Bonneville Salt Flats
Interstate 80
UTNamed after Benjamin Bonneville, an explorer in the U.S. Army. Here, Route 40 runs 47 miles in a straight line across the barren terrain.
There are three paths across the salt flats. The first was the railroad alignment built in 1910. A roadway just north of the railroad tracks was built in 1925 as the Wendover Cutoff of the Lincoln Highway. That alignment now serves as a service road for the railroad. The third path is the modern highway which was expanded to four lanes (two in each direction).
At the western end of the salt flats - and just north of the highway - is the Bonneville Raceway. It is here that land speed records are set on the perfectly flat landscape.
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Postcard ca. 1960.
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Postcard ca. 1960.
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High speed car. 1938 postcard.
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Looking west on Route 40 across the Bonneville Salt Flats. Postcard ca. 1960.
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Looking west on Route 40 across the Bonneville Salt Flats. Postcard ca. 1940.
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Metaphor sculpture on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Postcard ca. 1980.
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Salt Beds. Postcard ca. 1920.
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Bonneville Salt Flats. Postcard ca. 1960.
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Bonneville Salt Flats. Postcard ca. 1960.
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vBonneville Salt Flats. Postcard ca. 1960.
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Salt Flats. Courtesy of the Library of Congress/Historic American Buildings Survey. Click here for a larger display.
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Salt Flats. From left to right are the railroad tracks, the original Lincoln Highway alignment and the pre-Interstate roadway. Courtesy of the Library of Congress/Historic American Buildings Survey.
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Salt Flats, looking east. Courtesy of the Library of Congress/Historic American Buildings Survey.
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Salt Flats, looking west. Courtesy of the Library of Congress/Historic American Buildings Survey.
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Last updated: 2011-02-28 22:07:21 |
