Several weeks back I cruised around Jefferson County with Teresa harvesting their town signs. It was a good trip and Jefferson County has some interesting things in it. Stuff I’d like to revisit some day.
Here are some facts about Jefferson County:
+ Population is 15,647 making it the 48th most populous county in Iowa. Below Crawford County and above Floyd County.
+ The largest town and county seat is Fairfield.
+ Formed in 1839.
+ Named after 3rd U.S. President and slave rape enthusiast Thomas Jefferson. He also made a mean vanilla ice cream.
+ Home of Maharishi International University founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and features “consciousness-based education”.
+ Major highways are: US-34, IA-1, and IA-78.
+ Adjacent counties are Keokuk, Washington, Henry, Van Buren, and Wapello.
+ Population peaked in 1870 at 17,839.
Jefferson County has a very pretty courthouse:
The Jefferson County Courthouse located in Fairfield, Iowa.
The Jefferson County Freedom Rock is located in Fairfield, Iowa:
Not counting the special 100th Freedom Rock, I believe Jefferson County to be the final county to get a Freedom Rock.
With Jefferson County conquered, here is the updated Photography 139 Conquest Map:
PURPLE=COMPLETED
92 counties completed. 92.9% of the Cyclone State conquered!
Here are the town signs of Jefferson County:
Fairfield, Iowa
FAIRFIELD
Population: 9,416 (-48)
Batavia, Iowa
BATAVIA
EST. 1853
Population: 430 (-69)
Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa
MAHARISHI VEDIC CITY
Population: 277 (+16)
Libertyville, Iowa
LIBERTYVILLE
est. 1842
Population: 274 (-41)
Lockridge, Iowa
LOCKRIDGE
FIRE & RESCUE
Population: 244 (-24)
Packwood, Iowa
Packwood WELCOMES YOU
An Active & Progressive Community
Population: 183 (-21)
Pleasant Plain, Iowa
Welcome
PLEASANT PLAIN
CITY LIMITS
Please Drive Carefully
Population: 84 (-9)
I hate to say it, but for the most part, Jefferson County has a terrible collection of town signs. One of the worst. But even the worst has a worst and that is Lockridge, that doesn’t even have a real town sign. Which is disappointing because Lockridge has this kind of crazy clock museum that they could have done something fun with.
Another disappointing aspect of this is that Packwood used to have a really awesome town sign and they replaced it with a fine town sign, but not remotely memorable. The golden age of the town sign is behind us and Packwood, Iowa is Exhibit B. Stuart, Iowa is Exhibit A. If I have to pick a winner in this collection, the Purple Ribbon goes to Fairfield. Which might be a bit of a shocker since it is well documented that I don’t like stone signs.
Fairfield – Best in Show – Jefferson County
There were a few alternate signs in Jefferson County:
Libertyville – Alternate
Libertyville – Alternate
Fairfield – 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 – Henry 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 – Jefferson 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 Lee County.