Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway East

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On this episode of Road Trip Iowa, we explore the eastern stretch of Iowa's Lincoln Highway.

If you can't come here and find something to drink, then I don't know what to tell ya honestly!

From America's favorite pastime to the great outdoors.

Their little lips feel so funny!

This historic route features small town charm, natural beauty and roadside surprises at every turn.

Oh, well imagine that!

Next, on Road Trip Iowa!

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Kwik Star is proud to be a part of Iowa communities across the state. Family owned for over 50 years, we're dedicated to treating our guests, employees and communities as we would like to be treated.

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Musco Lighting is an Iowa company that travels across the U.S. and to more than 125 countries to light community recreation fields, stadiums, airports, monuments and more. While our reach is global, we're committed to our local communities.

The Gilchrist Foundation, founded by Jocelyn Gilchrist, furthering the philanthropic interests of the Gilchrist family in wildlife and conservation, the arts and public broadcasting and disaster relief.

 

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[Brooke Kohlsdorf] The Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway is part of the Transcontinental Lincoln Highway and it stretches across 13 Iowa counties. More than a century since its conception, this highway continues to lead travelers through communities along its path. In this episode, we travel from Clinton to Cedar Rapids. Let's take a look at our itinerary.

 

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[Kohlsdorf] We'll stop at a brewery in an unexpected setting. Visit a barn with foreign roots in DeWitt. Explore a state park on the bank of the Cedar River. And take a hike at a unique nature preserve outside of Cedar Rapids.

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[Kohlsdorf] But first, we step up to the plate in Clinton where a squad of sluggers is preserving the city's longstanding reputation as a home to America's favorite pastime.

 

[Announcer] Good evening once again, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome back to NelsonCorp Field for your Clinton Lumberkings!

[Kohlsdorf] NelsonCorp Field was built on the banks of the Mississippi River in 1937. Teams came and went until 1954 when the Clinton Lumberkings became a charter member of Minor League Baseball's Midwest League.

[Announcer] And now, ladies and gentlemen, here are the starting lineups for tonight's game!

[Jack Dahm] This is the 88th season for the Clinton Lumberkings, which is absolutely incredible. They spent 84 years as an affiliate for Major League Baseball. So, they have had hundreds and hundreds of people go through here who have made it to the major leagues.

[Announcer] Adding second at third base, number 14, Ben Swails!

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[Jack Dahm] Unfortunately, when Major League Baseball basically cut 43 teams out of Minor League Baseball, Clinton was one of them.

[Kohlsdorf] After losing their MILB status in 2021, the Lumberkings joined the Prospect League, a summer ball club for college players.

[Jack Dahm] We play about 60 games in 68 days, so it's just like a downsized minor league season for our guys. It's an opportunity for the players to go out and get better. They call it the Prospect League because they're hoping that there's a lot of pro prospects out of here.

[Kohlsdorf] Though the game had changed, Clinton baseball fans didn't miss a beat.

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[Kohlsdorf] Spectators continued to fill the 5,000-seat stadium to support the next generation of athletes.

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[Jack Dahm] They're great baseball fans. You're going to see everybody from young kids to 85-year-old people that have been coming to games just about their entire life.

[Jane Swearingen] My husband and I just started coming several years ago and enjoyed it and we came about every game then too. When he passed away, my friends joined up with me and here we are for six years.

[Ashley Winter] We decided to come tonight because she has been waiting to see Louie since last season. We love the atmosphere. We love playing on the playground and the bounce houses. There's just lots to do.

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[Jack Dahm] It's just a part of Clinton. If you're here it he summertime, you're going to go to the game. We've got the list of all of the players that played in Clinton that have made it to Major League Baseball. I'm really looking forward to that first name that goes up there for the Clinton Lumberking that was part of the Prospect League.

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[Kohlsdorf] In Clinton's downtown neighborhood, the city's past has been resurrected in a surprising way.

