The February image from the 2022 Photography 139 Calendar is a macro image of an allium from my Mom’s yard just starting to bloom.

Tomorrow I will share the March image.

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A few weeks back Vest and I loaded up in the car and toured around Decatur County harvesting their town signs.

Here are some facts about Decatur County:

+ The population is 7,645 making it the 86th most populous county in Iowa. Behind Lucas County and above Monroe County.
+ The county seat is Leon.
+ The largest town is Lamoni.
+ Was organized in 1850.
+ Named after Stephen Decatur, a naval hero from the War of 1812.
+ Home of Graceland University.
+ Home of the smallest incorporated town in Iowa (tied).
+ Major highways are I-35, US-69, and IA-2.
+ Adjacent counties are Clarke, Wayne, and Ringgold.
+ Population peaked in 1920 at 16,566.

The Decatur County Courthouse is pretty cool looking:

The Decatur County Courthouse located in Leon, Iowa.

The Decatur County Freedom Rock is located in Leon, Iowa:

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

PURPLE=COMPLETED

50 counties conquered. 50.5% of the Cyclone State conquered!

Here are the town signs of Decatur County:

Lamoni, Iowa
Welcome to Lamoni
home of GRACELAND UNIVERSITY
Founded 1895
Population: 1,969 (-355)

Leon, Iowa
LEON
Population: 1,822 (-155)

Grand River, Iowa
GRAND RIVER RODEO
AUG 20-21
FRI-SAT 8:00 PM
Population: 196 (-40)

Davis City, Iowa
DAVIS CITY COMMUNITY CENTER
Population: 179 (-25)

Van Wert, Iowa
VAN WERT Community Center
Where friends & family meet
Population: 178 (-52)

Decatur City, Iowa
DECATUR CITY
Population: 175 (-22)

Garden Grove, Iowa
Welcome to GARDEN GROVE
1846
Population: 174 (-37)

Weldon, Iowa
Welcome to WELDON
“Always Home”
Est. 1880
Population: 136 (+9)

Pleasanton, Iowa
PLEASANTON
1838 2007
A Pleasant Place to Live
Population: 32 (-17)

Le Roy, Iowa
LEROY
Est. 1880
Population: 11 (-4)

Decatur County doesn’t have a very good collection of signs. Particularly bad are Van Wert, Davis City, and Grand River, which don’t really have signs so much as signs for their community center or rodeo. When I went through Grand River, the roads around it were heavily under construction and it was difficult to even get into the town, so I will give them some grace. Perhaps there is a sign somewhere that I just couldn’t get to because of all the road construction. I don’t know I’ll get back to Grand River to check that out any time soon though. That area of the state I’ve pretty heavily harvested. However, it isn’t too far from the interstate, so it is something I could check out next time I go to Kansas.

There are a few signs I do really like. Garden Grove has a solid sign. So does Pleasanton. I like the rustic charm of the Decatur City sign. The concrete Leon reminds me of signs I’ve seen in the Flint Hills area of Kansas. Le Roy has a very impressive sign for being a town of 11 people. Although, it will always be confusing to me. Is it Le Roy or is it Leroy? Technically it is Le Roy, so it feels like they misspelled their town name on their own town sign. Which means I’m going to give Best in Show to Weldon. A solid town sign like that is surely the reason that it is the only town in the county that actually gained people between 2010 and 2020.

Weldon – Best in Show – Decatur County

Two towns had alternate town signs:

Leon – Alternate

Garden Grove – Alternate

Here is the current list of Best in Shows:

Best in Show – Adair County

Best in Show – Adams County

Best in Show – Audubon County

Best in Show – Benton County

Best in Show – Boone County

Best in Show – Bremer County

Best in Show – Butler County

Best in Show – Calhoun County

Best in Show – Carroll County

Best in Show – Cass County

Best in Show – Cerro Gordo County

Best in Show – Clarke County

Best in Show – Crawford County

Best in Show – Dallas County

Best in Show – Decatur County

Best in Show – Franklin County

Best in Show – Fremont County

Best in Show – Greene County

Best in Show – Grundy County

Best in Show – Guthrie County

Best in Show – Hamilton County

Best in Show – Hancock County

Best in Show – Hardin County

Best in Show – Humboldt County

Best in Show – Ida County

Best in Show – Jasper County

Best in Show – Kossuth County

Best in Show – Lucas County

Best in Show – Madison County

Best in Show – Marion County

Best in Show – Marshall County

Best in Show – Mills County

Best in Show – Monona County

Best in Show – Montgomery County

Best in Show – Page County

Best in Show – Pocahontas County

Best in Show – Polk County

Best in Show – Poweshiek County

Best in Show – Ringgold County

Best in Show – Sac County

Best in Show – Shelby County

Best in Show – Story County

Best in Show – Tama County

Best in Show – Taylor County

Best in Show – Union County

Best in Show – Warren County

Best in Show – Webster County

Best in Show – Winnebago County

Best in Show – Worth County

Best in Show – Wright County

The next time we hit the dusty trail for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, we will end up in Wayne County.