Buy-Way, 127 Yard sale to cross paths

VW independent staff/submitted information

Bargain hunters will be out in full force for not one, but two annual sales taking place later this week.

The 21st annual Lincoln Highway Buy-Way Yard Sale will be held across Van Wert County and the State of Ohio on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, August 7-9.

The historic Lincoln Highway was the first transcontinental road for automobile travel in the United States, dedicated in 1913 and extending from New York City’s Times Square to San Francisco’s Lincoln Park. Combined, various routes across Ohio comprise over 400 miles today.

Past year’s sales have seen families, neighbors, and groups of all kinds selling their wares from yards, porches, barns and garages, under tents and in open-air locations. More than 1,000 yard sales were counted in Ohio last year.

The idea began in 2005 and has spawned a variety of activities from Convoy, to East Liverpool on the Ohio River across from West Virginia. A number of communities have group sales in public parks and other locations. Van Wert County communities on the Lincoln Highway from west to east include Convoy, Van Wert, Middle Point and Delphos.

Visit historicbyway.com for sale locations and activities along Ohio’s Lincoln Highway.

The Lincoln Highway Buy-Way Sale won’t be the only one taking place. The 127 Yard Sale is scheduled for four days, August 7-10. It spans six states north to south – Michigan, Ohio (Including Paulding, Van Wert and Mercer counties), Kentucky, Tennesee, Alabama and Georgia. The Van Wert County Fairgrounds is included on the route and will feature a number of sellers.

The annual sale traditionally begins the on the first Thursday of August. It’s a total of 690 miles along U.S. 127 and is billed as the “World’s Longest Yard Sale.” It began in 1987 and spanned just two states, from Covington, Kentucky, to Chattanooga, Tennesee. Over the years, it extended into its present form.

In most years, the two sales have run separately on back-to-back weekends.