This historic monument was constructed in 1959 by Robert Russin, who was an art professor at the University of Wyoming. The bronze bust of Lincoln's head is thirteen-and-a-half feet tall and required ten tons of clay and eleven months of work to create. The original casting was done in Mexico City (the artist needed a favorable climate in which to work), and the sculpture is comprised of thirty pieces that were bolted together. The bust sits on a thirty-five-foot tall granite base of stones. The base is hollow with lighting rods and ladders inside. Originally it was mounted at the summit of Sherman Hill, (about half a mile to the west and 195 feet higher), the highest point of the Lincoln Highway. It was moved to this location, (about 10 miles east of Laramie) in 1969 when Interstate 80 opened.

The Summit Rest area is also home to the Henry Joy Monument. Henry Joy was the president of the Packard Motor Car Company and the first president of the Lincoln Highway Association. This monument used to be located at the Continental Divide (near exit 184 on I-80) but was moved here in 2001 because of repeated vandalism incidents at the first location.

Additional information and anecdotes about the Lincoln Highway are available in Greetings from the Lincoln Highway, an excellent book by Brian Butko.

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Photographed by Jerry Kendrick, June, 2004
Posted on RoadTrip America 4/06