(November 20, 1934-July 1, 2003)
NORTH End: Minnesota state line, 6 miles north of Spirit Lake, Dickinson County IA/Jackson County MN
Facing north on 276
Photo by Kurt Berge
Kurt writes, "The corner in the background is 100th St., also the state line. More faint and illegible (between the first and second chevron signs from the left) is a blue Jackson County, MN highway sign along with a zoning sign. The brown sign more in the foreground directs drivers to Mini-Wakan State Park on the Iowa side, along the north shore of Big Spirit [Lake]."
Facing south on 276
Photo by Kurt Berge
SOUTH End: City limits of Spirit Lake, near IA 327's south end, Dickinson County
Facing east, but heading south, on 276
Photo by Kurt Berge
Kurt writes that this picture "shows the termini of both IA 276 and IA 327 (they pretty much end at the junction with one another). This is the corner of 140th St. and Hill Ave. Hill Ave. is the road to the right, crossing southward over the RR tracks. 276 once continued down Hill for another mile or so to meet US 71/IA 9 but now ends at this intersection... almost. There is actually about 20 yards of road before Hill Ave. enters the Spirit Lake city limits so that may be why [the DOT] left the arrow sign under the 276 shield here. There is no 'END' sign for the south terminus of 276."
Facing east, but heading south, on 276 (5/10/10)
After 276 and 327 reverted to local control, this intersection became a three-way stop.
Facing south on 276 (5/31/03)
Photo by Kurt Berge
The "Sprit Lake" city sign marks the true south end of 276, closeup below. The railroad tracks here are the same tracks as in the above picture.
Facing south on 276 (5/10/10)
Facing north on 276 (5/10/10)
Facing north on 276, just past the beginning
Photo by Kurt Berge
Cross traffic now DOES stop (see the May 2010 photo above).
Facing west, but heading south, on 327
Photo by Kurt Berge (5/31/03)
This sign also indicates 276 goes south of the intersection.
Facing west, but heading north, on 276
Photo by Kurt Berge (5/31/03)
This is the first sign northbound (there weren't any on the small north-south piece). The 276/327 set and IA 982 were the only signed routes to "float" apart from the rest of the highway system, unconnected to the state network at large.
Old SOUTH End: Stoplight, US 71/IA 9/18th St., Spirit Lake, Dickinson County
Facing south on 276 (6/15/04)
Spirit Lake took over its section of 276 in 1999 to do its own rehabilitation/beautification on the road. The Dickinson County Courthouse is in the southwest (upper right) corner of this intersection. At least it was at the time of this picture; the courthouse has since been torn down to make way for the first new courthouse building in Iowa since the mid-1970s.
Last seen: 2003
Pictures by Kurt Berge: Fourth-seventh, 5/31/03
Eighth picture by me: 6/15/04
Page created 5/26/02; last updated 8/27/14