Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway East-Central

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On this episode of Road Trip Iowa, we travel the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway. From Cedar Rapids to Marshalltown.

You're creating lots of joy.

This historic stretch of highway offers a journey through time.

Grandpa was a promoter of the Lincoln Highway. He grew up on the Lincoln Highway.

With cultural landmarks, scenic landscapes and quirky roadside attractions along the way.

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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] From Times Square to the San Francisco Bay, the Lincoln Highway has carried motorists across this great land for more than a century. This road passes through 13 Iowa counties connecting 43 communities over 460 miles. Today, we're traveling from Cedar Rapids to Marshalltown. Let's take a look at our itinerary.

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[Kohlsdorf] We'll explore three Cedar Rapids museums. Climb to the highest point in Linn County. Travel back in time to the Lincoln Highway's heyday. And enjoy the view along the Iowa River.

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[Kohlsdorf] But first, we hit the trails at a nature center providing a deeper connection with the great outdoors.

 

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[Kohlsdorf] Nestled on the eastern edge of Cedar Rapids, the Indian Creek Nature Center offers road trippers a chance to step off the beaten path and explore Iowa's natural landscape.

[Ana McClain] The nature center is a very special place for us here in Cedar Rapids. It's like a private nature reserve that is open to the community. It looks to preserve the natural landscape of the area and also provide education opportunities for different types of groups.

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[Ana McClain] It's a great place to be connected with nature.

[John Myers] Indian Creek Nature Center sits on 500 acres of land and we have over 7 miles of trails on the property that connect to the entire trail system of the Cedar Rapids metro area. When you come to the nature center you can do everything from hiking to play in our outdoor classroom. It's a great place for kids and families but also adults who want to come out and bird watch or enjoy time interacting in nature.

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[Kohlsdorf] Indian Creek became the state's first nature center in 1973, founded with the goal to get people outside. Today, its mission has grown, serving as a hub for outdoor education and a model for land restoration and conservation.

[John Myers] I really enjoy getting outside on the peaceful, quiet trails. The opportunity to connect with nature while hiking through the woods, seeing the lovely tree cover is just a magical experience.

I love looking over here. There's a pond and there's frogs sometimes there and it's just very relaxing to just come and listen. My kids love the bird watching room. They love trying to identify the birds that come to the bird feeder.

[John Myers] Ultimately, people enjoy coming to the nature center not only for the trails and the property, but for finding different things to do, to learn and engage with the outdoors and to become better stewards of the environment.

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[Ana McClain] Being here is kind of like taking a deep breath. It's very calm. You can see the deer. It's just so beautiful.

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[Kohlsdorf] In the center of Cedar Rapids, three institutions keep Iowa's history alive. Their exhibits dive deep into our diverse heritage through art, culture and tales of resilience. We begin at the African American Museum of Iowa. Exploring the stories of community and strength that have shaped the state's black history.

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[Jacqueline Hunter] When you come to visit you will see our permanent exhibit, which is here throughout the year, and then we have a rotating exhibit that is usually here for about 11 months. The permanent exhibit is going to take you from our very beginnings, the African American experience and our origins in Africa through the middle passage it will bring you up through reconstruction, the Civil War, civil rights into more modern times with ending basically of the election of President Barack Obama. We are definitely a museum that wants to encourage conversation. We want to encourage change. We want to encourage different perspectives. What we do here is important for two reasons. One, because we are telling the story and we're telling the story that may not be told anywhere else. Two, because it allows us to hopefully prepare a new generation not only from the perspective of coming into the museum and being guests, but one day someone has to take over, they have to be willing to continue to tell the story.

[Kohlsdorf] Inside the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, guests will discover a uniquely Midwestern collection of paintings and sculpture.

[Sean Ulmer] There is a group of Cedar Rapidians who had gone to the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and had gone to the fine arts pavilion there and decided that Cedar Rapids needed an arts organization. So, they founded an art club and met in each other's living rooms and talked about the artists and architects of the day and prior. And that grew eventually to the Cedar Rapids Art Association and they began to collect works of art in 1906. From those modest beginnings, we have grown to be a premier smaller art museum that is well known in the United States not just for its collection of work by Grant Wood, but other works in the collection. We have a collection of about 8,000 pieces. It is primarily American art in focus. Our collection is primarily 20th and 21st century. And we have a specialization in Iowa and Midwestern art. We like having that kind of a collection here because it allows us to tell a very different story than other museums. We can really focus on Iowa's contribution to the history of art and it's not something that many other museums focus on.

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[Kohlsdorf] Across the Cedar River, the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library celebrates a cultural heritage and immigrant spirit that became an integral part of Cedar Rapids history.