[Rachel Heise] We were always looking for an old church or a schoolhouse or a firehouse, anything that had fun, good, old bones that we could kind of turn into something. And we happened to know a guy who knew a guy at the right time because when we came here, they were about to demolish this location and turn it into a parking lot, which when we walked in, we're like how in the heck are you guys going to turn this into a parking lot, it's so beautiful.

[Kohlsdorf] Great Revivalist Brewery first opened in 2020 across the river in Western Illinois. After weathering the COVID pandemic, they were ready to expand into Iowa. That's when the historic church caught their eye. After about a year of renovations, the former house of worship was ready for its revival.

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[Rachel Heise] I show people pictures all the time and they're like oh, that's really cool. And then they finally come and see it and they're like, the pictures did nothing for this place, you have to see it in person.

[Kohlsdorf] The building was originally constructed in 1898 as St. John's Episcopal Church. Many of the original fixtures are still here, but with a new purpose. Pieces of the pews and pipe organ were turned into tables, the alter now holds brewing equipment.

[Rachel Heise] That's the whole point in looking for a place like this. We didn't want to come in here and turn it into the next IKEA looking place. We wanted to utilize and bring it back to life and honor all of the history that is in this building.

[Kohlsdorf] While the building is historic, the brewery serves up a drink list and menu that are anything but old fashioned.

[Rachel Heise] We have a full soda line and then we have our tonic and then we have our energy drink. We also make our own nitro cold brew coffee. We have any type of beer that you would want from sours to darks to lights to reds. If you can't come here and find something to drink, then I don't know what to tell ya honestly! We have a full-service kitchen and we have a full-service pizza kitchen. We have a nine-foot pizza oven that is wood fired.

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[Rachel Heise] We're just in our small little niche of the world here. So, you're like, oh there's got to be other cool church breweries out in the world. And it turns out there is a few, but there's not a lot. We literally want to be a one stop shop for everything you need. You can bring the whole family here. You can bring your babies and you can bring your hundred-year-old grandmas because there's something for everybody whether it's food, drink, atmosphere or just the nostalgia for some of these folks to come in and just relive this that have been in this church before. We left everything in here as is as we could as much as possible. You never know how people are going to take to certain things, especially a church becoming a brewery. That was a stumbling block and I think still is for some folks. They don't like the fact that there's beer going on in the church. But most people they are extremely thankful that we didn't let it get demolished and we were able to bring it back to life and give it a whole other purpose for hopefully another 50 years.

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[Jessica Steines] We are at Rock Creek Marina and Campground alongside the Mississippi River Ecotourism Center.

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[Jessica Steines] Many times it doesn't have current here so it's a great place to learn how to paddle, paddleboard. If you want to fish from shore you can fish from shore. You can go on a blue heron pontoon boat ride if you’re here on a Thursday evening. Every cruise is different.

Here's a cormorant up above here.

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[Kohlsdorf] Outside of Camanche where the Wapsipinicon River meets the Mississippi, Rock Creek is all about the water.

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[Kohlsdorf] Nestled in the calm, muddy backwaters, the marina is a perfect spot to launch an adventure on the Mighty Mississippi. Naturalists give guided tours of the river's tributaries and sloughs on the 24-seat blue heron pontoon.

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Tricker's slough is up here. That's a dead end as well. But if you go up Tricker's slough, you'll go to the real Rock Creek.

[Kohlsdorf] Or visitors can chart their own course on the canoes, kayaks and paddleboats available to rent.

[Jessica Steines] The really great thing about this place is we have a water trail. It's just a fun place that you can experience nature. Like right now, if we were to go out there, it would be like you're up in the Boundary Waters or something like that, in the wilderness.

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[Kohlsdorf] Beyond the water, the Mississippi River Ecotourism Center brings the river's natural heritage to life. See local river fish up close in an 8000-gallon aquarium. A store and cafe provide good and supplies for campers staying at the park's cabins and campsites.

