Back in February I traveled around Cherokee and O’Brien County harvesting their town signs. This is the second collection of auxiliary images from that trip.
Quimby
There is one more collection of images from this trip left to share.
A couple months back I went down to Keokuk County to harvest their town signs before heading to the Renaissance Faire in Des Moines to watch Evie and her Irish dance troupe. It was a good day.
Here are some facts about Keokuk County:
+ Population is 10,163. Making it the 72nd most populous county in Iowa. Below Winnebago County and above Franklin County.
+ Largest town and county seat is Sigourney.
+ Formed in 1837. Opened for settlement in 1843. Governing structure created in 1844.
+ Named for the Sauk chief Keokuk
+ Has two county fairs. The Keokuk County Fair in What Cheer and the Keokuk County Expo in Sigourney.
+ Major highways are: IA-2, IA-21, IA-22, IA-78, IA-92, and IA-149.
+ Adjacent counties are Poweshiek, Iowa, Washington, Jefferson, Wapello, and Mahaska.
+ Population peaked in 1900 at 24,979.
The Keokuk County Courthouse is fair looking:
The Keokuk County Freedom Rock is located in What Cheer, Iowa:
With Keokuk County conquered, here is the updated Photography 139 Conquest Map:
78 counties completed. 78.8% of the Cyclone State conquered.
Here are the town signs of Keokuk County:
Keota, Iowa
KEOTA
Population: 897 (-110)
Hedrick, Iowa
Welcome to HEDRICK
“Where Friends Meet”
Population: 728 (-36)
What Cheer, Iowa
WELCOME TO WHAT CHEER
EST 1865
Population: 607 (-39)
Richland, Iowa
RICHLAND
Population: 542 (-32)
Delta, Iowa
DELTA
HOME OF THE COVERED BRIDGE
Population: 264 (-64)
Keswick, Iowa
Home of the Keswick Agate
KESWICK
Established 1879
Population: 242 (-4)
South English, Iowa
Welcome To South English
Iowa
Est. 1855
Population: 202 (-10)
Ollie, Iowa
OLLIE
EST. 1882
Population: 201 (-14)
Harper, Iowa
HARPER
EST. 1872
Population: 118 (+4)
Martinsburg, Iowa
MARTINSBURG
EST. 1854
Population: 110 (-2)
Webster, Iowa
Welcome to WEBSTER
Est. 1854
Population: 94 (+6)
Kinross, Iowa
KINROSS
CITY HALL
Population: 80 (-7)
Gibson, Iowa
Gibson, IA
50104
Population: 63 (+2)
Thornburg, Iowa
THORNBURG
BIRTHPLACE OF AUTHOR ROSS SANTEE
EST. 1879
Population: 45 (-22)
For having so many towns, Keokuk County is kind of a dud for quality town signs. Worst would have to go to Gibson or Kinross cause they didn’t even have real town signs. Hayesville would be up there as well, but you know how I like the abandoned and distressed.
Who gets the purple ribbon? Who gets best in show? I like the town signs for Webster, Thornburg, South English, Delta, and Keswick. Of those, I’m going to give it to Webster. At least it is colorful.
There are a couple alternate town signs in Keokuk County:
Here are the current Best in Shows:
Best in Show – Appanoose County
Best in Show – Black Hawk County
Best in Show – Buena Vista County
Best in Show – Cerro Gordo County
Best in Show – Cherokee County
Best in Show – Crawford County
Terril – Best in Show – Dickinson County
Best in Show – Dickinson County
Best in Show – Franklin County
Best in Show – Hamilton County
Best in Show – Humboldt County
Best in Show – Marshall County
Best in Show – Mitchell County
Best in Show – Montgomery County
Best in Show – Palo Alto County
Best in Show – Plymouth County
Best in Show – Pocahontas County
Best in Show – Pottawattamie County
Best in Show – Poweshiek County
Best in Show – Ringgold County
Best in Show – Winnebago County
The next time we hit the open road for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, we will visit the open roads of Howard County.
Back in February I cruised around Cherokee County and O’Brien County harvesting their town signs. This is the first collection of auxiliary images from that trip. Although a good portion of the pictures from this collection were actually taken in Woodbury County.
There are still plenty more images to share from this road trip.
A few weeks back after I went down to Pella to photograph some tulips, I went down to Appanoose County to harvest their town signs. It was a good day.
Here are some facts about Appanoose County:
+ Population is 12,462, making it the 60th most populous county in Iowa. Below Wright County and above Union County.
