This page offers additional information about Iowa highway ends that you might find informative or interesting. Information is accurate as of January 2006, obtained from Jason Hancock's site combined with old maps I obtained from Parks Library at Iowa State University. Send all corrections to me.
How this works: As the DOT took more and more roads under its jurisdiction, the numbers used had to increase accordingly. Each year higher numbers had to be used. However, once a number was freed up, the DOT could use it elsewhere. Many times the number was transferred to a road within a few miles. Below is a chart listing the years each number first came into being on its first road. Today, that number may be near the same route but no longer on that specific road due to years of reroutes (for example, 212). There are also many exceptions as the numbers got recycled. Current highways not given that number in that year are listed accordingly with the year or time frame of the current route's designation in parentheses.
Since I am sticking to current numbers, that means those involved in the Second Great Decommissioning don't get to be listed anymore. The numbers that died on July 1, 2003, and were not originals are 113, 115, 131, 133, 142, 145, 157, 161, 181, 184, 197, 221, 243, 244, 287, 297, 322, 324, 356, 362, 403, and 428. Also, 394 was not original.
The chart starts after the initial marking of state highways 1 to 107 in 1920. If a current highway is not marked as an exception, it should be the original. For example, IA 127 and 128 are the only two members of the "Class of 1924" that are still around. Some highways may have been commissioned two or more times between original designation and current commissioning. Every number from 1 to 420 has been used at least once - except for two. Can you guess which ones?
| NUMBERS | YEAR(S) | EXCEPTIONS (as of 1/1/07) |
| 108-112 | 1922 | 110 (1934) |
| 113-117 | 1923 | 116 (1998*); 117 (1936) |
| 118-130 | 1924 | 122 (1999); 130 (1969) |
| 131-135 | 1925 | --none remain-- (135 in early 1926) |
| 136-151 | October 16, 1926 | 137 (1934); 139 (1930); 150 (1941) |
| 152-159 | Late 1926-1929 | 152 (1980) |
| 160-179 | March-August 1930 | 160 (1947); 163 (1937); 165 (1957) |
| 180-208 | December 1, 1930 | 182 (1969); 196 (1935); 202 (1969) |
| 209-235 | January 7-8, 1931 | --only 210, 212, 220, 224 remain from originals-- |
| 236-249 | 1931 | --none remain-- |
| 250-256 | 1932 | --none remain-- |
| 257-264 | 1933 | --none remain-- (261 originally assigned 1930) |
| 265-276 | 1934 | --none remain-- |
| 277-327 | June 4, 1935 | --only 281 and 316 remain-- |
| 328-335 | Second half of 1935 | 330 (1947) --only 333 remains-- |
| 336-342 | 1936 | --none remain-- |
| 343-348 | 1937 | --only 346 remains-- |
| 349-362 | 1938 | --none remain-- |
| 363-372 | 1939 | 370 (1953) |
| 373-386 | 1940-46 | --none remain-- |
| 387-395 | 1947-50 | --none remain-- |
| 396-399 | 1950-56 | --none remain-- |
| 400-420 422-428 |
1957-60 1961-65 |
Numbering got a little sporadic in this time period. All below 420 except 419 were designated by the end of 1960, in addition to 426 - but not in order (at least, that's what newspaper and map research indicates). No odd 420s were created, and IA 415 is the only one that remains active. |
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424 #2, 431, 432 and 478(!?) were hidden designations; 475 was numbered as such because it was old US 75. The only three numbers between 1 and 420 never used for a state highway are 218 and 275; they were already US highways by the time those numbers were reached. (IA 169 existed for a few months in 1930.) |
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The mass commissionings of the early years lend themselves to groupings of highway numbers that were decommissioned in other major years of Iowa's highway history. Numbers in italics are not the original versions.
