Blog: Byway Buzz
Prairie Rivers of Iowa Now Managing the Iowa Valley Scenic Byway
From Le Grand, IA to Belle Plaine, IA, to the Amana Colonies, the Iowa Valley Byway takes you through rural agricultural land, the Iowa River wetlands/prairie, and a diverse cultural palette of Native American, Czech, and German heritage.
Celebrating 100 Years of the Reed/Niland Corner on the Lincoln Highway in Iowa
At the crossroads of the Lincoln and Jefferson Highways sits the Reed Niland Corner, celebrating 100 years of automobile transportation in the US.
Step Into the Sankot Garage for Treasured Bits of Lincoln Highway History
To step into Sankot Garage in Belle Plaine today is to step into the bits and fragments of small-town Lincoln Highway history.
Significant Black History Along the Lincoln Highway
During Black History Month we pay tribute to a sometimes overlooked, yet highly significant, piece of African American history that took place along the Lincoln Highway in Ames, Iowa.
From the start, Iowa State College founded in 1858 (now Iowa State University) allowed students of color to attend, but without on-campus housing unless they roomed together up until the 1940’s. This “unofficial” policy made student housing nearly impossible due the low number of students of color enrolled during this time. Meanwhile two caring individuals, Archie and Nancy Martin, opened their home in Ames as a place for male students of color to reside and grow while pursuing their education.
Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway Sign Inventory Completed
Lincoln Highway National Heritage Byway Coordinator Jonathan Sherwood recently had the privilege of seeing every corner of the Byway from the Missouri River to the Mississippi River — crossing every river in between. The Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) asked byway coordinators to inventory every byway sign on their respective byways across Iowa. For me, that meant 1100 miles, including both sides of the road, and the loops through downtowns.
The National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places, or NRHP, is a federal program administered by the US National Parks Service (NPS). It was created in 1966 as part of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) to recognize cultural resources that, whether intentionally or accidentally, had withstood the tests of time and human action. No legal obligations – for owners – are imposed by being listed on the NRHP. For them it is an honorific program.
Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway Sign Inventory Begins
Prairie Rivers of Iowa staff and a volunteer set out to inventory and assess the condition of Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway’s signage.
Ames Pollinator-Friendly Practices Pilot Project Completed
How can homeowners in Ames be encouraged to increase their pollinator friendly practices in their yards? That was the question addressed by former Prairie Rivers of Iowa (PRI) Lincoln Highway National Heritage Byway Coordinator Shellie Orngard in a recently completed pilot project using Community Based Social Marketing strategies.
Meet Our New Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway Coordinator
As Prairie Rivers of Iowa Lincoln Highway National Heritage Coordinator, Sherwood’s duties will encompass working across the 13 Iowa counties and 43 towns that stretch along the Lincoln Highway in Iowa, river to river, east to west from Clinton on the Mississippi to Council Bluffs on the Missouri.