San Francisco Bay San Francis ...

(now

Jack London Square Jack London Square is an entertainment and business destination on the waterfront of Oakland, California, United States. Named after the author Jack London and owned by the Port of Oakland, it is the home of stores, restaurants, hotels, Amtrak ...

) for an automobile ferry to the Ferry Slips at the south end of the Ferry Building, at the base of

Market Street Market Street may refer to: *Market Street, Cambridge, England *Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia * Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia *Market Street, Manchester, England *Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ...

, in San Francisco. Upon the completion of the first Carquinez Strait Bridge at Vallejo in 1927, the Lincoln Highway from

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

was re-routed over this much shorter alignment. The 1928 Central Valley Route departed the California State Capitol in Sacramento heading westbound on Capitol Mall, West Capitol Avenue, and across the

Yolo Causeway The Yolo Causeway is a long elevated highway viaduct on Interstate 80 that crosses the Yolo Bypass floodplain, connecting the cities of West Sacramento, California and Davis, California. It is officially named the Blecher-Freeman Memorial Caus ...

Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Gre ...

on Olive Drive. West of Davis the route followed old US 40 as it "stairstepped" through the towns of Dixon from I 80, beginning at CA 113 south to

Vacaville Vacaville is a city located in Solano County in Northern California. Sitting approximately from Sacramento and from San Francisco, it is within the Sacramento Valley. As of the 2020 census, Vacaville had a population of 102,386, making it th ...

, Fairfield, Rockville, and Cordelia. From Cordelia the route followed Rt 12 (Jameson Canyon Rd) into the base of Napa Valley to an area that includes the city of

American Canyon American Canyon (previously known as Napa Junction) is a city located in southern Napa County, California, northeast of San Francisco, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. The 2020 census reported the city's population as 21,837. Its ZIP Code ...

, then turned south to follow Rt 29 and Broadway into Vallejo where it followed Alameda St and Fifth St to the Carquinez Strait Bridge. South of the bridge, it followed San Pablo Avenue all the way through Rodeo, Pinole, San Pablo, Richmond, El Cerrito and Albany to Berkeley, where it turned west on University Ave to end at the Berkeley Pier for a ferry to the

Hyde Street Pier The Hyde Street Pier, at 2905 Hyde Street, is a historic ferry pier located on the northern waterfront of San Francisco, California. Background Prior to the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, it was the ...

in San Francisco. Arriving in San Francisco from 1913 to 1921, you departed the ferry from Oakland at the Ferry Slips at the south end of the Ferry Building, drove west on Market St, right on Van Ness Ave, left on Chestnut St (past the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exhibition), entered the

Presidio A presidio ( en, jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire around between 16th century, 16th and 18th century, 18th centuries in areas in condition of their control or influence. The presidios of Captaincy Genera ...

via the Lombard Gates, departed the Presidio via the Arguello Gates, right on Lake St, left on El Camino del Mar, entering into

from the northwest. Arriving in San Francisco from 1922 to 1927, you departed the ferry from Oakland at the Ferry Slips at the south end of the Ferry Building, drove west on Market St, right on Post St (a traffic movement that is impossible today, as Post runs one-way eastbound), left on Presidio Ave, right on

Geary Boulevard Geary Boulevard (designated as Geary Street east of Van Ness Avenue) is a major east–west thoroughfare in San Francisco, California, United States, beginning downtown at Market Street near Market Street's intersection with Kearny Street, and ...

, right on 36th Ave, entering into Lincoln Park from the south (now enter via 34th). Arriving in San Francisco in 1928, you departed the ferry from Berkeley at the

, drove south on Hyde, right on North Point St, left on Van Ness Ave, right on California St, right on 32nd Avenue, left on El Camino del Mar, entering into Lincoln Park from the northwest. The Lincoln Highway Western Terminus is the plaza and fountain in front of the

Palace of the Legion of Honor The Legion of Honor, formally known as the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, is an art museum in San Francisco, California. Located in Lincoln Park, the Legion of Honor is a component of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, which al ...

. The Western Terminus Marker and the Interpretive Plaque is located at the southeast corner of the plaza, next to the bus stop, adjacent to the entrance drive leading up from 34th Ave.

References

*{{cite book , author = The Lincoln Highway Association , title = A Complete Official Road Guide of the Lincoln Highway , location = Tucson, Arizona , publisher = Patrice Press , year = 1993 , orig-year = 1924 , isbn = 1-880397-05-6 Route