| July 1, 1920- 1980/1981* |
42, 43, 54, 79, 102, 106 |
| July 1, 1920- January 1, 1969 |
4, 17, 39, 44, 60, 76, 81 |
| July 1, 1920- July 1, 2003 |
36, 41, 45, 49, 50, 68, 77, 82, 97, 103, 107 |
| Miscellaneous 1930- 1980/1981* |
162, 166, 167, 168, 172, 178 |
| December 1, 1930- 1980/1981* |
180, 186, 189, 203, 211 |
| December 1, 1930- July 1, 2003 |
66, 193, 198, 199, 200, 201, 204, 205, 206, 207 |
| January 8, 1931- 1980/1981* |
213, 216, 219, 222, 226, 231, 232 |
| January 8, 1931- July 1, 2003 |
157, 214, 215, 225, 229 |
| Miscellaneous 1931- 1980/1981* |
90, 190, 237, 243, 244, 246, 248 |
| Miscellaneous 1931- July 1, 2003 |
99, 145, 181, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 249 |
| June 4, 1935- 1980/1981* |
271, 277, 278, 284, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 295, 296, 302, 303, 304, 309, 312, 317, 318, 319, 323 |
| June 4, 1935- July 1, 2003** |
279, 282, 283, 285, 286, 294, 299, 300, 301, 305, 306, 325, 327 |
| Miscellaneous 1935- 1980/1981* |
134, 171, 328, 329, 332, 334, 335 |
* Technically, the "Great Decommissioning of 1980" would more accurately be called the "Great Decommissioning of Fiscal 1981" because most of the highways were turned over between July 1, 1980, and July 1, 1981.
** IA 195, 314, and 315 were also born June 4, 1935, but died earlier in 2003.
The above tables classify how highways' ends are paired up. For example, in 2000 seven highways had a stop sign at one end and a stoplight on the other; in 2006 four did.
These are the routes that have been completely or mostly unchanged since the first shields were put up. Only one has been completely or all but completely the same since 1920, IA 62; IA 8 and IA 110 come close but short; the rest were first commissioned in 1969, after everything had already been paved and realigned.
| 62 | Unchanged since commissioning in 1920 |
| 128 | Unchanged since commissioning in 1924 |
| 139, 140, 183 | Alignment in 2005 is that of commissioning (1926/1926/1930), but were extended/truncated in the interim (back to original in 1980/1980/2003) |
| 8 | 1926 alignment between Traer and V18 minorly modified 1937-41 |
| 110 | Ending in Storm Lake modified in 1950s |
| 4, 15, 26, 39, 44, 81, 182, 202 | Unchanged since commissioning on Jan. 1, 1969 |
| 7, 17, 76 | One major change to each since 1969: truncation (7), realignment (17), extension (76) |
| 36, 41, 68, 82, 97, 103 | Special mention: These kept their numbers and stayed essentially the same from 1920 to 2003. One more, 50, was the same in 1920 and 2003 but not 1935-63. |
Ten routes are completely off their original alignment but have never been decommissioned; two more are all but off their original alignments.
| Number | Original alignment at commissioning (current designation) |
| 22 | Muscatine to Davenport, along pre-expressway US 61; routes swapped in 1957 |
| 57 | Grundy Center to Cedar Falls; swapped with US 20 in 1986 (IA 14, D19, University Avenue) |
| 58 | Grundy Center to US 63 (IA 175) |
| 85 | IA 92 to What Cheer (IA 21) |
| 98 | US 34 to Eldon (IA 16) |
| 160 | Diagonal between IA 415 and US 69 (none) |
| 192 | US 275/IA 92 south to Lake Manawa State Park (none) |
| 212 | Dysart to Belle Plaine (IA 21) |
| 316 | IA 163 to Runnells (S27) |
| 333 | US 59 to Northboro (J64) |
| 48 | Red Oak to Shenandoah, but most of this was realigned in 1928. Segments near Essex are original, but that's it. |
| 330 | Downtown Marshalltown to US 30. Only segment between S75 and 235th Street (just north of present 30/330 interchange) is original. |
Very few routes have been unchanged since their original designation, but more were changed very early. This table shows all the routes that have not been modified since before 1969, with the date of final change. This is, to some extent, an inexact science, and nothing is permanent. Thus the 'Well, but...' line, which lists known or very possible changes since the date listed. Some of these have only happened in the past five years, specifically 146, 165, and 346. I figure a known change of 1(ish) mile or 2 percent is understandable over such a time period. You can personally eliminate these roads from your list if you are so inclined.
