Lincoln Heritage Trail

[Tom Emery]

All:

This is an article I wrote on what's left of the old Lincoln Heritage Trail. This one was carried by the Moline Dispatch, Taylorville Breeze-Courier, and the Legal Record family of Illinois newspapers.

There are also Trail signs in a variety of southern Illinois communities, though they're becoming increasingly hard to find.




Remnants of Lincoln Heritage Trail are relic of past travel

Posted Online: April 26, 2014, 8:55 pm
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By Tom Emery, ilcivilwar@yahoo.com

When it was established in 1963, the Lincoln Heritage Trail was intended to link historic sites across three states. Today, only remnants remain, a relic of a not-so-distant era of travel.

At its peak, the trail was a 960-mile winding path through Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois, the three states that Abraham Lincoln called home in his pre-presidential years. Brown-and-gray roadside signs that depicted Lincoln's head and resembled a coin dotted the landscape, through both rural and urban areas. Main and alternate routes of the trail led motorists, at least in theory, to historic sites relating to Lincoln's life.

The origins of the trail stretch back to 1915, when the Illinois General Assembly requested the Illinois State Historical Library mark the routes that Lincoln had traveled from Kentucky to Illinois. The trail that opened a half-century later highlighted history, tourism and marketing.

In an interview for Andrew Ferguson's 2007 book "Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America," Robert Newman, former Illinois tourism director, attributed the establishment of the trail to an unusual source.

"The whole thing was cooked up by the marketing guys at the American Petroleum Institute," Newman said in the book. "They wanted to get people traveling. Get 'em into their cars, get 'em buying gasoline." Governors in each of the three Lincoln states were recruited to support the project.

"There was a definite element of commercialism in it," said Ferguson, a senior editor for the Weekly Standard in Washington, D.C. "It wasn't just a historic venture. Like most things, there's always a dollar sign attached."

During its heyday, the Lincoln Heritage Trail was a resounding success. All three states heavily promoted the venture, and brochures with trail maps were produced in large quantities. Local documentaries were produced, and a commemorative coin was minted. The Chicago Tribune carried coverage of the trail on its Sunday front page three times in 1964.

Some sites on the original trail had dubious connections to Lincoln. A number of golf courses, recreational lakes and tourist caves were included, as well as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Fifty years after its inception, the trail is mostly forgotten today. A mere handful of signs remain, many of them in disrepair. There is no official website, and brochures outlining the trail route are scarce.

Some lament the trail's passing. "Part of it for me is purely personal," Ferguson said. "I grew up in Chicago in the 1960s, and my parents would take trips that weren't too far from home. We'd find the Lincoln Heritage Trail signs, and we had a map of the trail. I have very fond memories of it."

"I think it's suffered from a lack of promotion," said Bill Morris, executive director of the Galesburg Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. "It's definitely something that we CVB directors should talk about, and see what can be done to improve it."

In recent years in Illinois, the Looking for Lincoln initiative has attempted to highlight Lincoln's presence in various communities. In contrast to the Lincoln Heritage Trail, that effort focuses largely on central Illinois and Lincoln's local impact, rather than regional or national history. There also is no connective route.

Unlike elsewhere in Illinois, trail signs in Galesburg are in good condition and easily seen. "That's part of our mission," Morris said. "We want to maintain our wayfinding skills, and keep our signs up to date."

He said Galesburg also has given high priority to other markers, such as those on the Ronald Reagan Trail and the local Amtrak corridor, and at local sites relating to Carl Sandburg. The Sandburg birthplace was one of the northernmost sites on the Lincoln Heritage Trail, which ran along U.S. Routes 150 and 34.

Trail signs continue to direct travelers to out-of-the-way Lincoln sites in a few other spots in Illinois. In tiny Rosamond in Christian County, a striking statue of Lincoln in a local cemetery is traced off Illinois Route 16 with trail signs. To the east in Sullivan, downtown trail signs indicate a local Lincoln site, a monument commemorating an 1858 speaking appearance on the north side of town.

Morris said he believes that the Lincoln Heritage Trail still has ample historical and tourism value. "I think it still brings some visitors to Galesburg," he said. "Lincoln is still a very hot topic, and will continue to be. I believe the trail is something that needs work, and could be renewed."



Tom Emery is a freelance writer and researcher who lives in Carlinville, Ill. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.