Proclaimed the nation’s first coast-to-coast highway in 1913, the Lincoln Highway connected New York City with San Francisco, crossing twelve states and spanning 2,300 miles. It was created by an association of automobile enthusiasts and manufacturers who mapped connecting roadways across the country. Through much of Nebraska, it followed the Great Platte River Road used by fur traders, overland emigrants, and the Union Pacific Railroad. In Keith County, the highway was gravel until replaced by asphalt in 1933 and concrete in 1949. Now U.S. 30, it entered Ogallala at East 4th Street and exited on West 5th Street near the fairground. Early coast-to-coast travelers often stopped at campgrounds established for auto adventurers. In the summer of 1919, Lieutenant Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower led an eighty-one-vehicle military convoy through Ogallala on the route, promoting the importance of Interstate travel by the military and helping popularize it for thousands of civilians who followed.