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Story of Geography
The making
sense of the patterns of settlement and transportation.
The Lincoln Highway reveals glimpses into our diverse culture
and landscape across a 3,000 mile transect of the American
continent including a 179-mile transect of Illinois.
- Geography determines how people settle, how they make
a living and how they travel.
- The LH followed well-established
transportation routes in the east, went through low passes
in the mountainous west, sought out the least dangerous
desert crossings, and made as straight a path as possible
from town to town in the vast prairies of the Midwest.
- Illinois in the heart
of the continent has always been a crossroads state.
The nations great transportation arteries-the Great Lakes,
the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, the transcontinental
railroads, the interstate highway system, the airline
routes-all intersect in the state.
- Grand theaters, such as the Rialto
in Joliet and the Paramount in Aurora, are symbols of
community prosperity in the 1920's. From the beginning
they could attract major stars and performances because
of their proximity to travel routes.
- People first settled along the waterways looking
for transportation and power to run mills. The Des Plaines
(Joliet), the Fox (Aurora-Batavia), the Rock (Dixon),
the Mississippi (Fulton), all bisect the highway. The
I & M
Canal was constructed along the Des Plaines River to
facilitate water-based commerce.
- “The I & M Canal changed the nation by linking
the Illinois River to Lake Michigan in 1848. New York
and New Orleans were instantly connected and Chicago's
future as a major city was secured. When railroads replaced
the canal for passengers, canal boats continued to transport
thousands of pounds of freight.”
- Industrial development
occurred along the transportation corridors-coal and
steel in Joliet, windmill manufacturing in Batavia, stone
in Joliet, steel and wire in Sterling, barbed wire in
DeKalb, carriages in Batavia.
- The invention
and production of barbed wire in DeKalb was a response
to agricultural needs on the treeless prairies.
- John Deere's invention of the steel polished plow
was a solution to the gummy clay prairie soils of the
region. An historic restoration of his blacksmith shop
is located on the original highway 2 spur to Oregon.
- This same sticky
prairie soil bogged down wagons and early automobiles.
This is documented in accounts like Emily Post's 1915
adventures in Rochelle as she drove the Lincoln Highway
to San Francisco. The need for hard surfaced roads was
never more apparent than in Illinois.
- The fertile
prairie soil of Illinois was destined to become America's
corn belt. The rapid growth of railroads in the 19th
century opened a national market for Illinois foodstuffs.
By the 1870's three quarters of all Illinois farms were
within five miles of a railroad. Land prices soared and
sustenance farming gave way to commercial agriculture.
- Illinois
is laid out according to the American Jeffersonian grid
system. Therefore farms and roads follow mile-long section
lines with most original farms of one- quarter section
or 160 acres.
- Many farms on the Illinois LH corridor
were homesteaded in the 1830s.
- “Paved roads lifted Illinois out of the mud.
Farmers could truck their crops and animals more cheaply
to market, so they willingly paid the higher taxes. Motor
trucks soon took over much of the freight business from
the railroads.”
- “By 1927, 90% of the downstate families owned
an automobile. Short, casual visits replaced the all-day
affair. Farmers and villagers discovered how easy it
was now to dash off to town for a movie or for shopping.
Intercity high school basketball and football contests
became major social events for the community, while the
students themselves created new uses afforded by the
privacy of the auto. Villages lost much of their economic
function. Small and medium sized cities with their superior
shopping facilities crowded out the old general store.
Rural workers discovered they could commute to jobs in
a wide radius, making the young folk even less willing
to plan on a life in agriculture.”
- The
early LH helped travelers develop a sense of place as
they experienced firsthand the montage of landscapes
and communities that comprised the continent.
- Today's LH in Illinois still
engenders a sense of place for citizens of the state.
It is the prairie landscape and forested rivers that
have shaped the rural and urban communities along the
byway. Several public areas are available to experience
pre-settlement prairies and forests.
- “Prosperity and sustained economic growth from
1900-1930 attracted millions of people to Illinois, creating
a diversity of lifestyles and cultural values that could
scarcely be matched anywhere in the world.”
- “After the Second World War, the ownership of
cars by Chicago area working classes permitted the diffusion
of factories and large stores into the suburbs.”
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