[Old] WEST End: Stop sign, US 63, Montezuma, Poweshiek County
Facing west on 85
Photo by Jason Hancock
Facing south on 63
Photo by Jason Hancock
The "To 85" sign is all one piece here, but in the other direction it's a normal assembly. Highway 85 has not ended at 63 since 1994, which kind of makes it a weird case because it's not a spur yet does not have both ends at a non-county highway.
Facing north on 63
In the deep background are the F57 shield (lower left), 63 with double arrow seen in the top photo (lower center), and the back of the southbound signage (lower right).
WEST End: City limits of Montezuma, Poweshiek County
Facing west on 85
Facing east on 85, right across from the above picture
Deep River
Facing south, but heading east, on 85
Closeup
Facing south
As late as the early 1960s, this location was near IA 21 (below). Now, 85 comes in town from the northwest and leaves to the east, turning at this intersection.
The last major project in Iowa that involved paving a route combined with a substantial realignment was IA 21 between Deep River and present US 6. The above lines in town are based on a 1957 county map with help from the Iowa GIS server. Two "possible ends" are marked for IA 85 because the road between the two could be interpreted as 85, no highway, or even 21. It is likely not 21 because multiple sources (or at least the one source that everyone is using) tag a road on the east side of Deep River with the name "Route 21". If you think about it, that's a bit odd because A) this route stopped being 21 decades before modern maps and B) "route" is usually not used in this sense this far north in Iowa.
EAST End: Stop sign, IA 21 and F52, Poweshiek County
Facing east on 85
Facing east on 85
Okay, so upside-down signage isn't relegated to western Iowa.
Facing east on 85
Facing south on 21
Facing south on 21
Facing south on 21
Facing north on 21
Facing north on 21
Top two pictures by Jason Hancock: Winter 2002
Pictures by me: Third and fifth, 5/13/03; fourth and sixth-sixteenth, 7/8/05
Page created 4/25/02; last updated 1/9/06
