A few months back I cruised around Muscatine County harvesting their town signs. It was a pretty good trip that concluded with me purchasing the best watermelon I’ve ever had in my life.
Here some facts about Muscatine County:
+ Population is 42,688. Making it the 14th most populous county in Iowa. Below Cerro Gordo and above Marshall.
+ The largest town and county seat is Muscatine.
+ Formed in December of 1836.
+ Possibly named after an island that is named after the Mascouten tribe.
+ Major highways are US-6, US-61, IA-22, IA-38, IA-70, and IA-92.
+ Adjacent counties are: Cedar, Johnson, Louisa, and Scott.
+ Currently at peak population.
Muscatine County has a beautiful courthouse:
The Muscatine County Courthouse located in Muscatine.
The Muscatine County Freedom Rock is located in Wilton, Iowa:
With Muscatine County conquered, here is the updated Photography 139 Conquest Map:
PURPLE=COMPLETED
90 counties completed. 90.9% of the Cyclone State conquered!
Here are the town signs of Muscatine County:
Muscatine, Iowa
IOWA
MUSCATINE
Pearl of the Mississippi
Population: 23,797 (+911)
West Liberty, Iowa
WEST LIBERTY
Population: 3,858 (+122)
Wilton, Iowa (Partially in Cedar County)
WELCOME TO WILTON
HOME OF THE BEAVERS
Population: 2,924 (+122)
Fruitland, Iowa
Welcome to…
FRUITLAND
“A Growing Community”
Population 703
Population: 963 (-14)
Conesville, Iowa
WELCOME TO CONESVILLE
Population: 352 (-80)
Nichols, Iowa
Welcome to NICHOLS
Small town Big heart
Population: 340 (-34)
Atalissa, Iowa
WELCOME TO
Est. 1856
ATALISSA
Pop 271 & 2 Grumps
Population: 296 (-15)
Stockton, Iowa
WELCOME TO STOCKTON
Population: 176 (-21)
Moscow, Iowa – Unincorporated
MOSCOW
1836 SEQUICENTENNIAL 1986
Montpelier, Iowa – Unincorporated
THE VILLAGE OF MONTPELIER
Welcomes You!
est. May 9, 1881
Muscatine County has a pretty solid collection of town signs. I’m not sure which is the worst. It is either West Liberty or Moscow. I’m going to go with Moscow as being the worst because when you have a town name like Moscow, you really should do something sweet with your sign. But I still give any unincorporated town a bit of respect for having a sign.
I love the Fruitland sign for its artwork. I love the Nichols sign because it has been beautifully abandoned. I love that Atalissa has taken the grump count to Readlyn and upped them by one. I love the beaver artwork on the Wilton town sign. I love how the Stockton town sign is so in your face about how they are polluting and destroying the environment. Deal with it. I have a feeling a few of those are going to make it into the book. The book that I hope to start working on sometime around November. But I’m going to have to give the purple ribbon to Conesville.
Conesville – Best in Show – Muscatine County
There are a few alternate town signs in Muscatine County:
Nichols – Alternate
Fruitland – Alternate
Conesville – Alternate
Wilton – Alternate
Here is the current list of Best in Shows:
Best in Show – Adair County
Best in Show – Adams County
Best in Show – Allamakee County
Best in Show – Appanoose County
Best in Show – Audubon County
Best in Show – Benton County
Best in Show – Black Hawk County
Best in Show – Boone County
Best in Show – Bremer County
Best in Show – Buchanan 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 – Chickasaw County
Best in Show – Clarke County
Best in Show – Clay County
Best in Show – Clayton County
Best in Show – Clinton County
Best in Show – Crawford County
Best in Show – Dallas County
Best in Show – Decatur County
Best in Show – Delaware County
Terril – Best in Show – Dickinson County
Best in Show – Dickinson County
Best in Show – Emmet County
Best in Show – Fayette County
Best in Show – Floyd 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 – Howard 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 – Johnson County
Best in Show – Jones County
Best in Show – Keokuk County
Best in Show – Kossuth County
Best in Show – Linn County
Best in Show – Lucas County
Best in Show – Lyon 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 – Mitchell County
Best in Show – Monona County
Best in Show – Monroe County
Best in Show – Montgomery County
Best in Show – Muscatine County
Best in Show – O’Brien County
Best in Show – Osceola County
Best in Show – Page County
Best in Show – Palo Alto County
Best in Show – Plymouth 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 – Sioux County
Best in Show – Story County
Best in Show – Tama County
Best in Show – Taylor County
Best in Show – Union County
Best in Show – Wapello County
Best in Show – Warren County
Best in Show – Washington County
Best in Show – Wayne County
Best in Show – Webster County
Best in Show – Winnebago County
Best in Show – Winneshiek County
Best in Show – Woodbury County
Best in Show – Worth County
Best in Show – Wright County
The next time we hit the open road for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, we will visit the town signs of Henry County.
My vote is Fruitland, but Conesville is a tight second.
If you had eaten some of the watermelon I bought from a dragon in that county, you would fully understand why I went with the watermelon sign.
But there are many great signs in this county, for sure. 100 percent.