End of Iowa 188; Iowa Highway 53 (1920 Series)

In 1920, they knew it as: A spur from Clarksville to the Cherokee, Humboldt, Waverly, and Oelwein Air Line
We know it as: A piece of IA 188 that also spent time as IA 53 and IA 122 (see table)

	IA 3 to Clarksville	Clarksville to Plainfield	Plainfield to US 63
7/1/20-10/16/26	IA 55 (I)	county roads
10/16/26-6/13/45	IA 53 (II)	county roads
6/13/45-8/16/49	IA 53 (II)	county roads	IA 188 (III)
8/16/49-Oct. '64	IA 188
Oct. '64-12/8/65	IA 122 (II)	paved county roads	IA 188
12/8/65-present	IA 188

WEST End of 188/1920 SOUTH End of 55: Stop sign/T intersection, IA 3, originally IA 10, Butler County

Highway 188 is one of Iowa's sort-of-wacky highways, and its abrupt change in direction came about as the result of an early extension. There really doesn't seem to be any reason for the piece between Clarksville and US 218 at Plainfield to remain a state highway, except maybe that it provides a more direct link from Clarksville to Plainfield and it's a connection from eastbound IA 3 to northbound US 63 without having to go through Waverly. On the other hand, it's in the state system because traffic counts did not drop below a certain level when the road was paved in the mid-1960s. On the other other hand, in 2014 that segment had the third-lowest traffic count of any route east of I-35.

Facing south on 188 (7/29/10)

This was the south end of the first IA 55. When the number was taken for US 55, it became IA 53, because the state had already replaced the first 53 with 147 because US 53 was expected to be signed in the state, and then it wasn't.

This isn't the westernmost part of 188; that is where it changes direction at T64, 1/2 mile west of the "west" end.

Facing south on 188 (5/11/04)

"Peel in and go bananas at the Ponderosa," the handmade sign tells RAGBRAI riders.

Facing east on 3 (7/29/10)

Cropped out to the right is the Shell Rock elevator. The original paving turned south half a mile ahead and went through Shell Rock rather than skirting it.

Facing east on 3 (7/29/10)

The signage on eastbound 3 is non-standard, as the sign above should have a "3 ^" and another of the same with the second 188 shield.

Facing west on 3 (7/29/10)

Facing west on 3 (5/11/04)

There is also a "188 <up and right>" set on westbound 3. The motto on the Clarksville sign is "Friendly families and a family of friends."

So, which way are we going?

First sign north, at IA 3 / First sign west, at US 63 (5/11/04 and 5/18/04)

I'll let this pair of shields speak for themselves. They do a nice job of denoting the slight silliness of the route, although to be fair IA 136 is far more screwed up direction-wise.

1920 NORTH End: Clarksville, Butler County