[Jessica Steines] You just never know what you're kind of going to encounter here. But you always know that there's plenty of mud, plenty of water and good times.

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[Kohlsdorf] Next, we travel west on the Lincoln Highway to a stop that doesn't look like Iowa at all. DeWitt's House Barn is the picture of northern Germany because that's exactly where it came from.

 

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[Angela Rheingans] You drive by our beautiful park and you see this large building with a thatch roof. That's not something typical that you see in Midwest Iowa. It's very typical in Germany. That is the first unique feature that makes people stop, just pull over, walk into the chamber office and say, what is your building?

[Kohlsdorf] DeWitt's German House Barn was originally built in 1727. 280 years later in 2007, the barn was slated to be torn down. That's when a German immigrant living in DeWitt had an idea. Why not bring the historic structure to Iowa instead?

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[Angela Rheingans] About 70,000 volunteer hours later and $60,000 in grants and donations, we have that building tore down there, put in a shipping container and brought to DeWitt, reconstructed here in Lincoln Park. The intent had been to reconstruct the house barn completely using all the original materials. But, we kind of discovered that the brick was really starting to disintegrate. So, the building has the same footprint that it did originally. The doors are in the same spot.

[Kohlsdorf] The building is now home to the DeWitt Chamber and Development Company and also serves as a museum chronicling the barn's journey to Iowa. Inside, visitors can explore artifacts, tools and household items all shipped to DeWitt alongside the barn itself.

[Angela Rheingans] When people come in, they are pleasantly surprised at just kind of the quaintness of it. We really wanted to just embrace that we're not a curated museum, but what we are is just really wanting to hold onto the heritage that this piece had in Germany and kind of give a nod to the German heritage of our DeWitt community as well. When the community first considered bringing the house barn to DeWitt, there was a lot of conversation about where would we put it? Ultimately, we decided to put it in Lincoln Park, which is right here on the Lincoln Highway. It's the center of town. Since that time, our Lincoln Park has evolved to really become even more of a centerpiece for our community. Not only is it something that you drive by and comment and love and kind of feel in a sense of place because it's here in DeWitt, it serves both function and beauty but also a place of pride.

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[Kohlsdorf] Prior to the construction of the Sutliff Bridge, travelers used a ferry to cross this spot on the Cedar River.

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[Kohlsdorf] Find this historic rest stop a few miles south of Lisbon and the Lincoln Highway off Sutliff Road.

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[Kohlsdorf] The three-span Parker truss bridge was constructed in the late 1890s and is named after Allen Sutliff, who established the original ferry business. It carried car traffic until 1983 when a modern bridge was constructed nearby. The overpass became a local landmark with its picturesque setting and access to the river. In 2008, flood water topped the bridge deck and washed away one of its three spans. It was restored and reopened for pedestrians in 2012.

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[Kohlsdorf] Lined with picnic tables, the Sutliff Bridge is a perfect place to soak in the history and the view.

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[Kohlsdorf] The Lincoln Highway brings motorists into the heart of Mount Vernon's historic uptown neighborhood, which is filled with inviting restaurants and unique shops. Let's visit Iron Leaf Press where antique printmaking meets contemporary stationary design.

 

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[Kohlsdorf] Danielle, we are in your storefront in beautiful Mount Vernon. Tell us a little bit about it.

[Danielle Chargo] Sure, so this is Iron Leaf Press. It's a letter press and stationary store. We've been in business since 2012 and we moved down to this location in 2022.

[Kohlsdorf] What do people come in here for?

[Danielle Chargo] Right, well a lot of people come in here for greeting cards and stationery, but we also sell a ton of pens and pencils.

[Kohlsdorf] Yes, you do, walls of pens here.

[Danielle Chargo] Exactly. We've added a lot of that retail stuff over the years, but we've also kind of done our own greeting cards and that's really where it started. We've got lots of cards that we have designed here. We design them and then they go on one of our printing presses.

[Kohlsdorf] Danielle, I'd love to hear what inspired you to open this shop and get started in the printing business in the first place.

