Lincoln Highway Exhibit Arrives in Genoa

Will ‘Tour’ City Visiting Multiple Locations

Genoa Main Street, Inc. has brought the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition’s (ILHC) Traveling Exhibit to downtown Genoa for an extended stay. The Lincoln Highway traveling exhibit details the origins and history of the Lincoln Highway, which grew out of the Good Roads Movement detailed on the mural dedicated this past spring on the wall of the Genoa Public Library.

“The exhibit will be in Genoa through the end of March,” said Mim Evans, Genoa Main Street’s executive director. “It will be in several different locations around town so that more people will be able to see it.” The exhibit is now at the Public Library at 232 W. Main Street. The Genoa Main Street organization will update the location of the exhibit on their Web site.

Visitors to the exhibit will learn about the heritage and history in a unique, interactive way, with hands-on features, a map, graphics and vintage photos all complimented by interpretive text. This exhibit promotes the early Lincoln Highway and its impact on the communities along the highway and corridor. Intriguing stories such as the Dreams to Reality, Development, The Evolution of Travel, Romance of the Road, Geography, Great People and Events and A Final Tribute are beautifully depicted on eight impressive, four foot by five foot artist rendered panels.

A replica of an original Lincoln Highway marker is also on display to pay tribute to the permanence and value of the amazing story of their installation by the Boy Scouts of America. The Traveling Exhibit was funded with federal grant dollars and created in a collaborative effort with Horizon Displays of DeKalb. This is one of many projects being produced by the Lincoln Highway Coalition that offer exceptional opportunities for visitors to enjoy early historic accounts of the Lincoln Highway and its communities.

Other projects along the Illinois route presented by the Coalition include Interpretive Gazebos and Interpretive Murals. Visitors can view Genoa’s interpretive mural located at the corner of Main and Emmett Streets on the west side of the Genoa Public Library. The mural tells the story of the “Good Roads Movement” in Genoa and other communities which led to the Lincoln Highway. For more information on the Lincoln Highway Exhibit’s stay in Genoa, visit genoamainstreet.org or call 815 784-6961.