A few months back I travelled around Davis County with Teresa harvesting the town signs of Davis County. Davis County was the last county in THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. It was left for last for a reason. It was left because of some family history in Davis County. The ghost town of Paris is in Davis County. Paris was formed when Jackson Paris donated land for the Rock Island to build a railroad depot there. Why does that matter? Cause Jackson B. Paris was the father of Lewis Marion Paris. Lewis Marion Paris is the father of Matin Henry Paris. Martin Henry Paris is the father of Lyle Ronald Paris. Lyle Ronald Paris was my Mom’s dad. There really isn’t much left in Paris, except some ruins and a cemetery where a bunch of Parises are buried. I wanted this to be the last town of what is principal photography on THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT for symbolic reasons.
Here are some facts about Davis County:
+ Population is 9,138 making it the 81st most populous county in Iowa. Below Emmet County and above Palo Alto County.
+ Largest town and county seat is Bloomfield.
+ Named after Garrett Davis, a politician from Kentucky.
+ Major highways are US-63, IA-2, and IA-202.
+ Adjacent counties are Wapello, Monroe, Van Buren, Jefferson, and Appanoose.
+ Population peaked in 1880 at 16,468.
Davis County has a gorgeous courthouse:
The Davis County Courthouse located in Bloomfield, Iowa.
The Davis County Freedom Rock is located in Drakesville, Iowa:
With Davis County conquered, here is the updated and final Photography 139 Conquest Map:
PURPLE=COMPLETED
99 counties completed. 100% of the Cyclone State conquered.
Here are the town signs of Davis County:
Bloomfield, Iowa
WELCOME TO BLOOMFIELD
Population: 2,682 (+42)
Pulaski, Iowa
WELCOME TO PULASKI PARK
Population: 264 (+4)
Drakesville, Iowa
DRAKESVILLE
Population: 164 (-20)
Floris, Iowa
Floris Veterans Memorial Park
Population: 116 (-22)
Paris, Iowa – Ghost Town
PARIS CEMETERY
FIRST BURIAL
L.B. PARIS
APRIL 20, 1854
You may be wondering what will happen now that principal photography for this project is done. The answer is the next thing I will do is start working on the book. I’m not sure when it will be finished or ready to be published, but it should be sometime next year. The book won’t probably be what you imagine, but I will get into that more in a future post. There still might be a few more Tuesday posts dedicated to THE TOWN SIGN project in our future.
Davis County isn’t loaded up with great town signs. It is a county that only has 4 incorporated towns. They are kinda terrible, but Floris’ town sign isn’t really a town sign, so it is the worst.
But who gets the purple ribbon. I guess I have to give it to Pulaski, even though it is really more of a sign for a park than a town, but at least it is in one piece.
Pulaski – Best in Show – Davis County
I should point out that there are lots of ghost towns out there that only have a cemetery to mark they ever existed. I don’t stop and photograph these cemetery signs. I only photographed the Paris sign because of the family connection and the fact that it was the symbolic last town.
There were a couple of alternate town signs in Davis County:
Bloomfield – Alternate
Bloomfield – Alternate
Here is the final 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 – Davis County
Best in Show – Decatur County
Best in Show – Delaware County
Best in Show – Des Moines County
Terril – Best in Show – Dickinson County
Best in Show – Dickinson County
Best in Show – Dubuque 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 – Lee County
Best in Show – Linn County
Best in Show – Louisa 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 – Scott 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 – Van Buren 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
There is no county next week. The road trip is over. The car is in the garage. It was a crazy ride.
Congrats on hitting 100%! What a milestone. Looking forward to the book.
This was such a cool, unique project. Thank you for sharing it.
1st of all Congratulations!!!! On completion of such a huge undertaking, what a dream and a finish, when did you start this thing? 2nd I think the 2nd alternative pic for Bloomfield is better then a park sign, remember you like old s..t that is old school signs, hitch I like it because of age but also cause as a hobby roofer they put a mini roof over it to protect it. 3rd are you taking donations to print book or preorders I’ll want 10
Great job buddy
Have you ever tried a Kit Kat
Joe,
Thanks. The book might be different than people are expecting, but hopefully it doesn’t take too long to put together, but since I have no clue what I’m doing, it might take a minute or two.
Angie,
Glad you liked it. I wasn’t sure it would have much appeal. Of course, I don’t do anything hoping that is has much appeal, but I’m glad a few people liked it.
Andy,
Thanks! In earnest, I started this project during the pandemic. It was an idea that has had percolation for years and years, but never gained traction until, I needed a project that allowed me to leave my house and was safe to do.
There is no denying that Davis County is not a great collection of signs. I might like that better, but there are a few out there that look just like it. With the exception of the roof. That does make it unique to that style.
I’ll put you down for 10 pre-orders, but when we found out how much it costs to print them you are more than free to scale that back. Which isn’t to say that I know how much it will cost, cause I don’t.
Have I ever tried a Kit Kat? Do I live in a cave? It is a very serviceable candy bar. It is one I usually stock for Halloween, but don’t mind if there are none leftover after Beggars Night to stock the Union Street Theater Concession Stand. It isn’t trash like Milky Way or Three Musketeers, but certainly doesn’t belong on the pantheon of candy bars.