[Cecilia Rokusek] At one point early on in the late 1800s, early 1900s, Cedar Rapids boasted of a population of Czechs of over 40%. So, in 1974, this group of visionaries had this idea to start a museum so we never lose our culture. In 1992, by an act of Congress, we were established as the national. We are the only national Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in the United States. We have five galleries, one permanent and four temporary that change throughout the year. We tell the Czech story, the Slovak story and the American story and the story of immigration. We hope that everyone who comes through the doors of this museum will learn about their own culture and say, you know, I may be German, I may be Norwegian, but I remember how my grandparents came over and that they tell their children and their children's children because I think one of the major things in our country today is that we forget what our cultural heritage is.

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[Kohlsdorf] In the shadow of Interstate 380, a spring-fed creek winds quietly through Iowa's second largest city. McLoud Run is a two and a half mile long stretch of cold water and lush greenery in the heart of Cedar Rapids.

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[Kohlsdorf] Even in the heat of summer, the current holds a chilly 55 degrees. As the state's only urban trout stream, McLoud Run presents a rare opportunity for fly fishing without leaving town. Anglers can cast for several types of trout and other species of fish, all stocked by the Iowa DNR. For those just passing through, a scenic trail hugs the stream, perfect for a walk or a picnic beside the water.

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[Joe Horaney] Mount Trashmore, it's been called that since the '80s. A former Cedar Rapids Mayor was kind of the person who made it famous.

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[Joe Horaney] It started off as a joke. It's something that we've embraced as the agency because we know that is what everyone knows it as.

[Kohlsdorf] What used to be a landfill, is now a local landmark. Transformed by the Cedar Rapids Linn County Solid Waste Agency into a place people actually want to visit.

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[Joe Horaney] It's in the middle of Cedar Rapids. You can't help but see it. How do we turn this into something that we can make it an asset to the community? We're limited on what you can do with it because it is a closed landfill. What is the best thing about Mount Trashmore? It's the view at the top. It's incredible. You get up there and you can see the Cedar River rolling through the city. You look out the other end and you see just the beautiful tree canopy that made it through the derecho. Mount Trashmore is the tallest point that you can stand on in Linn County. Let's make it so we can give access to the top and make it an adventure for everyone.

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[Kohlsdorf] Hikers have the choice of two different paths up the hill. A flow trail gives mountain bikers an exhilarating path back down.

[Joe Horaney] Underneath all of that, the wildflowers and the native prairies that we have growing on there, there's more than 6 million tons of garbage that has gone into that. It took all of that going into it so that we could have Mount Trashmore as it is today. In the top 30 feet, which is kind of just such a stark reminder, the top 30 feet is more than 430,000 tons of debris that was generated just from the floods of '08. All the homes and businesses that had been out here for generations, when the floods took them out that is where all of that material ended up. So, it's kind of that reminder of we have this beautiful thing now, but we only have it because we've had tragedies. We turned it into something that people can now enjoy. This is literally the view of us growing and bouncing back.

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[Joe Horaney] This is a very park-like setting. This still is a regulated site as a closed landfill, so that's why it's not open all the time. We do have set hours. We try to be open as much as we can because we know people want to get out here and enjoy the weather. We want folks to come out here and take it in, in all seasons that they can. Our attendance has gone up every year that we've been open. We're over 20,000 people every year now coming into see it.

[Kohlsdorf] The old garbage dump now draws visitors from all 50 states and around the world, proving one city's trash can become a community's treasure.

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[Kohlsdorf] Roadside rest stops were a common sight in the heyday of highway travel. This former filling station welcomes visitors still today.

 

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[Kohlsdorf] When the Transcontinental Lincoln Highway was dedicated in 1913, it was still a dirt path through Benton County. Paving a coast-to-coast route took time and early travelers could expect the cross-country journey to last up to a month. Among the advice given to road trippers, don't wear new shoes.

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[Kohlsdorf] As the highway gained popularity, so did the demand for services along the way.

Good morning! Welcome! We're glad you came.

[Kohlsdorf] In 1931, Youngville Cafe opened its doors ready to serve hungry travelers a welcomed meal.

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[Mike Kelly] When the traffic was increasing and the facilities were increasing, kind of the dawn of the highway facilities, this was always a Skelly station. You would try and draw attention to your facility. So, it is built in kind of an English Tudor style that would stand out.

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[Kohlsdorf] West of Cedar Rapids, this stretch of highway once had rest stops on every corner. Today, Youngville is the last one standing.

Okay, I've got your tenderloins here.

