On the road this morning, I stopped in the town of Ligonier at a convenience store. Yes, Pennsylvania had a place called that, too. The downtown area in this Indiana city was full of eye-catching murals.
As I drove toward Goshen, I saw these old log tourist cabins. They had long closed, but these were typical of the pre-motor-hotel types of lodging establishments along the highway. Before they came into existence, people just camped by the road or in public parks.
At the place where the Lincoln Highway takes a left turn in downtown Goshen, there is a remnant of the "gangster" days. This police kiosk was actually used to watch out for gangsters on the highway and to shoot it out with them if necessary.
The older route of the LH in Indiana goes on a more northerly course through South Bend, the home of Notre Dame University. I stopped to see if I could spot the famous "Golden Dome" and the ND football stadium. I saw both, but a lot of construction only allowed me to get photos of the football stadium. The gates to the stadium are named for coaches, and I was near the Frank Leahy Gate. On the right, you can see the likeness of the Lord, painted on the library, which is visible over the north end zone stands. Fans refer to the painting as "Touchdown Jesus" because of his uplifted arms.
One very attractive small town was New Carlisle. In a beautiful downtown area, they had a Lincoln Highway kiosk which gave info about the history of the highway in their county.
On the Lincoln Highway documentary on PBS, a guy working with the Indiana LH Association takes the narrator on a drive to show how parts of the old highway "branch off" from the modern Route 33. He takes them down Oak Knoll Road, part of the original LH. I took a drive on the road myself this afternoon.
The city of LaPorte, which gets its name from the French for "gateway" (it was the gateway between two dense forests into fur trading country), had a restored, functional railroad depot. In front of it was another information kiosk, which also had a plaque with a Lincoln Highway poem, written by the county's poet laureate.
Here are some of the examples of LH signs I saw today, all pointing the way for motorists.
Spent the night in Merrillville, IN, close to Chicago. There was fog coming off Lake Michigan. I had always heard that Indiana was crazy about their time zones; it is true. They are actually in the East, but apparently parts of the state want to be on the same clock as Chicago (Central time). I was totally confused.
