The mission of the Ohio Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor is to preserve, interpret and promote the Lincoln Highway.  Our effort will strengthen education, increase tourism and encourage economic development along America's first coast-to-coast paved highway.

Thirteen states including Ohio have a valuable resource in the Lincoln Highway, the most influential road in the history of world auto travel.  For many years the significance of the road was forgotten, but recently there has been a resurgence in  interest of it, and the impact that it had on world auto travel and the development of the United States.

In 1992, historians gathered to rebirth the Lincoln Highway Association, the original organization that created the road in 1913.  By 2000 there were over 1,000 members, with 120 in Ohio alone.  They re-traveled the road and found an incredible number of artifacts including brick roads, brick and stone markers and pillars, antique gas stations and motels; in short, it was an untapped museum of early road culture.  But these artifacts were slowly disappearing in the name of progress.

In an effort to slow the destruction, the members of the Ohio Lincoln Highway League began publishing the history of the road in an attempt to raise interest.  In 1999, Ohio Director Bob Lichty of Canton decided to go one step further by promoting organized tourism, with the belief that as a commercial destination, governments at all levels would come to respect this piece of American history.

Bob Lichty brought together the members of the Ohio Lincoln Highway Laugue with Visitors and Convention Bureau's (CVB's) and Chambers of Commerce in the county's where the highway ran through Ohio.  It was a good fit for both groups.  The Ohio Lincoln Highway League found concern for the road instead of bulldozers, and the CVB's found a group who would freely volunteer time and effort to bring tourism to their localities.

This is a great advantage for businesses along the Ohio Lincoln Highway corridor.  Traditionally, businesses spent money and received benefits only on a 1 to 1 ratio, but because this organization is driven by unpaid and passionate volunteers under the professional direction of VCB's across the state, your results will be higher than normally expected for your expenditures.

Individuals interested in saving this great piece of American history should visit the Ohio web site of the Ohio Lincoln Highway League.  Businesses interested in being a part of our mission should visit our information page.