Bob and Joyce Ausberger, of Jefferson, longtime members and advocates for the Lincoln Highway Association, will present a program “Traveling the Lincoln Highway” in a special program of the Greene County Historical Society on Sunday, June 26.
The program will be at 2 pm at the historical museum in Jefferson. Admission and refreshments will be free.
The historic coast-to-coast highway, considered “America’s Main Street” from the 1930s thru the 1950s, then carried an average of 3,500 cars and 700 trucks per day across Greene County. It went right through the business districts of Grand Junction, Jefferson and Scranton.
The Lincoln Highway’s prominence as a main traffic artery across the nation was drastically diminished in the late 1950s when new U.S. Highway 30 was built along the same general route, but bypassing most cities and towns.
The Ausbergers have been active in the Lincoln Highway Association for more than 30 years, and they’ve traveled and toured extensively on the historic route.
In their program Sunday, Joyce Ausberger is going to detail her “favorite places in 13 states of the highway.” Bob Ausberger plans to lead an audience discussion of “a vision for the Lincoln Highway in the future.” And they plan to collaborate on “how you can easily spend a week in Greene County while exploring the Lincoln Highway.”
They’ll display some of their favorite memorabilia and sourcebooks about the highway.
In addition, a new three-panel interactive display on the Lincoln Highway – developed for the Iowa Department of Transportation by the Prairie Rivers Association – will be available during and after the program. The historical society has hosted that display during the month of June.