+ Largest town and county seat is Centerville.
+ Formed on February 17, 1843.
+ Named for the Meskwaki Chief.
+ Home of Lake Rathbun.
+ Major highways are: IA-2, IA-5, and IA-202.
+ Adjacent counties are: Monroe, Wapello, Lucas, Davis, and Wayne.
+ Population peaked in 1920 at 30,535.
The Appanoose County courthouse is beautiful:
The Appanoose County Freedom Rock is located in Centerville:
With Appanoose County conquered, here is the updated Photography 139 Conquest Map:
77 counties conquered. 77.8% of the Cyclone State conquered.
Here are the town signs of Appanoose County:
Moravia, Iowa
MORAVIA
SINCE 1851
Population: 636 (-29)
Moulton, Iowa
MOULTON
SINCE 1869
Population: 607 (+2)
Mystic, Iowa
MYSTIC
Population: 322 (-103)
Cincinnati, Iowa
Cincinnati
Iowa
Population: 290 (-67)
Exline, Iowa
EXLINE
THE LITTLE TOWN WITH A BIG HEART
Population: 160 (No Change)
Unionville, Iowa
UNIONVILLE
IOWA
EST. 1843
Population: 75 (-27)
Numa, Iowa
NUMA COMMUNITY CENTER
Population: 68 (-24)
Plano, Iowa
PLANO
SINCE 1879
Population: 59 (-11)
Rathbun, Iowa
WELCOME TO THE CITY OF RATHBUN
ESTABLISHED 1892
GATEWAY TO RATHBUN LAKE
Population: 43 (-46)
First, I’m pretty startled by the population drops over just 10 years in Appanoose County. I get it, nobody wants to live close to Missouri. It is an absolutely horrible place. But I thought Lake Rathbun would be enough of an economic generator to help the towns in the area and Centerville is a pretty nice town, from what I’ve seen. I guess last person left in Appanoose County, turn off the lights.
However, I have a theory why Appanoose County has lost over half its population in the last 100 years. It is the fact that so many of the towns have the terrible (what I call, because that is where I first saw their infestation) Highway 34 signs. They are a scourge of southern Iowa. Three towns have them and spoiler, Centerville also had one. All three of those towns tie for the worst town sign in Appanoose County.
Who gets the purple ribbon though? I like Cincinnati’s sign. I like Exline’s sign. I also like Unionville’s (suck it confederacy and confederacy fanboys*), but it really is a two horse race between Centerville and Rathbun. I’m giving the nod to Centerville.
Centerville had a few alternate signs:
Here is the current list of Best in Shows:
Best in Show – Appanoose County
Best in Show – Black Hawk County
Best in Show – Buena Vista County
Best in Show – Cerro Gordo County
Best in Show – Cherokee County
Best in Show – Crawford County
Terril – Best in Show – Dickinson County
Best in Show – Dickinson County
Best in Show – Franklin County
Best in Show – Hamilton County
Best in Show – Humboldt County
Best in Show – Marshall County
Best in Show – Mitchell County
Best in Show – Montgomery County
Best in Show – Palo Alto County
Best in Show – Plymouth County
Best in Show – Pocahontas County
Best in Show – Pottawattamie County
Best in Show – Poweshiek County
Best in Show – Ringgold County
Best in Show – Winnebago County
The next time we hit the open road for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, we will visit Keokuk County.
* Also known as racists.
Trending back to Day 5 of my Computer Mine trip to Miami Beach. This was the only day I got to do much photography. We actually left the convention center at a decent time. We had an appetizer party hosted by the sales team that I attended, but then I snuck out early cause I wanted to go to the botanical garden. Unfortunately, when I got there it was closed for the day. However, I did go visit the Holocaust Memorial that was right next to the botanical garden. Here are some pictures from that walkabout:
One more collection of photos from this trip still left to share.
This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is SELF-PORTRAIT:
But what is a SELF-PORTRAIT? Please don’t play coy. It is simply a portrait of one’s self. Now a SELF-PORTRAIT doesn’t necessarily have to be a picture of your face. It could be of your hands or feet or whatever body part. It doesn’t even have to include you at all. It can be a picture of something that is uniquely you. For example Wily keeps pretty much every pair of running shoes he has ever had. He has maybe an excess of 100. A picture of his running shoes with or without his feet in them would be a SELF-PORTRAIT. OR you could even take a picture of somebody taking a SELF-PORTRAIT.
