Category Archives: Iowa Miscellaneous

Apr 20

The 1981 map and the tail end of the Great Decommissioning

Posted on Thursday, April 20, 2017, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The disclaimer on the 1981 Iowa highway map. From the start, I have limited the reach of Iowa Highway Ends to those state highways on the 1981 map and later. (For the US routes, since there are far fewer, any … Continue reading →

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Apr 18

The new R&T lofts

Posted on Tuesday, April 18, 2017, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

June 11, 2013: View down the staircase that runs the height of the 1918 Register & Tribune Building. The historic Register & Tribune Building in Des Moines, where I worked for a decade, is almost ready to open as a … Continue reading →

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Apr 03

Atlas Obscura finds the Sullivan Line

Posted on Monday, April 3, 2017, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Another article about the Honey War? Sure! For a shorter story and more geographic nitty-gritty, there is my page on the Sullivan Line, but my photos were taken when the grass wasn’t green. Also, I visited the marker in “the … Continue reading →

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Apr 01

A story

Posted on Saturday, April 1, 2017, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

April 7, 2016: The story you are about to read is a fib, but it’s short. The town of Floris is very small, 153 people, between Ottumwa and Bloomfield. One day the only person walking around was a man named … Continue reading →

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Mar 30

Going into the I-74 toll bridge offices

Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2017, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The Quad-City Times‘ Barb Ickes got a chance to explore the “underbelly” of the I-74 toll plaza and offices that span a space over the Mississippi River joining the twin bridges. The photo gallery is definitely worth a look through. … Continue reading →

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Mar 29

A county has topped its 1870 population peak

Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2017, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

UPDATE 9/20/21: After the official 2020 census numbers came out … it didn’t. ======================== To dig into the 2016 county population estimates, let’s start with the map I made last year. The pattern hasn’t changed much: Every decade, the urban … Continue reading →

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Mar 14

Dismounted

Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2017, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The state City Development Board has approved the discontinuance of the town of Mount Union, the AP reports (via DMR/Burlington Hawk Eye). The referendum on disincorporation passed by one vote last year. There are now 943 incorporated places in Iowa, down … Continue reading →

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Mar 07

History of Linn County’s Seedling Mile

Posted on Tuesday, March 7, 2017, at 10:04 AM by Jeff

The Cedar Rapids Gazette’s Sunday “Time Machine” last week went into detail on the construction of the Seedling Mile for the Lincoln Highway northwest of Mount Vernon. The history shows the mile was supposed to be finished in 1918 but … Continue reading →

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Mar 06

North end(s) of IA 60 finally added

Posted on Monday, March 6, 2017, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

July 21, 2012: New entrance of IA 60 from the Minnesota line. The exit/entrance of IA 60 at the Minnesota line after the highway was upgraded to four lanes somehow fell through the cracks and it’s only now that I … Continue reading →

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Mar 04

Area man featured for longtime pursuit of weird accomplishment

Posted on Saturday, March 4, 2017, at 12:00 PM by Jeff

As you may have seen online, the Des Moines Register’s Kyle Munson interviewed me about my travels and wrote a column about it. He even called back to the 2001 essay I wrote as a member of the Register’s Young Adult … Continue reading →

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