[Mike Kelly] We're open on Tuesdays. It's all volunteers.

Everything look good?

[Mike Kelly] We serve loose meat sandwiches and grilled tenderloin and pies. Only being open that one day, we get a surprising number of people, oh I saw you were open and stopped in, I'm traveling the Lincoln Highway.

[Kohlsdorf] Now, the Lincoln Highway lives on in the memories of those who lived and traveled along it. And the Youngville Cafe stands as a reminder of what this monumental highway once was.

[Mike Kelly] People are very appreciative that it's open again. Some people remember coming here the first time when they were younger. A lot of times it's parents and grandparents that told them about coming here.

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[Kohlsdorf] Continue west on the byway to Belle Plaine, a once bustling travel hub where railways, bus routes and the historic Lincoln Highway converged. Today, hints of the roadway's past remain in the form of Preston's Station, an original Lincoln Highway landmark that opened in 1912.

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[Mary Preston] My great-grandfather bought it in 1923 for $100.

[Kohlsdorf] Since then, the station has been passed down through generations of the Preston family.

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[Mary Preston] As time went on there was milk sold, cigarettes sold, pop, candy, potato chips. This was one of the first you might call it a Kwik Star or Casey’s. I loved coming in here because I love the smell. I can smell the oil, I can smell the gas. It is as I remember it growing up.

[Kohlsdorf] Mary Preston has made it her mission to preserve the station and the family legacy it holds.

[Mary Preston] If we don't protect the past, if we're not caregivers of the past, this is all going to be gone. This building itself, if the walls could talk, oh my God the stories that would be told.

[George Preston] A lot of people stopped through here because at one time this was the only highway there was and when we started this place the roads were mud and the filling stations were mostly on the road. Now, my filling station used to sit closer to the road back in them days and the people pulled in that way.

[Mary Preston] Grandpa was a promoter of the Lincoln Highway. He grew up on the Lincoln Highway.

[George Preston] We was practically the only filling station in the state of Iowa with a driveway. Years ago, they didn't have driveways in filling stations. They had curb service and things like that.

[Mary Preston] We open our doors to anybody who stops. We share our story. We want to get the word out. My great-grandfather was brought to Belle Plaine for a reason. He was brought to Belle Plaine for an impact. Through four generations we have made an impact in Belle Plaine and we're going to continue to do that. It's here, we're not going any place. It's in my blood. It's what I was meant to do in life.

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[Kohlsdorf] In late summer, Lincoln Highway travelers will find fields of golden sunflowers to explore at Pheasant Run Farm just outside Belle Plaine. Let's take a look.

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[Kohlsdorf] Parallel to Highway 30 in Benton County among the fields of corn and beans, Eric and Ann Franzenburg have planted a colorful oasis. These plentiful blooms reach their peak in August and September, drawing road trippers from near and far.

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[Kohlsdorf] Eric, we're here at Pheasant Run Farm along the beautiful flowers, the flower beds that you have here. You started off as a traditional farmer, corn and beans. What made you want to expand to this?

[Eric Franzenburg] We really decided when we got started farming that we wanted to diversify the farm. And so, we were just looking at different options for that. And one of the first options that we looked at was doing a cut flower business where we could raise our own flowers, cut them and then provide them to florists and farmer's markets.

[Kohlsdorf] So, Eric, you started by selling the flowers, but now you bring the people here to the farm, right? Why?

[Eric Franzenburg] We spent a lot of our time on the farm, but we don't spend enough time visiting with other people. We want to invite people out to the farm to enjoy the flowers out here, especially to look at sunflowers. That seems to be the one flower that really people just love to look at. At the farmer's markets they love to buy them there. Even a lot of our customers at the farmer's markets will come out here to actually cut their own bouquet rather than just picking it up and making a bouquet at the farmer's market. They'll come out here and make their bouquet here. And it's been growing for the last three years.

[Kohlsdorf] So, Eric, it sounds like the sunflowers are the main attraction here. Can we take a look?

[Eric Franzenburg] Absolutely, Brooke, I'll show you the way.

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[Kohlsdorf] Pheasant Run's sunflower experience gives visitors the chance to cultivate lasting memories and plenty of photo worthy moments between the towering rows of yellow flowers.

[Eric Franzenburg] Well, Brooke, this is one of our most favorite photo ops here where people can actually go out into the sunflowers and be really close to them and then have someone, a friend or a relative, take a picture of them right in the middle of the sunflowers.

[Kohlsdorf] I imagine that's part of the appeal is just all of the photo opportunities out here, right?

[Eric Franzenburg] Yeah, that's really the main appeal here and that's the main reason why we do it.

