Category Archives: 1920 Highway Sytem

September 7, 2006: IA 128 in Clayton County is an orphan segment of IA 56 created in November 1924. In the 1920 highway system, only one non-spur route (IA 29 in Plymouth County) had an endpoint that was not in … Continue reading →

Vinton is a larger town than you might think. By that, I mean it has a population above 5,000, but because the highways are only in the west and middle, much of it is residential areas where travelers don’t go. … Continue reading →

Iowa Highway Commission 1919 map. Notice the absence of a primary road southeast of Waukon and the town of “North McGregor,” which did not become Marquette until March 29, 1920. IA 51 has never been outside of Allamakee County, but … Continue reading →

April 18, 2006: Even when there wasn’t a river highway between Dubuque and Davenport, IA 62 came to Bellevue. This next batch of routes is of small to medium length, covering only two counties tops. One end was in a … Continue reading →

In 1920, IA 88 was a harmless little highway, between the tiny town of Altoona and the tinier town of Bondurant, slightly lengthened a year later. In 1935, it was nothing less than the first piece of a giant conspiracy, … Continue reading →

July 17, 2020: The loneliest intersection of 1920. IA 29 ended here; IA 27 went east and west. Western Iowa had nearly all of the primary numbers, save for 28, in the 26-through-37 span. As far as I know, it … Continue reading →

Here are the smaller routes that, in 1926, did NOT get included in the new federal highway system, but were incorporated into it in the next 15 years. IA 25, Winterset to Adel, was a middleman between two long north-south … Continue reading →