The Lincoln Highway was established in 1913 as the nation's first coast-to-coast automobile route. It consisted of existing roads that were marked with the distinctive Lincoln Highway logo. Perhaps the most famous means of identification was a concrete post with a Lincoln Head Medallion as seen here. This marker was an Eagle Scout Project placed here November 8, 2003 by Evanston Boy Scout Joseph Platt, Troop 200. This marker was donated by Bruce Hudson of Evanston, Wyoming.
In dozens of towns along the Lincoln Highway, "tourist camps" sprang up, providing roadside lodging and camping facilities for travelers. By 1920, the City of Evanston operated a campground at this location, where tourists could stay overnight for fifty cents per vehicle. In 1927, the city added six small cabins with adjoining carports to the campground. A year later, a company from Rawlins that operated a chain of tourist camps in Wyoming leased the campground from the city and renamed it the Sunset Camp. The original cabins were later replaced with mission-style cabins as illustrated here.
The Lincoln Highway was superseded in the late 1920s by U.S. Highway 30 and eventually by Interstate 80. The Sunset Cabins are a reminder of a more leisurely pace of travel in the early 20th century. They remain a significant part of national as well as local history.