[Danielle Chargo] Sure. So, when I was in college, I did some printmaking and that's kind of where the love started. I actually bought a press while I was still in college and then it kind of grew from there and I got another one and I got another one and I was like maybe I should start printing for other people and doing more greeting cards. It's a really fun way to be a part of people's connections to other people. You know, you sit down to write a greeting card to your friends or your family, you really think about that person and how they're going to receive it. Same thing for like we do a lot of personal stationary. It's that extra touch for you send a note to your friend and they know how much you thought about them.

[Kohlsdorf] Yeah, I love that note writing and letter writing isn't dead. Right? It's still alive and well.

[Danielle Chargo] Yes, it's still alive and well.

[Kohlsdorf] I would love to see how you make your products on the printing press.

[Danielle Chargo] Oh, absolutely, let's go take a look and we'll run one of the presses.

[Kohlsdorf] Okay.

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[Kohlsdorf] All right, so this is where the magic happens. And this machine looks old. Tell me about it.

[Danielle Chargo] It is. Yeah, so this machine is a Chandler & Price platen press. It was made in 1919. These types of presses were primarily made for job printing, so flyers and business cards and things like that.

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[Danielle Chargo] Okay, so Brooke, what we're doing here is we're doing blind embossing. These notecards we're printing on this press here. Just roll it in. We really love this machine. I've spent a lot of time printing on this machine. With our notecards we do a lot of embossing and it's really something that our customers love.

[Kohlsdorf] Why 100 years later are people still trying to find machines like this? What makes them so special?

[Danielle Chargo] These presses can do ink, they can do blind embossing and it really adds a tactile feel to these notecards.

[Kohlsdorf] So, it gives you a kind of look that maybe some of the newer machines or technologies can't give you?

[Danielle Chargo] Right, so embossing it requires specialty embossing dyes and yeah, if you're running your copy machine at home it's not going to have the same effect. This raises the name up out of the paper and we run these thick cotton stocks, which you can't necessarily run through a laser copier machine. So, that's why we use this press here.

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[Kohlsdorf] Danielle has built her business around making paper goods the old-fashioned way, adding a special touch to every greeting card and custom piece of stationary she creates. Her shop doubles as a print studio where customers might catch her in action on one of her four antique presses.

[Kohlsdorf] So, this is a different press. Tell us about this one.

[Danielle Chargo] Right, so this is a Vandercook. It's a proofing press. It was built to proof type. So, you'd set your type, all the individuals letters, take a pull of the press and then you study your sheet and make any corrections if you spelled something incorrectly, the original spell checker. I have something special set up for you. So, I'm going to have you pull the first press, or pull the first proof. So, you put your right hand on the crank here, your left hand here on the paper and then just turn the crank and you'll see the print at the end.

[Kohlsdorf] Okay, I'm going to give it a try, give it a whirl. Here we go!

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[Kohlsdorf] Oh, well imagine that! Road Trip Iowa. Danielle, I love this. It's beautiful! Thanks so much for teaching us a little bit about printmaking and showing us around your store, a great stop on the Lincoln Highway.

[Danielle Chargo] Absolutely, thank you so much for coming.

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[Kohlsdorf] Iron Leaf Press is open Wednesday through Saturday in uptown Mount Vernon.

 

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[Kohlsdorf] Outside Mount Vernon, road trippers will find an outdoor destination perfect for stretching their legs. Palisades Kepler State Park sits on 840 acres and features five miles of trails to explore.

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[Kohlsdorf] Lined by a sandy shoreline, limestone bluff and hardwood forest, the Cedar River winds through the park. The Palisades was established in 1922. It nearly doubled in size in 1928 thanks to a donation from Louis Kepler. The area was further developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

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[Kohlsdorf] Visitors can connect with nature here while camping, fishing or hiking.

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[Kohlsdorf] With beautiful landscapes at every turn, it's a must see stop off the byway.

