Category Archives: Sequences

Dec 14

The Final Countdown: 5. Varina

October 3, 2016: No big stone lions guarding this library. As I crossed IA 4 on US 20, I saw long green tubes on freshly churned dirt in the middle of a cornfield, and I realized I was entering Bakken … Continue reading

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Dec 13

The Final Countdown: 6. Duncombe

October 11, 2002: Mile marker 11 on IA 928 near the Highview elevator in Hamilton County shows a countdown to Fort Dodge, even though the Webster County segment was turned over almost right away. On old 20, you can be … Continue reading

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Oct 19

H is for Hamburg

October 2, 2015: Two views of the Hamburg school building. A larger version of the second photo can be seen by opening it in a new tab. The southwesternmost school building in Iowa is also one of the most recent … Continue reading

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Oct 06

I is for Irwin

May 22, 2014: The brick Irwin school was built in 1917. Note the stonework. There are only 10 incorporated places in Iowa starting with I, but four county seats among them. Five have a population under 1000. Irwin is one … Continue reading

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Aug 30

J is for Jamaica

May 15, 2011: Former Panorama Elementary building in Jamaica. The Panorama school district needed five different votes in the 1990s to reach a 60% supermajority on a bond issue to build a new elementary school, and it was finally dragged … Continue reading

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Jul 13

K is for Kellogg

August 10, 2008: The Kellogg school building has been successfully repurposed into apartments. Kellogg became part of the Newton school district in 1957. The school was used for an unknown period after that as an elementary. (Sorry I don’t have … Continue reading

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Jul 08

L is for Lovilia

November 12, 2008: Lovilia school building (1920) and closeup, below. Brian McMillin of Iowa Backroads wrote some history of the Lovilia school on his blog. Two State Board of Education documents tell a fuller story about the end of the … Continue reading

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May 26

M is for Moneta

July 21, 2012: The school is one of the very few buildings left in Moneta, barely on the west side of the O’Brien/Clay county line. The tiny Moneta school district was caught in a tug of war between Hartley and Everly … Continue reading

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May 19

N is for Numa

September 13, 2011: The Numa school is now an archery business, a successful repurposing of a school building. Numa. Clutier. Steamboat Rock. Wiota. In the 1940s, these map dots that don’t have their own schools anymore, along with Numa’s neighbor … Continue reading

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May 17

The REAL Photo 29,000, and Photo 30,000

August 1, 2015: Welcome sign for Grafton. The cemetery, to the right, has paving stones engraved with the names of residents from a century ago. I already posted what I thought was my 29,000th picture, but then I realized I … Continue reading

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