Town Sign Project: Page County

A few weeks back I cruised around Page County on a solo town sign harvesting trip. I actually harvested the town signs of 3 different counties on this trip. Reaping the fruits of a slightly new harvesting plan. And you definitely reap what you sow.

Here are some facts about Page County:

+ The population is 15,211. The 50th most populous county in Iowa. Below Floyd County and above Hamilton County.
+ Clarinda is the largest town and county seat.
+ Named after Captain John Page who was killed in the Battle of Palo Alto in the Mexican-American War.
+ Birthplace of Glenn Miller.
+ Major highways are US-71, IA-2, US-59, and IA-48.
+ Adjacent counties are Montgomery, Taylor, and Fremont.
+ Population peaked in 25,904.

Page County has a beautiful courthouse:

The Page County Courthouse located in Clarinda, Iowa.

The Page County Freedom Rock is located in Clarinda, Iowa:

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

PURPLE=COMPLETED

41 counties completed. 41.4% of the Cyclone State conquered.

Here are the town signs of Page County:

Clarinda, Iowa
CLARINDA
Population: 5,369 (-203)

Shenandoah, Iowa
Shenandoah
Our Pride is Growing…
Population: 4,925 (-225)

Essex, Iowa
ESSEX
EST 1870
Population: 722 (-76)

Coin, Iowa
Welcome To COIN
Est. 1879
Population: 176 (-17)

College Springs, Iowa
COLLEGE SPRINGS, IOWA
ESTABLISHED 1855
Population: 172 (-42)

Shambaugh, Iowa
Shambaugh
Small town, big heart
Est. 1881
Population: 159 (-32)

Braddyville, Iowa
BRADDYVILLE CITY HALL
Population: 147 (-12)

Yorktown, Iowa
WELCOME TO YORKTOWN
PAGE COUNTY
Population: 60 (-25)

Northboro, Iowa
WELCOME TO NORTHBORO
EST 1881
Population: 52 (-6)

Blanchard, Iowa
Welcome To BLANCHARD IA, 51630
Population: 38 (-9)

Hepburn, Iowa
Hepburn 2 ->
Population: 26 (+3)

The worst town sign of Page County is pretty obvious. Hepburn. They only have a DOT sign. Although Braddyville isn’t much better when the best I can come up for them is a City Hall sign.

I think the Best in Show sign is actually pretty obvious as well. It is the College Springs sign:

College Springs – Best in Show – Page County

College Springs has a really interesting history. It was once the home to Amity College. Amity College had a football team among other sports. According to the website lostcolleges.com, common opponents for their sports teams were Tabor College (remember them from last week) Corning Academy of Iowa, Creighton, Bellevue, Kirksville Osteopathic, Northwest Teachers, and Chillicothe Business College of Missouri. However, the also played The University of Missouri. In 1897, Amity College hosted Missouri. According to the same website that makes College Springs the smallest town to ever host a game involving a major college. However, the University of Missouri doesn’t seem to have a great online source for information on the early years of their football program. According to the Wikipedia “article” on the 1897 Missouri football season, that game was actually played in nearby Coin. I’m not sure which website I trust on that. The two websites also disagree on when the second matchup between the two teams happened. One list 1897. The other in 1898.

Also, if you look on the College Springs sign you will see what looks like an interesting slide. You will also see a sign that says Crystal Lake, 1918-1943. Those two things are connected. I can find hardly anything about that slide. However, I did find a few pictures of the slide on Flickr from 2009. If you Google College Spring, Iowa flickr you will find those pictures. Since those pictures are over 12 years old, I have no clue if the ruins of that old water park are still around. I have my doubts, but I might keep researching.

Only one town has an alternate sign: