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Learn About The History Of The Good Roads Movement

Photo courtesy of the Iowa Department of Transportation Historic Archives
A car stuck in the mud near Tama in 1919.

While schools are closed, we're creating a series of "Talk of Iowa" episodes that will be fun and educational for learners of all ages.Every Tuesday, we'll learn about Iowa wildlife, and every Thursday, we'll learn about Iowa history.  

Our series continues with a look at the history of the good roads movement and the Lincoln Highway in Iowa. The guides for this hour of history will be Tom Morain of Graceland University and former director of the State Historical Society of Iowa and Drake Hokanson, author of The Lincoln Highway: Main Street Across America.

Vocabulary from this podcast: 

  • grading, verb (used without object) :to incline; slant or slope.
  • highway, noun :a main road, especially between towns or cities
  • route, noun :a course, way, or road for passage or travel.

Conversation questions for this podcast:

  • What's the closest highway to your house?
  • Where does the Lincoln Highway start and finish?
  • What towns and cities does the Lincoln Highway pass through in Iowa?
  • Where did travelers stay in the early days of the Lincoln Highway? What would it be like if people tried to do that now?

Helpful Links:

Rick Brewer was a producer for IPR's Talk of Iowa and River to River
Charity Nebbe is the host of IPR's Talk of Iowa