[Kohlsdorf] Tell us a little bit about the growing process for sunflower fields because I imagine this is a little different than corn and beans, right?

[Eric Franzenburg] There's a lot of similarities. We plant it by seed. We use similar equipment to plant. They grow out in the Dakotas where it's very dry and warm. Here where we have plenty of rainfall and sunlight and we still have plenty of heat, they grow really well here as well. We planted about five acres of them the first year and just in a matter of two months you have plants that are taller than your head and blooming.

[Kohlsdorf] It seems like you're creating lots of joy, lots of joyful experiences.

[Eric Franzenburg] This is our favorite time of year because people come out and they're excited about coming out to see the sunflowers. And when they leave, they all have smiles on their faces.

[Kohlsdorf] I love it.

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[Kohlsdorf] So, the guests who come out get to cut a sunflower. Is that right?

[Eric Franzenburg] That's right, Brooke. It's all part of the sunflower experience. So, I want to show you how to do that. So, here's a good looking flower right here, Brooke. And what we do is cut the flower at an angle and we take all of the leaves off so the flower will last longer in your vase when you get it home and it's ready to go.

[Kohlsdorf] This is beautiful.

 

[Kohlsdorf] Just beyond the sunflowers lies another vibrant attraction to explore, the cutting garden.

[Ann Franzenburg] You can see we've got 30 varieties, approximately 30 varieties of flowers out here that people can grow. And I think people are always interested to know that these are all annuals and so we have to start this garden from scratch every year.

[Kohlsdorf] It's a lot of work.

[Ann Franzenburg] It is a lot of work, but it also provides a lot of joy for people. And it is fun for us to do too. Would you like to try cutting a bouquet?

[Kohlsdorf] I would love to.

[Ann Franzenburg] All right, so when we cut flowers, people often wonder what are the rules? And I always say, you should cut what makes you happy. That's the rule. When you're cutting any cut flower, you want to reach down and cut about an arm's length. Cut at a vertical angle. And you're going to want to strip the leaves off. You want to get rid of those leaves because we've cut the root system off, so the flower has to put all of its power into staying hydrated and you want that to go into the bloom instead of the leaves. When you're cutting a zinnia, you want to make sure that the stem feels firm. Then it's ready to cut. If it's flexible, it will wilt. So, just kind of grab right below the bloom of the zinnia and kind of wiggle it between your fingers. And this feels pretty firm, you can see it's pretty rigid. So, you're going to just reach down and, again, try to cut above a set of leaves, cut at an angle and then we're just going to strip all of these leaves off.

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[Ann Franzenburg] Long, nice long stem. Yep. And then just strip away. There you go.

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[Ann Franzenburg] Perfect.

[Kohlsdorf] We're getting a bouquet.

[Ann Franzenburg] We are.

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[Kohlsdorf] Oh, these white ones, what are these called?

[Ann Franzenburg] These are all zinnias over here.

[Kohlsdorf] All zinnias, okay. Do I have to feel these? Yeah. Okay.

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[Ann Franzenburg] There we go. Yeah.

[Kohlsdorf] Oh yeah. I'm going to put my last few flowers in here to finish off the bouquet. What do you think, Ann?

[Ann Franzenburg] I think it looks beautiful, Brooke. You're a pro!

[Kohlsdorf] Who knew?

 

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[Kohlsdorf] A trio of bridges gives this scenic park outside of Marshalltown its name. Three Bridges County Park is small but rich in history. Dedicated in 1960, it was the first county park in Marshall County. Before becoming a public space, the land served as a rock quarry, providing stone for the county courthouse just up the road. One of the park's three namesake bridges, an old wagon bridge, offers a glimpse into the past. The second known as the quarry bridge was built in 1885. It still spans the Iowa River flowing through the park. A third suspension bridge stretches across the bluff above the valley. It's a part of a short hiking loop through the area.

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[Kohlsdorf] With its history and natural beauty, Three Bridges County Park is worth a detour off the byway.

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[Kohlsdorf] The Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway stretches from the Mighty Mississippi all the way to the Missouri River, making this drive one of the best ways to see our state.

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[Kohlsdorf] We got off the beaten path at the Indian Creek Nature Center. Explored Iowa's only urban trout stream, McLoud Run, in the heart of Cedar Rapids. Visited Youngville Cafe, an original Lincoln Highway rest stop in Benton County. And stood among the towering sunflowers at Pheasant Run Farm outside Belle Plaine.

 

[Kohlsdorf] From river to river, the Lincoln Highway continues to connect Iowa communities. So, pull up a map and plan your own road trip today. 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.