A month or so back I made a trip to Cherokee County to harvest their town signs. Cherokee is a beautiful town and is on my list of towns I would like to visit again in the future.
Here are some facts about Cherokee County:
+ Population is 11,658 making it the 66th most populous county in Iowa. Below Shelby County and above Louisa County.
+ The largest town and county seat is Cherokee.
+ Formed on January 15, 1851.
+ Named after the indigenous tribe.
+ Major highways are US-59, IA-3, IA-7, IA-31, and IA-143.
+ Adjacent counties are O’Brien, Buena Vista, Ida, Woodbury, and Plymouth.
The Cherokee County Courthouse is fairly hideous:
The Cherokee County Courthouse located in Cherokee, Iowa.
The Cherokee County Freedom Rock is located in Cherokee, Iowa:
With Cherokee County conquered, here is the updated Photography 139 Conquest Map:
PURPLE=COMPLETED
64 counties completed. 64.6% of the Cyclone State conquered!
Here are the town signs of Cherokee County:
Cherokee, Iowa
CHEROKEE WELCOMES YOU
Population: 5,199 (-36)
Marcus, Iowa
Welcome To MARCUS
Pride in the Past
Faith in the Future
Population: 1,079 (-38)
Aurelia, Iowa
WELCOME TO AURELIA
Population: 968 (-68)
Quimby, Iowa
WELCOME TO QUIMBY
Population: 249 (-70)
Washta, Iowa
Welcome to Washta
COLDEST SPOT IN IOWA
-47
1912
FOUNDED IN 1868
Population: 209 (-39)
Cleghorn, Iowa
CLEGHORN
Population: 240 (0)
Meriden, Iowa
MERIDEN
A CITY WHERE PEOPLE CARE & SHARE
Population: 161 (+2)
Larrabee, Iowa
LARRABEE
WHERE TOWN & COUNTRY UNITE
EST. 1887
Population 123 (-9)
I think Cherokee County has a really solid set of town signs. I think the only one that is bad is Quimby’s sign, which is more of a town announcement sign than anything else. Nothing wrong with town announcement signs, but they shouldn’t be the town’s primary town sign.
While I like the town signs of Aurelia, Marcus, and Meriden. It really comes down to Larrabee and Washta for me and the purple ribbon. But in the end the Washta sign is so much fun that it gets Best in Show.
Washta – Best in Show – Cherokee County
There are several alternate town signs in Cherokee County:
Quimby – Alternate
Marcus – Alternate
Cherokee – Alternate
Cherokee – Alternate
Cherokee – Alternate
Aurelia – Alternate
Aurelia – 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 – Buena Vista County
Best in Show – Butler County
Best in Show – Calhoun County
Best in Show – Carroll County
Best in Show – Cass County
Best in Show – Cedar County
Best in Show – Cerro Gordo County
Best in Show – Cherokee County
Best in Show – Clarke County
Best in Show – Clinton 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 Sow – Harrison County
Best in Show – Humboldt County
Best in Show – Ida County
Best in Show – Iowa County
Best in Show – Jackson County
Best in Show – Jasper County
Best in Show – Jones County
Best in Show – Kossuth County
Best in Show – Linn County
Best in Show – Lucas County
Best in Show – Madison County
Best in Show – Mahaska County
Best in Show – Marion County
Best in Show – Marshall County
Best in Show – Mills County
Best in Show – Monona County
Best in Show – Monroe County
Best in Show – Montgomery County
Best in Show – Page County
Best in Show – Palo Alto County
Best in Show – Pocahontas County
Best in Show – Polk County
Best in Show – Pottawattamie 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 – Wayne 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 backroads of Iowa for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, our Toyota will end up in O’Brien County.