A few Saturdays back, before I took my entries for this year’s huge embarrassing failure at the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon to the Cultural Center and well before I went to Saydie’s wedding, I tooled around Lucas County and harvested their town signs. It was a pretty busy day.

Here are some facts about Lucas County:

+ Population is 8,853 (2019 estimate), the 85th most populous county in Iowa. Behind Monona and ahead of Decatur.
+ The county seat and largest city is Chariton.
+ Was formed in 1846.
+ Named for Robert Lucas, the 12th Governor of Ohio and first Governor of the Iowa territory. He also started the Honey War with Missouri.
+ Major highways are US-34, US-65, and IA-14.
+ Adjacent counties are Warren, Marion, Monroe, Wayne, and Clarke.
+ Population peaked in 1900 at 16,126.

Lucas County has a beautiful courthouse:

Lucas County Courthouse in Chariton, Iowa

The Lucas County Freedom Rock is located in Chariton, Iowa.

Chariton has a really neat Veterans Memorial Park where their Freedom Rock resides. It is pretty rare when I go to a Freedom Rock (on a weekend) and there isn’t somebody there checking it out. It seems that there are many people out there that are traveling around and looking at them.

On this day, I didn’t meet a fellow traveler, but a retired Marine that lives in Lucas County. He isn’t the official caretaker of the park, but I think he is involved with it pretty heavily. We talked for awhile and he gave me the handout below about their park:

If you have any interest in history or military in general, it is definitely worth going to this park. He also told me about the Flag Day and Independence Day events they have at the park. I’m glad I met him.

With Lucas County conquered, this is the updated Photography 139 Conquest Map:

PURPLE=COMPLETED

26 counties completed. 26.3% of the Cyclone State conquered.

Here are the town signs of Lucas County:

Chariton, Iowa
Chariton – Since 1849
Population: 4,321

Russell, Iowa
Russell – Since 1867
Population: 554

Lucas, Iowa
Lucas – Since 1868
Population: 216

Williamson, Iowa
Welcome to Williamson Community Center – Williamson Fire Dept & Ems
Population: 152

Derby, Iowa
Derby Fire Station – City Hall
Population: 115

There are only 5 towns in Lucas County and it looks like some slick town sign salesman went down Highway 34 and sold identical signs to 3 of them and the other 2 don’t even have real town signs. So, to figure out the Best in Show for Lucas County, we are going to have to go to the rarely used Alternate Sign Tie-Breaker.

Here are the alternate signs of Lucas County:

Chariton – Alternate

Russell – Alternate

Lucas – Alternate

Lucas – Alternate

Derby – Alternate

The tie-breaker is no contest. Clearly Best in Show for Lucas County is:

Lucas – Best in Show – Lucas County

Here is the current list of Best in Shows:

Best in Show – Adair County

Best in Show – Audubon County

Best in Show – Benton County

Best in Show – Boone County

Best in Show – Carroll County

Best in Show – Clarke County

Best in Show – Crawford County

Best in Show – Dallas County

Best in Show – Franklin County

Best in Show – Greene County

Best in Show – Grundy County

Best in Show – Guthrie County

Best in Show – Hamilton County

Best in Show – Hardin County

Best in Show – Jasper County

Best in Show – Lucas County

Best in Show – Madison County

Best in Show – Marion County

Best in Show – Marshall County

Best in Show – Polk County

Best in Show – Poweshiek County

Best in Show – Story County

Best in Show – Tama County

Best in Show – Union County

Best in Show – Webster County

Best in Show – Wright County

Next time we check in on THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, we will visit Humboldt County.