Floyd County joined the good-roads movement on July 22, 1919, when it voted by about a 3-2 margin for hard-surfaced roads. This vote would contribute to the future US 18 being continuous concrete from Algona to Charles City by the end of 1923.
The Rockford Register had this to say the next day about those, um, less-progressive counties.
“As a result of this action on the part of the voters of Floyd County, we will take our place as an organized community with the other alert and progressive counties of the state, which have already endorsed this hard roads movement. Because of this action we have decided not to herd with the counties that propose to develop callouses on the rump and not on the shoulder. It should be a matter of satisfaction to us to know that in the case of some counties that have voted adversely on this proposition through automobile routes are being changed so as to leave them off to one side. This is simply a working out of the law of cause and effect, and the people of counties thus side-tracked, have themselves to blame.”
That wasn’t an editorial, that was the news story. Spicy!