Happy photo harvesting!
A few weeks back I cruised around Floyd County to harvest their town signs. It was a good trip.
Here are some facts about Floyd County:
+ Population is 15,713. Making it the 49th most populous county in Iowa. Behind Clay County and above Page County.
+ The largest town and county seat is Charles City.
+ Established in 1854.
+ Named for Charles Floyd who died on the Lewis and Clark Expedition near Sioux City, Iowa.
+ Site of the last lynching in Iowa. (Wasn’t racially motivated.)
+ Major highways are: US-18, US-218, IA-14, and IA-27.
+ Adjacent counties are: Mitchell, Chickasaw, Butler, Cerro Gordo, Howard, Bremer, and Franklin.
+ Population peaked in 1950 in 21,505.
The Floyd County Courthouse is mostly meh, except for the fascinating “Floyd” part:
The Floyd County Freedom Rock is located in Rockford, Iowa:
With Floyd County conquered, here is the updated Photography 139 Conquest Map:
76 counties completed. 76.8% of the Cyclone State conquered.
Note, Nashua is partially in Floyd County, but is mostly in Chickasaw County. I will reveal that town sign when we get to Chickasaw County. Greene is also partially in Floyd County, but is mostly in Butler County. I already revealed this town sign when I revealed the town signs of Butler County.
Here are the town signs of Floyd County:
Nora Springs, Iowa (Partially in Cerro Gordo County)
WELCOME TO NORA SPRINGS
Population: 1,369 (-62)
Welcome to ROCKFORD
HOME OF THE DEVONIAN FOSSILS
Population: 758 (-102)
Rudd, Iowa
RUDD, IA
Population: 358 (-11)
Floyd, Iowa
Welcome To FLOYD
Population: 313 (-22)
Marble Rock, Iowa
WELCOME TO MARBLE ROCK
Population: 271 (-36)
Colwell, Iowa
Established 1915
Incorporated 1922
Welcome to COLWELL
“The biggest little city in Floyd County”
Population: 55 (-18)
Floyd might not have a superstar sign, but there are several solid signs in there. But Easily the worst belongs to Nora Springs. Boring. Boring. Boring.
For best in show, for me it is really a two sign race. It is Colwell or it is Marble Rock. I’m going to give it to Marble Rock by a nose.
There is only one alternate town sign in Floyd County that I found:
There are lots of these old Amoco (I think) signs out there that have been reporuposed as town signs and I am here for it.
Here is the current list of Best in Shows:
Best in Show – Black Hawk County
Best in Show – Buena Vista County
Best in Show – Cerro Gordo County
Best in Show – Cherokee County
Best in Show – Crawford County
Terril – Best in Show – Dickinson County
Best in Show – Dickinson County
Best in Show – Franklin County
Best in Show – Hamilton County
Best in Show – Humboldt County
Best in Show – Marshall County
Best in Show – Mitchell County
Best in Show – Montgomery County
Best in Show – Palo Alto County
Best in Show – Plymouth County
Best in Show – Pocahontas County
Best in Show – Pottawattamie County
Best in Show – Poweshiek County
Best in Show – Ringgold County
Best in Show – Winnebago County
Next time we hit the open road for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, we will visit Appanoose County.
In this post I am going to share pictures I took with the A7II on Days 3 and 6 of my work trip to Miami Beach. I did not crack out the camera at all on Day 4. On Day 5, I actually got away for a bit and took several pictures, so I’m going to dedicate an entire post to those pictures. I didn’t take many pictures on Day 3 or Day 6, so I’m combining them here.
Day 3 was supposed to be kind of a half day of training, but those of us on Team Setup ended up spending quite a bit of hours tinkering with the computers at the Convention Center. I only took a handful of pictures walking back from the Convention Center with Tony after he went to 7/11 for some smokes.
I would love to see this hotel when it is done being renovated.
Day 6 was the last day of the convention. It was a long day for me because I left the hotel about 7:30 for the Convention Center. I got back to the hotel at about 8:30. From 4:30 until about 8:00 I sat around with Kim, Tony, and Lowell waiting for one crate to arrive. All the pictures I took that day are from that wait.
That reddish crate isn’t the one we were waiting for, but Kim packed up all our snacks and then wrapped it. So we starved for 2 hours. Please feel sorry for me.
It was a good trip, but the highlights, photographically speaking are from Day 5. Which I will share soon.
