News : Traveling down the Lincoln Highway -- Annual Tour stops at Youngville

A 1961 Studebaker and an antique Ford were among the cars in the Iowa Lincoln Highway Tour.

Several antique cars filled the area near Youngville for the annual Lincoln Highway Tour.

Dozens of people, including Kari Soeffker of Minnesota, visited Youngville during the Lincoln Tour.

George Hamlin of Maryland drove his Studebaker to Iowa for the ride across the state.

Stand outside the Youngville Cafe, next to the antique gas pumps, and look at the road that stretches east and west to the horizon.

A hundred years ago, it wasn't there.

It was not until 1913 that the Lincoln Highway linked New York City and San Francisco. It was the first intercontinental highway. For decades --until the Eisenhower Interstate System-- it was the main highway from the East Coast to California. Countless people drove through Iowa as the advances in cars -- and highways -- made travel much faster.

For years, the Lincoln Highway has inspired drivers, and song writers (see video below).

While the Lincoln Highway is no known by various other names: Highway 30 in Iowa (it also dipped down a few miles to go through Belle Plaine), the members of the Lincoln Highway Association have worked hard to preserve the memory of the original route. Many state associations work with the national group to preserve local sites that were along the route.

The Iowa Lincoln Highway Association plans a tour each summer. In 2013, there will be a national tour to celebrate the centennial of the 1913 dedication of the Highway. That year, there were celebrations in San Francisco and NYC and many places in between.

Iowa association director Jeff LaFollette was among the tourists who stopped at Youngville during Saturday's tour. He said the Iowa group will coordinate with the national organizations and other state groups on the 2013 tour. That tour will begin in both San Francisco and NYC and the participants will meet for a large celebration in Nebraska.

One of the participants on Saturday was George Hamlin of Maryland, who drove his 1961 Studebaker to Iowa for the tour. Hamlin said his mother had the car when she lived in the Des Moines area. He drives the car virtually every day.

When asked how it runs, he replied, "Well it's a Studebaker." The only problem he has had with the vehicle is that the alcohol in ethanol fuel has damaged a few fuel pumps. He has trouble finding fuel that does not include corn alcohol.

Like the other participants, Hamlin is a big fan of the Lincoln Highway.

"I don't know why everyone talks about Route 66," he said. "The Lincoln Highway was the first."

See more information about the Lincoln Highway and its history HERE.

[VIDEO]