Just a reminder that the deadline for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest is coming up, but there is still time to enter:

Thanks to Monica for making the sweet graphic for social media posts!

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For rules and the entry form, go here:

Time to share a second collection of images from my trip to Des Moines County and Louisa County to harvest their town signs. We start still in Columbus Junction.

Columbus Junction

Fredonia

Back in Columbus Junction

Grandview – Full applause for this sign.

A few notes about the Convict Road. The first section of concrete road in Iowa was placed in Le Mars in 1904. It was in service until 1968 when it was replaced. The oldest concrete road in Iowa that is still in service in Iowa is The Eddyville Cemetery Road. It was place in 1909. The Convict Road in Fredonia may be the 2nd oldest concrete paved road in Iowa. However, a segment of the Moscow Road might be older. It was placed in 1910. I’m not sure if it still exists. The history of concrete roads in Iowa isn’t as exciting as you might think so many sources seem to be out of date. Which is truly a shame. Most of it seems to link to a report by a Todd D. Hanson that was made in March of 2009.

The first rural paving in Iowa was between Mason City and Clear Lake. This happened in 1915.

The oldest concrete street in America is in Bellefontaine, Ohio. They paved Court Avenue in 1891 and one block of it remains the original concrete.

There is a lot more from my trip to these two counties left to share. But this is all I have on old concrete roads in Iowa.