CARBON COUNTY — A group of Wyoming organizations are working to have the Lincoln Highway designated as a Wyoming Scenic Byway.
The organizations aim to preserve the highway’s history, strengthen regional tourism, and support local economies. The partnership includes travel and tourism organizations along Interstate 80, including Sweetwater County Travel and Tourism. as well as the Alliance for Historic Wyoming.
“This designation is about more than putting a name on a road,” Megan McComas, the project lead and sales and business development manager for Discover Carbon County, said. “It is an opportunity to preserve and share an important piece of Wyoming and American transportation history, while using that story to support tourism, local businesses, museums, historic sites, and communities across southern Wyoming.”
The designation would create a connected historic tourism route across southern Wyoming that would encourage travelers to explore beyond I-80 and visit attractions and businesses along the route.
The Lincoln Highway was established in 1913 and was one of the earliest transcontinental highways in the country. It played a role in the development of tourism and transportation, extending 3,389 miles from New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco. In Sweetwater County, the route connected Rock Springs and Green River along a stretch of road that now runs adjacent to I-80. In Rock Springs, the route ran beneath the original Rock Springs Coal sign over the highway’s C Street section. In Green River, the highway originally ran from where River View Cemetery is to Elizabeth Street, now North 1st East. A documentary produced by Wyoming PBS last year celebrated the route and featured several Sweetwater County landmarks.
