November 29, 2001: Based on a photo at Hickory Park restaurant, this overhead sign on Lincoln Way at Kellogg Avenue pointing to Main Street in Ames had been around since the early 1960s. It didn’t last much longer after this photo was taken.
The original route of the Lincoln Highway went out of its way, sometimes almost comically so, to pass through as many towns’ business districts as it could. There was one place, though, where it did not take a turn — Ames.
Now, this might seem weird. After all, today’s Lincoln Way is practically one long business district. But what I’m referring to here is what’s now the “Main Street Cultural District” that runs between Duff and Grand avenues on the north side of the railroad. For the Lincoln to run there, the route would have to add two railroad crossings, one of which — at Grand Avenue — involves three tracks and wasn’t grade-separated until 1937-38.
When the 1919 convoy passed through, Ames’ last-minute attempts to divert the trucks onto Main failed. The Army went from Marshalltown to Jefferson that day on Ames’ Lincoln Way, passing by the Iowa State campus and then heading north to Ontario Street and west to Boone.
“Owing to the fact that no one in Ames had arranged a welcome for the train, that no one had been in communication with the commanding officer, no arrangements had been made for the train of 52 trucks and cars and six motorcycles to detour from the Lincoln way long enough to pass down Main street.” — Ames Daily Tribune and Evening Times, July 25, 1919
UPDATE 8/26: According to old notes, the sign at the top of the page was removed in early March 2003.