Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway, Iowa

The Lincoln Highway is one of the earliest transcontinental highway routes for automobiles across the United States of America.

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway

Early morning on a rainy day in Palisades-Kepler State Park overlooking the Cedar River, Mount Vernon, Linn County, Iowa.

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway, Iowa

Replica of Grant Wood's famous painting "American Gothic" painted on a small barn in rural Iowa along Lincoln Highway, U.S. Route 30 near Mount Vernon, Iowa

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway

Replica of Grant Wood's famous painting "American Gothic" on a small barn in rural Iowa along Lincoln Highway, U.S. Route 30 near Mount Vernon, Iowa

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway

Historic Sutliff Bridge over the Cedar River at Sutliff, Iowa.

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway

Historic Sutliff Bridge over the Cedar River at Sutliff, Iowa.

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway

World's Largest Wooden Nickel, Iowa City, Iowa. Sixteen feet diameter, built in 2006

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway, Iowa

Iowa County Freedom Rock in Gateway Park and Preserve, Marengo, Iowa, USA commemorating aviation pioneer Eugene Burton Ely.

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway, Iowa

Iowa County Freedom Rock in Gateway Park and Preserve, Marengo, Iowa, USA. This side of the rock shows a scene with Brad Kasal painted by artist Ray “Bubba” Sorensen II. Bradley Allan Kasal is a United States Marine who received the Navy Cross for heroic actions performed during a firefight in Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah, Iraq

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway, Iowa

Lincoln Cafe in Belle Plaine, Iowa

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway, Iowa

The historic King Theatre in Belle Plaine, Iowa. Opened in 1930 by Milton and Sara Mansfield, the King Theatre has been operated by members of the Mansfield family to this day. Originally, the theater had 550 seats on the main floor and 200 in the balcony, for a total of 750. In 1999, rocking seats were installed. Today, the total capacity is 500.

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway, Iowa

Large wall relief about the Jumbo Well in Belle Plaine, Iowa, which the locals called the 8th Wonder of the World

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway

Large mural celebrating the Historic Lincoln Highway in Belle Plaine, Iowa

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway, Iowa

The old train station in Belle Plaine, Iowa. The train station was built by the Chicago & Northwestern Transportation Company in 1894. It looks abandoned now and some of the windows are boarded up.

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway, Iowa

Jumbo Well mural in Belle Plaine, Iowa. In the 1880s, The town of Belle Plaine, Iowa, contracted a well digger from Monticello, Iowa, to drill an artesian well to provide water and fire protection to a section of the town. What happened thereafter made the news, not just in Iowa but from coast to coast! The Belle Plaine artesian well erupted into a monster -- more than 3,000 gallons of water per minute flooded into the streets. It took 14 months to get this fixed.

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway

The original Lincoln Highway passes through Meskwaki Tribal land, where this mural can be seen

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway, Iowa

The view over Council Bluffs from the Fairmount Park scenic overlook is a bit obstructed.

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway

Lincoln Monument - Lincoln Monument Park, Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Lincoln Monument is within Lincoln Monument Park, on Lafayette Avenue, just west of Fairview Cemetery, this impressive pylon was erected in July, 1911 and commemorates Abraham Lincoln's visit to the site in 1859. From this site, Lincoln viewed and selected the Eastern Terminus of the first transcontinental railroad built on the United States.

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway

Scenic view from the Lincoln Monument in Lincoln Monument Park, Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway

Lewis and Clark Monument Park, Council Bluffs, Iowa. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark gathered atop this bluff more than 200 years ago as they set out to explore the newly-purchased Louisiana Territory. Lewis and Clark held noteworthy meetings with Otoe and Missouri Indians here, at the “council-bluff.” This site was dedicated in 1936 honoring the 1804 expedition of Lewis & Clark and their historic meetings with Otoe and Missouria tribesmen.

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway

Scenic view from the Lewis and Clark Monument Park, Council Bluffs, Iowa

Lewis and Clark Monument Park, Council Bluffs, Iowa

Lincoln Heritage National Scenic Highway, Iowa Scenic overlook at the Lewis and Clark Monument Park, Council Bluffs, Iowa