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Lincoln Highway Companion: A Guide to America's First Coast-to-Coast Road
Following the Lincoln Highway today is not too different from what pioneer motorists faced a century ago. Signs and maps can be hard to find and the route isn't always clear. This handy, indispensable glove-compartment guide is the essential key to the entire highway, from California to New York, with carefully charted maps, must-see attractions, and places to eat and sleep that are slices of pure Americana. The book covers the major thirteen states the route passes through, as well as the little-known Colorado loop and the Washington, DC feeder.
191 pages, Paperback
First published April 30, 2009
About the author
Brian Butko
31 books22 followersMy 2024 resolution is to become more active on Goodreads! My most recent book is about Isaly’s Dairy and its Klondike bar. I’m also quite proud of “Luna: Pittsburgh’s Original Lost Kennywood” and “Kennywood: Behind the Screams.” Other books explore diners, roadside attractions, and the Lincoln Highway.
I’m working now on a book about the daring women and men of Bettis Airfield and other early Pittsburgh aviation stories. Big Kennywood book #3 is also underway, and I’m 95% finished with my first novel, a paranormal mystery inspired by a nearby quarry and surrounding woods.
I’m working now on a book about the daring women and men of Bettis Airfield and other early Pittsburgh aviation stories. Big Kennywood book #3 is also underway, and I’m 95% finished with my first novel, a paranormal mystery inspired by a nearby quarry and surrounding woods.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 13, 2022
Fun to read, but would be more fun to take along on road trips!
May 18, 2025
Review title: headed out on the Lincoln Highway
On March 30, 2025 my wife and I left our house drove 1/2 mile, and turned right on the original route of the Lincoln Highway on the start of a five-week road trip to San Francisco and back to Ligonier, PA. Every day one question we asked was "What does the Butko book say about it?"
This Brian Butko book was one of our key sources for information. He has written extensively on the Pennsylvania portion of the route and 15 years ago started at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco and made his way east to Times Square (we still need to cover the route from there back to Ligonier to complete our journey). For each state along the route he provides color-coded maps of the different generations of the Highway--the original 1913 alignment, intermediate reroutes, and the final 1930 route (when the Lincoln Highway designation was replaced by US route designations). This is a small format paperback on nice heavy glossy pages, but the size limits the detail. The other essential map we used was the Official Lincoln Highway Association Google Map of the routes, which can be zoomed in and out to show much closer detail. Because the LH is older, longer, and less traveled and developed than Route 66, good maps and guidebooks are essential if you want to stay close as possible to the original route, as we did (many miles of the original route are gravel or dirt and some are impassable or on now-private property).
Butko provides not just maps but calls out descriptions of key sections and difficult passages. He also notes important historical sites along the route, and fun places to stop, eat, and stay overnight. We relied on his recommendations for multiple overnight stops and lunches at interesting old diners.
Two caveats:
1. Butko's descriptions are in sequence from west to east as he drove it. So we had to flip through the book from back to front to follow our east to west route. And there are frequently different routes depending on your direction so be sure to take note of that.
2. His information is now 15-plus years old, so some of the places he describes may be closed or revamped. Be sure to google for the latest if there is someplace you want to stop.
With those caveats in mind this is definitely a must-have if you are following the LH or just love it's history.
On March 30, 2025 my wife and I left our house drove 1/2 mile, and turned right on the original route of the Lincoln Highway on the start of a five-week road trip to San Francisco and back to Ligonier, PA. Every day one question we asked was "What does the Butko book say about it?"
This Brian Butko book was one of our key sources for information. He has written extensively on the Pennsylvania portion of the route and 15 years ago started at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco and made his way east to Times Square (we still need to cover the route from there back to Ligonier to complete our journey). For each state along the route he provides color-coded maps of the different generations of the Highway--the original 1913 alignment, intermediate reroutes, and the final 1930 route (when the Lincoln Highway designation was replaced by US route designations). This is a small format paperback on nice heavy glossy pages, but the size limits the detail. The other essential map we used was the Official Lincoln Highway Association Google Map of the routes, which can be zoomed in and out to show much closer detail. Because the LH is older, longer, and less traveled and developed than Route 66, good maps and guidebooks are essential if you want to stay close as possible to the original route, as we did (many miles of the original route are gravel or dirt and some are impassable or on now-private property).
Butko provides not just maps but calls out descriptions of key sections and difficult passages. He also notes important historical sites along the route, and fun places to stop, eat, and stay overnight. We relied on his recommendations for multiple overnight stops and lunches at interesting old diners.
Two caveats:
1. Butko's descriptions are in sequence from west to east as he drove it. So we had to flip through the book from back to front to follow our east to west route. And there are frequently different routes depending on your direction so be sure to take note of that.
2. His information is now 15-plus years old, so some of the places he describes may be closed or revamped. Be sure to google for the latest if there is someplace you want to stop.
With those caveats in mind this is definitely a must-have if you are following the LH or just love it's history.
November 10, 2020
Worth reading if you're heading down the Lincoln Highway
August 22, 2013
A nice companion to Butko's other Lincoln Highway book, this is the book that lists all the roadside attractions on the Lincoln Highway, including addresses, phone numbers, and websites. However, it does not list the days/hours the locations are open, which could be a liability on the road in the decision-making of whether to attempt to make it to an attraction. But the site descriptions do help in making that decision.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews