West Wendover, Nevada Celebrates Over 80 Years of Highway History

In a June 22nd press release, the city of West Wendover, Nevada, announced plans to have a big celebration honoring the old Victory Highway and Lincoln Highway.

They plan to preserve part of the old roadbed which took early motorists across the Great Salt Desert and turn it into a pedestrian walk with information signs about the old road along the way. In 1913, a coast-to-coast highway was needed. In Nevada, it was to follow old stagecoach and freight wagon trails. This road was to be called the Lincoln Highway.

At the time, it took 20-30 days to drive its length and two days just to go from Salt Lake City to Ely. In 1927, a routing dispute between Utah and Nevada was settled, and a road from West Wendover to Ely, linking the Victory Highway (primarily following US Route 40) and the Lincoln Highway was created.

One celebration was already held on March 16, 2007, to mark the start of the work back in 1925. New Boy Scout Lincoln Highway markers were set along the way. Korbin Murphy of Boy Scout Troop 141 of Wendover fashioned and set a tep cover one marker, dug the hole, presented the colors, and led the Pledge of Allegiance; all part of his Eagle project.

The City of West Wendover will reenact the June 25, 1925 Victory Highway dedication in 2009, by placing a monument featuring two bronze bald eagles facing each other with the Victory Highway Arch.

The 1925 dedication featured the governors of Utah and Nevada along with the US Secretary of Agriculture. They were dressed in white overalls and clearing away the last pile of salt blocking the new roadway. They did this under the Victory Highway arch.

Thomas Repp of the American Road Magazine (if you're interested in old two lane roads, this is the magazine for you) said, "The city of West Wendover's preservation efforts serve as a model for towns and cities across America. The fact that city schools in West Wendover have signed on to participate in the project means that the youth of West Wendover will gain a new appreciation for area history and their hometown."

There were some good pictures of the original dedication and the Boy Scouts accompanying the release. Looking up information on West Wendover I saw there was a giant Wendover Will statue that welcomes people at the state line. Also, in 1914, this is where AT&T completed the transcontinental telephone line.

I haven't been able to find much on this Victory Highway, however.

Keep on Down that Two Lane Highway. --RoadDog