{"id":234190,"date":"2026-07-02T22:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T22:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/234190\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T22:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T22:25:08","slug":"lincoln-highway-tour-highlights-history-and-landmarks-in-pa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/234190\/","title":{"rendered":"Lincoln Highway tour highlights history and landmarks in Pa."},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Lincoln Highway, America\u2019s first coast-to-coast automobile route built in 1913, remains a vital part of the nation\u2019s history, connecting people and landmarks as America celebrates its 250th anniversary.Members of the Lincoln Highway Association recently toured the historic route from York to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, revisiting landmarks that have shaped the country. \u201cIt\u2019s a time for us to remember, you know, maybe our family road trips growing up,\u201d said Thomas Davidson, Pennsylvania state director of the Lincoln Highway Association. Sole destination!One of the tour\u2019s highlights was the Haines Shoe House, a 25-foot-tall, 48-foot-long roadside attraction built in 1948 by businessman and shoe manufacturer Mahlon Haines. The giant shoe was designed as a marketing gimmick to draw travelers into his stores. \u201cHe never lived here and he never made shoes here, literally just a scheme,\u201d Davidson said. Known as the \u201cShoe Wizard,\u201d Haines operated a chain of 40 shoe stores and became famous for his signature high-top boots. The Haines Shoe House has been a favorite for WGAL over the years, with cameras documenting the York County icon for generations. Video below: Step inside the Haines Shoe HouseToday, the shoe house continues to attract visitors from around the world, offering families the unique opportunity to spend the night. Other Lincoln Highway destinationsThe tour also stopped at the Turkey Hill Experience in Columbia, where participants learned about dairy farming and agriculture\u2019s role in shaping the region. The fertile farmland of the Susquehanna Valley attracted immigrants from Germany and Switzerland. Towns along the Lincoln Highway also became significant stops on the Underground Railroad, helping many escape slavery. \u201cYou feel that you are part of the earth that you\u2019re traveling on. It\u2019s something that really gets to your heart,\u201d Hainesworth said. Another stop was the National Watch and Clock Museum, home to the largest collection of timepieces in America, with 13,000 artifacts preserving another chapter of history. The Lincoln Highway is lined with destinations like Dutch Haven, Gettysburg National Military Park, Mister Ed\u2019s Elephant Museum, and countless small towns where history lives on. “To experience it, you have to travel along the Lincoln Highway and see the places along the way,” Davidson said.\u201cWe\u2019ve got people from all over the country, and yet we all share something. We readily get into conversations with each other because we\u2019ve got a common denominator, and that\u2019s the Lincoln Highway,\u201d Hainesworth said.As America marks 250 years, the Lincoln Highway continues to bring people together.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Lincoln Highway, America\u2019s first coast-to-coast automobile route built in 1913, remains a vital part of the nation\u2019s history, connecting people and landmarks as America celebrates its 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"the<\/p>\n

Members of the Lincoln Highway Association recently toured the historic route from York to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, revisiting landmarks that have shaped the country. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a time for us to remember, you know, maybe our family road trips growing up,\u201d said Thomas Davidson, Pennsylvania state director of the Lincoln Highway Association. <\/p>\n

Sole destination!<\/p>\n

One of the tour\u2019s highlights was the Haines Shoe House<\/a>, a 25-foot-tall, 48-foot-long roadside attraction built in 1948 by businessman and shoe manufacturer Mahlon Haines. <\/p>\n

\t\t\"the<\/p>\n

The giant shoe was designed as a marketing gimmick to draw travelers into his stores. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe never lived here and he never made shoes here, literally just a scheme,\u201d Davidson said. <\/p>\n

Known as the \u201cShoe Wizard,\u201d Haines operated a chain of 40 shoe stores and became famous for his signature high-top boots. <\/p>\n

The Haines Shoe House has been a favorite for WGAL over the years, with cameras documenting the York County icon for generations. <\/p>\n

Video below: Step inside the Haines Shoe House<\/p>\n

Today, the shoe house continues to attract visitors from around the world, offering families the unique opportunity to spend the night. <\/p>\n

Other Lincoln Highway destinations<\/p>\n

The tour also stopped at the Turkey Hill Experience in Columbia, where participants learned about dairy farming and agriculture\u2019s role in shaping the region. <\/p>\n

The fertile farmland of the Susquehanna Valley attracted immigrants from Germany and Switzerland. <\/p>\n

Towns along the Lincoln Highway also became significant stops on the Underground Railroad, helping many escape slavery. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou feel that you are part of the earth that you\u2019re traveling on. It\u2019s something that really gets to your heart,\u201d Hainesworth said. <\/p>\n

Another stop was the National Watch and Clock Museum, home to the largest collection of timepieces in America, with 13,000 artifacts preserving another chapter of history. <\/p>\n

\t\t\"the<\/p>\n

The Lincoln Highway is lined with destinations like Dutch Haven, Gettysburg National Military Park, Mister Ed\u2019s Elephant Museum, and countless small towns where history lives on. <\/p>\n

\t\t\"the<\/p>\n

“To experience it, you have to travel along the Lincoln Highway and see the places along the way,” Davidson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got people from all over the country, and yet we all share something. We readily get into conversations with each other because we\u2019ve got a common denominator, and that\u2019s the Lincoln Highway,\u201d Hainesworth said.<\/p>\n

As America marks 250 years, the Lincoln Highway continues to bring people together. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Lincoln Highway, America\u2019s first coast-to-coast automobile route built in 1913, remains a vital part of the nation\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8120,17169,101116,38190,101117,101124,101118,101119,101120,101121,101122,28,30,29,101123],"class_list":["post-234190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-america250","tag-america250pa","tag-dutch-haven","tag-gettysburg-national-military-park","tag-haines-shoe-house","tag-history-and-landmarks","tag-lincoln-highway-association","tag-lincoln-highway-tour","tag-mahlon-haines","tag-mister-eds-elephant-museum","tag-national-watch-and-clock-museum","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-thomas-davidson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}