before I went to ISU, I took a campus tour, which you'd think would be unnecessary since I grew up so close to there, but it did lead me to an amazing discovery.
One of the main east/west streets through town is "Lincoln Way" - part of the Lincoln Highway / US 30, one of the first highways to run coast to coast. Now there's what guys like my dad call "New 30," and what most people call "Highway 30," that stays south of town, but the original version went right through the city and out to Campustown of Iowa State College (as it was known at the time).
While on the university tour, I heard the guide give the location of some building as being on "Lincoln Way" with a noticeable pause between the words, just as you would say "Madison Avenue" or "42nd Street." It made me realize that my whole life I'd heard people say the street name as "Lincolnway," all one word, completely glossing over the space. It hit me that might be a way to tell if someone was or was not from the area. I suppose it stuck out because it was someone representing the university, and here they were saying the name of a major street like a stranger!
I had honestly never thought about it until hearing someone not from the area say the street name in a more standard way, as two words. There was a long-running radio ad that referred to some business as being "Way out west on Lincolnway" and it never seemed unprofessional or anything. It was just how everyone said it. And it would also have been weird if someone just called it "Lincoln," like we did for avenues like Grand or Duff and streets like Ontario or 13th.
One thing I never found out is if out-of-state students grew to embrace the locals' pronunciation or if they kept calling it as two words. Next time I get a fundraiser call from ISU I'll have to ask.