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[Kohlsdorf] Continue west in Linn County for the chance to hoof around with some unusual companions. Prairie Patch Farm, located just south of Cedar Rapids near Shueyville is a 50-acre wildlife refuge and nature preserve best known for its colorful bunch of llamas.

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[Kohlsdorf] From spring through fall, the farm opens its barn doors to offer guided hikes and quality time with the herd.

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[Kahle Atherton-Boutte] We have a little bit over a mile, 1.2-mile hike and folks come out and they get introductions to the llamas. We talk about their history, their care.

Well trained llamas won't spit on us, but they commonly spit on each other. So, if you get spit on today you either didn't duck fast enough or you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Kahle Atherton-Boutte] And then they get to take their own llama out on a walk on these lead ropes. We'll venture out onto the trail and the llamas will graze along the way and we'll have an adventure off on the nature preserve.

Good job. This is called llama wrangling. You're doing a great job. We walk on the left-hand side of our llamas. So, just imagine you're the driver and your llama is your passenger.

Other left.

 

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[Kohlsdorf] Before it became a home for llamas, this land belonged to Kahle's uncle. She purchased the property after his passing in 2008 hoping to find a way to honor his memory.

[Kahle Atherton-Boutte] We wanted a way to kind of memorialize him and continue keeping this a preserve and the conservation farm that it is. So, getting a couple of llamas, they're so ecofriendly. It was kind of a no brainer to keep them and then quickly finding that taking them on the walks, we enjoyed it with our family and friends. And we're like wow, well might our community like this? Who wants to walk a llama? Well, I found a whole following of people who are not only obsessed with llamas, love llamas, but get to come out and have this really unique experience while also enjoying kind of the natural landscapes of Iowa itself including the prairie and our oak savanna and our forest reserve here. I am all about people having more positive experiences, nurturing experiences in nature, being able to get up close and personal with animals that they may not interact with otherwise.

[Bryan Rennekamp] My llama hike experience was fantastic. I got to meet Alby here and Alby wanted to take a bunch of munches on grass. These guys have a mind of their own. But they're so calm and fun. (laughs) Just, you know.

[Shay Kaalberg] It was fun to just be with llamas. I don't have any experience with them so that was nice. It was much easier than I thought. I thought they were going to spit. I thought they spit more. But we didn't have a problem with that. They're just so friendly.

[Kahle Atherton-Boutte] I think it's just a really hard thing to put your finger on to explain the magic that the llamas have when you're around them.

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Their little lips feel so funny.

[Kahle Atherton-Boutte] People come here and their eyes are lighting up and they're like, these are the cutest animals I've ever seen. And they are, they're the best. I'm mean, look at him. Just look at him. That's the cutest thing I've ever seen. He knows it too. Don't you know it, Earl, you know it.

 

[Kohlsdorf] A drive down the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway is a journey into the distinctive history and vibrant culture of the Midwest.

 

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[Kohlsdorf] We spent a night at the ballpark with the Clinton Lumberkings. Launched an adventure on the Mississippi River at the Rock Creek Marina and Campground. Took in the view at the Sutliff Bridge. And learned about printmaking the old-fashioned way at Iron Leaf Press.

 

[Kohlsdorf] From the Mighty Mississippi to the green pastures of East Central Iowa, this route has something for everyone to explore. For more on the history, culture and landscapes along Iowa's scenic byways, join us next time on Road Trip Iowa.

 

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Kwik Star is proud to be a part of Iowa communities across the state. Family owned for over 50 years, we're dedicated to treating our guests, employees and communities as we would like to be treated.

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Musco Lighting is an Iowa company that travels across the U.S. and to more than 125 countries to light community recreation fields, stadiums, airports, monuments and more. While our reach is global, we're committed to our local communities.

The Gilchrist Foundation, founded by Jocelyn Gilchrist, furthering the philanthropic interests of the Gilchrist family in wildlife and conservation, the arts and public broadcasting and disaster relief.