Editing Lincoln Highway (section)

===Route selection and dedication===
[[File:Lincoln Highway M0164-150dpi.jpg|thumb|right|September 1920 photo near the intersection of Broad Street and Northeast Boulevard (now known as Roosevelt Boulevard) in Philadelphia]]
[[File:Lincoln Highway M0118-150dpi.jpg|thumb|Essex and Hudson Lincoln Highway in [[Jersey City, New Jersey]]]]
The LHA needed to determine the best and most direct route from New York City to San Francisco. East of the [[Mississippi River]], route selection was eased by the relatively dense road network. To scout a western route, the LHA's "Trail-Blazer" tour set out from [[Indianapolis]] in 17 cars and two trucks on July 1, 1913, the same day LHA headquarters were established in Detroit. After 34 days of [[Iowa]] mud pits, sand drifts in [[Nevada]] and [[Utah]], overheated [[radiator (engine cooling)|radiators]], flooded roads, cracked axles, and enthusiastic greetings in every town that thought it had a chance of being on the new highway, the tour arrived for a parade down San Francisco's [[Market Street (San Francisco, California)|Market Street]] before thousands of cheering residents.

The Trail-Blazers returned to Indianapolis by train, and a few weeks later on September 14, 1913, the route was announced. LHA leaders, particularly [[Packard Motor Car Company|Packard]] president [[Henry Bourne Joy|Henry Joy]], wanted as straight a route as possible and the {{convert|3389|mi|km|adj=on}} route announced did not necessarily follow the course of the Trail-Blazers. There were many disappointed town officials, particularly in [[Colorado]] and [[Kansas]], who had greeted the Trail-Blazers and thought the tour's passage had meant their towns would be on the Highway.

Less than half the selected route was improved roadway. As segments were improved over time, the route length was reduced by about {{convert|250|mi|km}}. Several segments of the Lincoln Highway route followed historic roads:
* a road laid out by Dutch colonists of [[New Jersey]] before 1675
* the 1796 [[Lancaster Turnpike]] in Pennsylvania
* the Chambersburg Turnpike, over which much of the [[Army of Northern Virginia]] marched to reach the [[Gettysburg Battlefield]], a part of which is traversed by the Lincoln Highway.
* a British military trail built in 1758 by [[John Forbes (General)|General John Forbes]] of England from [[Chambersburg, Pennsylvania|Chambersburg]] to [[Pittsburgh]] during the [[French and Indian War]], later known as the Pittsburgh Road and the [[Conestoga Road]]
* a section in [[Ohio]] followed an ancient Indian trail known as the Ridge Road
* sections of the [[Mormon Trail]]
* the [[Sauk Trail|Great Sauk Trail]], an Indian trail through northwest Indiana
* portions of the routes of the [[Cherokee Trail]], [[Overland Trail]] and the [[Pony Express]]
* the [[Donner Pass]] crossing of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]], named after the unfortunate [[Donner Party]] of 1846
* an alternate Sierra Nevada crossing at [[Echo Summit]] following a pioneer [[stagecoach]] and [[Pony Express]] route

The LHA dedicated the route on October 31, 1913. Bonfires, fireworks, concerts, parades, and street dances were held in hundreds of cities in the 13 states along the route. During a dedication ceremony in Iowa, State Engineer Thomas H. MacDonald said he felt it was "... the first outlet for the road building energies of this community".<ref name="FHWA-LH" /> He went on to advocate the creation of a system of transcontinental highways with radial routes. In 1919, MacDonald became Commissioner of the [[Bureau of Public Roads]] (BPR), a post he held until 1953, when he oversaw the early stages of the [[Interstate Highway|Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways]].