This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is SERVICE:
SERVICE! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
This is a theme that was suggested by Andy. If you don’t like it, well remember that I crowdsource the themes once a year about November, so watch for that post and conduct your actions accordingly.
That isn’t to infer that I don’t love this theme. If I didn’t love the suggestion, I would have filed it in the trash next to Shannon’s suggestion of CATS. Maybe not next to that suggestion. Cause that one I threw in the trash and then stomped the trash down. Then took it to the incinerator. I didn’t even own an incinerator. I went to the store and bought one, just so I could incinerate that suggestion.
That isn’t to say that you shouldn’t make suggestions for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE when that time is nigh. Just don’t suggest CATS.
But what is a SERVICE picture? A SERVICE is simply the action of helping someone else. A SERVICE picture is simply a picture of one person helping another person. Or the results of one person helping another person. Now there are many different types of SERVICE. For example the theme reveal is a picture of a worship SERVICE. I get very questionable internet SERVICE from Mediacom. A couple days last week I ate at restaurant where I received SERVICE from many fine servers.
Happy photo harvesting!
A few weeks back I headed up to Mitchell County to harvest their town signs. It was a good trip and I really enjoyed my brief time in Mitchell County.
Here are some facts about Mitchell County:
+ Population is 10,558 making it the 70th most populous county in Iowa. Below Guthrie County and above Winnebago County.
+ The largest town and county seat is Osage.
+ Founded in 1851.
+ Named after Irish patriot John Mitchel.
+ Major highways are: US-218 and IA-9.
+ Adjacent counties are Floyd, Cerro Gordo, Howard, and Worth.
+ Peak population was 14,121 in 1940.
Mitchell County has a pretty, but maybe not gorgeous courthouse:
The Mitchell County Freedom Rock is located in Saint Ansgar, Iowa.
With Mitchell County conquered, here is the updated Photography 139 Conquest Map:
75 counties completed. 75.8% of the Cyclone State conquered!
Here are the town signs of Mitchell County:
Saint Ansgar, Iowa
WELCOME TO SAINT ANSGAR
est 1853
Population: 1,160 (+53)
Riceville, Iowa – Partially in Howard County
RICEVILLE
Population: 806 (+21)
Stacyville, Iowa
WELCOME TO Stacyville
Population: 458 (-36)
Mitchell, Iowa
Established 1854
WELCOME TO MITCHELL
Population: 124 (-14)
McIntire, Iowa
Welcome to McIntire
Population: 113 (-9)
Carpenter, Iowa
CARPENTER
COMMUNITY CENTER
Population: 87 (-22)
Orchard, Iowa
ORCHARD
1869
Population: 68 (-3)
New Haven, Iowa – Unincorporated
Welcome to New Haven
Little Cedar, Iowa – Unincorporated
Where Nature Smiles
For Almost 5 Miles
Little Cedar, Iowa
Toeterville, Iowa – Unincorporated
Toeterville
WHERE FRIENDSHIPS GROW
EST. 1898
Mona, Iowa – Unincorporated
WELCOME
MONA IOWA
ESTABLISHED 1869
Meyer, Iowa – Unincorporated
MEYER
HOME OF
Sacred Heart Church
Mitchell County has a ton of unincorporated town that actually had signs. My policy is still to only hit an unincorporated town, if it is within a couple miles of my route. Usually there is not town sign and frequently there isn’t really a town. Mitchell County’s unincorporated towns were quite the revelation.
The worst town sign in Mitchell County is pretty obvious. It is Carpenter. Not really a town sign, but more a sign for their community center.
The race for first place isn’t really a race. It is obviously Riceville. However, the alternate town signs for Toeterville will definitely be making the book!
Here are the alternate town signs of Mitchell County:
Here is the current list of Best in Shows:
Best in Show – Black Hawk County
Best in Show – Buena Vista County
Best in Show – Cerro Gordo County
Best in Show – Cherokee County
Best in Show – Crawford County
Terril – Best in Show – Dickinson County
Best in Show – Dickinson County
Best in Show – Franklin County
Best in Show – Hamilton County
Best in Show – Humboldt County
Best in Show – Marshall County
Best in Show – Mitchell County
Best in Show – Montgomery County
Best in Show – Palo Alto County
Best in Show – Plymouth County
Best in Show – Pocahontas County
Best in Show – Pottawattamie County
Best in Show – Poweshiek County
Best in Show – Ringgold County
Best in Show – Winnebago County
The next time we hit the open road for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, we will hit the roads of Floyd County!