York County Lincoln Highway Landmarks

People are wondering if there are any resources available to research the Lincoln Highway in York County, PA before you come to the 2026 Road to Independence Lincoln Highway National Conference. We’re glad you asked!

First, check out the Lincoln Highway York County, PA website. It has a map highlighting Lincoln Highway locations for every municipality across York County from the Adams County line at Abbottstown east to the Susquehanna River in Wrightsville. Just click on Lincoln Highway York, PA and dive into the rich stories and locations along our stretch of the Lincoln Highway.

Some York County Lincoln Highway Landmarks

The iconic Lincoln Highway Garage no longer stands, but you can still visit the former location and admire the murals that remember it’s history. The Turkey Hill on the Lincoln Highway at 1242 East Market Street in York is open 24×7 to meet your caffeine and fuel needs. There is a second Lincoln Highway mural on the side of the building at Fadley’s Auto Masters in West York. Both locations are beautiful tributes to the legacy of the Lincoln Highway Garage.

1928 Lincoln Highway Concrete Markers

The locations and stories of the remaining 1928 markers are always of interest to Lincoln Highway travelers. Across Pennsylvania, go to the Lincoln Highway on-line map and activate points of interest to find the remaining original and replica marker locations. There’s more than you’d think still standing.

Across York County, there remain three locations that your can visit.

• In the western part of York County at the intersection of US 30 and Lake Road is a unique original marker at the original location. Turn onto Lake Road at the Lincoln Highway Cattle Company and you’ll see the marker at the end of their driveway. The driveway is the original alignment of the York and Gettysburg Turnpike which became the Lincoln Highway route in 1913. On the list of original LHA marker locations this was labelled Martin Myer’s Mailbox.
• The closest marker to the Yorktowne Hotel is in West York at 1341 West Market Street next to the West York (Reliance Fire Company.) This location has off street parking and is easily accessible. This was not the original location of the marker. Read about the history of marker #86.
• The furthest eastern marker in York County is on the way to Wrightsville along PA 462 near Ducktown Road. We’ll be stopping here for a gander during our Wrightsville tour on Thursday, June 24, 2026, after lunch at the John Wright Restaurant. Read about it’s history here.
• Local historian Stephen H. Smith has researched much of the history of all the original locations of our Lincoln Highway markers across York County. He is also a tour guide on the Susquehanna Trail/New Freedom tour on Thursday, June 24, 2026. Read his marker stories and ask questions during tour breaks as you are interested.
• Bonus marker! Just across the Susquehanna River in Columbia is the eastern most original marker at it’s original location at the intersection of Columbia Avenue and North Third Street. This is only a few blocks east on the right side of the road after crossing the iconic 1930 Columbia Wrightsville Veterans Memorial Bridge. Don’t miss the Lincoln Highway historic marker or the unique Lincoln tiles in the sidewalk that the community has installed between the bridge and this marker.

Road of Remembrance Memorial Markers

After World War I a national campaign was launched by the Lincoln Highway Association to plant memorial trees for military members. The Women’s Club of York took up the cause and planted hundreds of trees across the county. As the road was widened the trees disappeared from the landscape. Still, two granite memorials with bronze tablets stand in Wrightsville and near Abbottstown as reminders that the Lincoln Highway is not only the first national memorial to President Abraham Lincoln, but also a Road of Remembrance for those that gave all for this nation.

Further west across Adams County the memorial trees were planted along the Lincoln Highway by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Some of these trees remain standing along US 30 west of Gettysburg and especially along the original route between McKnightstown and Cashtown. As you drive along the Lincoln Highway and see the trees remember the fallen. In a similar fashion, many Lincoln Highway communities display banners with the photos of their veterans that hang along the Main Street of America.

Eugene Weiser and Continental Square

Eugene Weiser was the first secretary of the York Chamber of Commerce and first LHA consul for York County, PA. He was a Good Roads advocate and helped preserve the original Lincoln Highway route across south central Pennsylvania in 1914 after President Wilson tried to move it to Washington D.C. Eugene Weiser also led the county in passing a county bound referendum which enable the state to buy back the local private toll roads and make them government owned toll free roads.

At the time, the York Chamber office was on Continental Square which was at the intersection of the two most important named trails in the region, the Lincoln Highway and the Susquehanna Trail. York had to beat out Gettysburg for the Susquehanna Trail to come our way between Harrisburg and Baltimore. We’ll explore both historic roads during the conference.

The original Lincoln Highway Control Station was at the Colonial Hotel which was located on Continental Square. Today, Uncle Joe’s Candy Shop is in the same building. By 1925, the Yorktowne Hotel was the center for traveler lodging and the York Auto Club merged with AAA to host an information office there.

The Lincoln Highway was then designed US 30 across Pennsylvania after 1926. Later, after US 30 was moved north of York City, much of road was renamed PA Route 462. Some municipalities kept the previous street names across the county while others adopted the Lincoln Way at their local street name to show that the road took travelers coast to coast.