End of Iowa 101

(July 1, 1920-August 14, 1984)

IA 101 endpoint history
FROM	TO	SOUTH	NORTH
7/1/20	11/3/24	IA 40 (SB A Ave at 4th St, Vinton)	IA 5 (IA 150 at D22, Independence)
11/3/24	1929?	IA 40 (SB A Ave at 4th St, Vinton)	IA 150 (NB IA 150 at old IA 920/D62)
1929?	10/4/35	IA 40 (WB 4th St at C Ave, Vinton)
10/4/35	8/29/60	US 218 (SB C Ave at 4th St, Vinton)
8/29/60	8/14/84	US 218, south side of Vinton

In 1920, they knew it as: A road connecting two bordering county seats, Vinton and Independence (2 counties, later 1)
We know it as: The southernmost part of IA 150
Let's get granular: A Avenue (Vinton), swampy area at the Cedar River that had some of the earliest concrete in Iowa outside a city, 58th Street, 25th Avenue Drive, 55th Street Drive, 26th Avenue, IA 150

Technically, 58th Street Lane, because some of the east-west concrete built in 1921 remains and a fragment of it is driveable. The northward turn didn't come until after the Wendling Quarries entrance.

With squared-off corner, not the curve, at former IA 92/IA 363, returned to a squared-off corner in 2022 as a roundabout was installed.
Information come to light in 2021 indicated that IA 40 initially used A Avenue for nine blocks in Vinton, before being moved to C some time in the late 1920s.

NORTH End (1920-24): IA 5, now IA 150/3rd Ave. at D22/1st St., Independence, Buchanan County

Facing west on 5, later US 20, then IA 939 (5/20/03)

This is two blocks west of where 101 would have ended. If you can see the stoplight in the background, a left turn would put you at the start of 101.

NORTH End (1924-84): Intersection, IA 150, Benton County

Facing north on 101 (5/20/03)

This pole is the most likely candidate for the "End 101" sign. Most likely, 150 NB (WB) stopped, while north-south traffic was unimpeded; traffic continuing on northbound 150 could use the small curve and meet a yield sign.

Facing north on 101 (5/20/03)

Before 150 was rerouted, this was the posted north end of 101. Highway 920 follows 150's old route to Center Point. LGS says "Walker 5 ->".

Facing south on 150 (12/9/01)

Photo by Jason Hancock

Continuing south would put you on 101, while turning left would continue on 150. This could explain the up-and-left arrow under the 920, as a leftover from 150's turn; the arrow was removed before 920's decommissioning.

Facing west, but heading north, on 150 (5/20/03)

Turn left for 101, follow the curve to continue on 150.

SOUTH End (1920-60): IA 40, later US 218, Vinton, Benton County

(but in three slightly different ways)

Vinton Eagle, courtesy Advantage Preservation

According to an old list scanned into "100 Years of Concrete Pavement in Iowa" (2009), IA 101 across the Cedar River is the first significant rural concrete in Iowa. Downtown Le Mars in 1904 had the first concrete, period; a strip of concrete to the Eddyville cemetery is the oldest existing in the 21st century. This concrete was extended slightly in 1913, on a semi-winding route between the river and 58th Street that present-day IA 150 blows right through. It lasted just over two decades, and no trace remains. However, some strips of concrete from 1921, on an east-west segment, exist in both accessible and inaccessible portions today.

A momentous event in Benton County's history
The official Dedication and Opening of the New, Modern $83,000 Bridge over the Cedar River in Vinton.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER FOURTH!! ...
An Impressive Parade will pass over the old bridge at A Ave. at 1:30 p.m., which will automatically close for all time the ancient structure, and then proceed over the Beautiful New Bridge.
— Ad from the Greater Vinton Club in the Cedar Valley Daily Times, October 1, 1935 (capitalization in original)

I THOUGHT that original 101 turned at the intersection at the core of downtown Vinton, A Avenue and 4th Street, and ended facing west on 4th at C. Instead, IA 40 used A south of 4th until 1926, then moved to C, and then 101's endpoint slightly changed.

In 1935, when the new bridge opened and the river crossing moved to 1st Avenue, the east-west section moved to 3rd Street, making the south end southbound C at 4th. From here, US 218 went west on 4th and south on C until a bypass was built in 1960.

Facing west, but heading south, on 101 in the early 1930s (7/26/12)

During the 1920s, this intersection was just IA 40/58 going through, as the RAGBRAI riders are doing, toward downtown two blocks behind the camera. In the first half of the 1930s, the cheerleaders would be at the end of 101 looking toward northbound 218 and riders would be flowing from southbound 218 to northbound 101. After 1935, the start of 101 would be to the cheerleaders' right. The Casey's shown here closed on September 26, 2018, when a larger one was built at 4th Street and the 218 bypass — 218's only stoplight in Benton County.

SOUTH End (1960-84): Direct merge into US 218, Vinton, Benton County

Facing south on 101 (3/12/07)

This intersection would have been 101's south end for 24 years.

There are new signs here, but these photos from 2007 are closer to what it was in 101's time, so for more recent ones see the IA 150 South page.

Facing south on 101 (3/12/07)

In its non-Avenue-of-the-Saints segment between Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, 218 only crosses the city limits of two other incorporated towns (Vinton and La Porte City).