Traveling the Lincoln Highway through Illinois: Lynwood to Matteson

The Park Forest mural honors Abraham Lincoln for whom, of course, the Lincoln Highway is dedicated.  Henry Joy, president of the Packard Motor Car Company, had pledged money for the road but was not originally directly involved with the project.  He did, however, suggest naming the highway after Lincoln.  It was agreed that the Lincoln name would appeal to American patriotism and attract more contributors to the highway fund.  Henry Joy eventually became the primary spokesperson for the Lincoln Highway.This life-size statue of Lincoln portrayed with children, titled “Lincoln On the Road to Greatness,” stands at the intersection of the east-west Lincoln Highway and the north-south Dixie Highway.  The intersection is known as the “Crossroads of the Nation.”  Both highways were founded by Carl Fisher.  This statue is rare in that Lincoln is smiling.The mural in Sauk Village, displayed on the Fairway Foods building facing Sauk Trail, features cattle crossing the Kavelage Bridge along Sauk Trail, the early route of the Lincoln Highway.  In early days the bridge was the only means to cross the creek, so motorists often shared the bridge with cattle.View the list »
The first mural in Illinois west of the Indiana border depicts Carl G. Fisher, often called the Father of the Lincoln Highway.  It was the idea of this Hoosier entrepreneur and his work in raising funds from automobile manufacturers and the public that brought the road that stretches from New York to San Francisco to reality.  Among other endeavors, Fisher also started the Indianapolis 500, founded the Dixie Highway and developed Miami Beach.

City Guides newsletter

The Lincoln Highway, the first coast-to-coast highway in the United States, celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2013. With grant funding, the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition, in conjunction with communities, historians and artists, have been adding murals along Illinois’ 179 mile stretch of the Lincoln Highway in honor of the centennial. This is the first of a several part series on traveling the Lincoln Highway through Illinois.

Related topics

Advertisement

Lincoln Highway, heading west from the Indiana border, followed two routes through its history. The original route traced Sauk Trail, an old Indian trail, from the state line to Route 1 and then headed north to Route 30. In later years, Sauk Trail was eliminated from the route and followed Route 30 from the state line westward.

  • To see the first mural, take Route 30 west from the state line to 21490 Lincoln Highway, Lynwood’s Senior and Youth Center Building. The Lynwood mural depicts Carl Fisher, an entrepreneur in the automobile industry and founder of the Lincoln Highway.
  • Backtrack east on Route 30 to the state line and then follow the Lincoln Highway signs west on Sauk Trail to the Mural at 1 Sauk Trail Plaza on the Fairway Foods building. This Sauk Village mural features the Kavelage Bridge, located just east of the plaza property.
  • Continue west on Sauk Trail to Route 1. Turn right and drive north to Route 30. This is the intersection of the current day Lincoln Highway and the north-south Dixie Highway. A statue of Abraham Lincoln with children stands at the northeast corner of this intersection. On the southwest corner see the Arche Fountain, dedicated in 1916 as a tribute to Lincoln.
  • Drive west on Route 30 to Western Avenue. The mural in Park Forest, as with several of the towns with murals, is not directly on the Lincoln Highway. To see it, turn left on Western Avenue toward Downtown Park Forest. The mural, depicting Abraham Lincoln, is at 348 Victory Drive. While you’re in that area, be sure to stop in to the 1950s Park Forest House Museum. You’re in for a nostalgia trip if you grew up in the late 1940s to 1950s. The museum is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays,
  • Although not on Lincoln Highway, but rather, further south off of Western Avenue, University Park’s Riegel Farm, 580 Farmview Road, is home to a mural, too. This one is of Adeline and Augusta Van Buren, two women who proved that women could ride motorcycles as well as men by riding them the full distance of the Lincoln Highway. University Park is also home to Governor’s State University and the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park.
  • Head back to Western Avenue and go north to Route 30. Turn left and continue west to the village of Matteson, the crossroad of the Lincoln Highway and the Illinois Central Railroad. Turn left on Main Street, travel south to 216th Street and then turn right. Heading west, the mural is on the left side of the road at 3627 216th Street. This mural is unique in that the building featured in the mural is the same building it is displayed on, the Mahler Service Station.

Look for the continuation of the Lincoln Highway drive through Illinois in articles published here throughout the spring. Be sure to click through the slides that accompany this article for more details on each mural. Find out more about the Lincoln Highway through Illinois on the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition web site.

Enjoy this article? Receive e-mail alerts when new articles by Connie Reed are available. Just click on the “Subscribe” button at the top of this article.

View the list
  • The first mural in Illinois west of the Indiana border depicts Carl G. Fisher, often called the Father of the Lincoln Highway.  It was the idea of this Hoosier entrepreneur and his work in raising funds from automobile manufacturers and the public that brought the road that stretches from New York to San Francisco to reality.  Among other endeavors, Fisher also started the Indianapolis 500, founded the Dixie Highway and developed Miami Beach.
  • The mural in Sauk Village, displayed on the Fairway Foods building facing Sauk Trail, features cattle crossing the Kavelage Bridge along Sauk Trail, the early route of the Lincoln Highway.  In early days the bridge was the only means to cross the creek, so motorists often shared the bridge with cattle.
  • This life-size statue of Lincoln portrayed with children, titled “Lincoln On the Road to Greatness,” stands at the intersection of the east-west Lincoln Highway and the north-south Dixie Highway.  The intersection is known as the “Crossroads of the Nation.”  Both highways were founded by Carl Fisher.  This statue is rare in that Lincoln is smiling.
  • The Park Forest mural honors Abraham Lincoln for whom, of course, the Lincoln Highway is dedicated.  Henry Joy, president of the Packard Motor Car Company, had pledged money for the road but was not originally directly involved with the project.  He did, however, suggest naming the highway after Lincoln.  It was agreed that the Lincoln name would appeal to American patriotism and attract more contributors to the highway fund.  Henry Joy eventually became the primary spokesperson for the Lincoln Highway.
  • Park Forest was the first planned community in the United States, developed as a G.I. town after World War II.  The community of rental units was first occupied in 1948.  The Park Forest 1950s Home at 141 Forest Boulevard now occupies one of the rental units and is furnished as it would have been from 1948-1953.  One of the bedrooms is set up as a school room, as in the early years school was held in some of the rental units.
  • The story of Adeline and Augusta Van Buren is told on the mural on the barn at University Park’s Riegel Farm complex.  The two women wanted to work as military motorcycle dispatch riders.  To prove that women were just as capable as men in the job, they rode the entire length of the Lincoln Highway on motorcycles in 1916.  Adeline applied to the U.S. Army following the trip but was rejected.
  • As an interesting side trip, go back north on Western from Riegel Farm to Exchange Avenue and then head west to Governor’s State University.  Ride through the university’s campus to see the 28 sculptures that make up the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park, ranging from the abstract to a giant Paul Bunyan.
  • Matteson’s mural of the Mahler' Service Station, established in 1914, is displayed on the very building it depicts.  The Mahler family was instrumental in bringing the railroad to Matteson before going into the business of selling and servicing cars.  Their location near the Lincoln Highway and the recent invention of the tow truck were important factors in their business success.
View the list
Suggested by the author:

, Chicago Travel Examiner

Connie Reed, a lifelong Chicago area resident, loves to explore new places and share her stories. She recently began her own blog, www.midwestwanderer.com and has been named as an Enjoy Illinois Mile Marker Ambassador for the Enjoy Illinois tourism web site. Contact Connie at connie...

Advertisement

Today's top buzz...