| Number | Same since | Well, but... (less than 1 mile or 2% total change in alignment) |
| 62 | 1920 | |
| 128 | 1924 | |
| 48 | 1932 | |
| 93 | 1932 | East end moved slightly west upon realignment of IA 150 in early 1970s |
| 8 | Late 1930s | |
| 96 | 1947 or 1948 | |
| 78 | 1948 | |
| 16 | 1948 | Realigned in northwest part of Eldon in 1984 |
| 14 | 1949 | Greene bypass 1967; realigned through Marshalltown mid-1980s |
| 31 | Early 1950s | |
| 196 | 1951 or 1952 | |
| 346 | 1953 | West end has changed twice since then (oldest 218 in Nashua; pre-2003 218 west side of Nashua); east end is now interchange with US 63/18, a tiny bit north of old end |
| 146 | 1954 | North end moved slightly north to interchange with US 30 in 2004 |
| 165 | 1957 | South/west entry into Omaha shifted slightly (a few dozen feet) in 2003 |
| 110 | Late 1950s | North end moved westward from downtown Storm Lake |
| 1 | 1962 | |
| 188 | 1966 | |
| 3 | 1967 | East end in Dubuque has changed as alignment of US 52/61/151 has changed |
| 136 | 1967 |
These ends are at or near the "downtown" or business district of a town. Ends in italics are the only ones with mileage signs, all the rest lack them:
| South IA 4, Panora | West IA 8, Traer | North IA 14, Charles City |
| South IA 14, Corydon | East IA 24, Calmar | South IA 31, Smithland |
| South IA 51, Postville | East IA 62, Bellevue | East IA 83, Anita |
| West IA 83, Avoca | East IA 127, Logan | West IA 130, Tipton |
| North IA 136, Luxemburg | South IA 146, New Sharon | North IA 150, Calmar |
| North IA 173, Kimballton | East IA 333, Hamburg |
Intersections on town edges lacking mileage signs: South IA 28, Martensdale; West IA 62, Maquoketa; East IA 93, Fayette; South IA 144, Perry; West IA 163, Des Moines; South IA 415, Des Moines. So about 19 ends have no little green signs.
In late April 2003 the Iowa Legislature (the House a week after the Senate) passed a bill that would enable certain highways to be decommissioned and turned over on July 1, 2003, to counties without compensation. Gov. Vilsack later signed that bill. The below table lists all the spurs that served towns below 500 in 2003 (2000 population); only IA 98 survived. (Ironically, 98 goes to two unincorporated towns, but includes a vital Des Moines River bridge.)
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| Leando | Spragueville | Plover | Buckeye | Melrose | Derby |
| ** | 89 | 95 | 110 | 130 | 131 |
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| Randall | Lanesboro | Williamson | Tingley | Harris | Ayrshire |
| 148 | 152 | 163 | 171 | 200 | 202 |
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| Spillville | Palmer | Little Sioux | Grand River | New Providence | Garden Grove |
| 203 | 214 | 217 | 225 | 227 | 250 |
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| Silver City | Brandon | Diagonal | Harpers Ferry | Lacona | Letts |
| 259 | 311 | 312 | 330 | 360 | 392 |
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| Garrison | Union | Arcadia | New Virginia | Lime Springs | Lehigh |
| 413 | 427 | 443 | 469 | 496 | 497 |
| Adair | Adams | Boone (2) | Calhoun | Carroll |
| Clay | Decatur | Des Moines | Grundy | Hamilton |
| Henry | Howard | Humboldt | Ida | Jefferson |
| Johnson | Lucas | Madison | Marion (1) | Mitchell |
| Montgomery | Palo Alto | Union | Washington | Winnebago |
| Worth | Wright |
Notes:
1. List includes those losing termini in 2003 but NOT those with a state-line end.
Counties with straddling ends:
2. 900-series end only: Boone (930)
As of Jan. 1, 2003: Benton County had the most ends (21), followed by Polk (11 plus 2 on the [county] line) and
Pottawattamie (10 plus 3 on the [state] line).
As of Jan. 1, 2004: Polk County has the most ends (10 plus 1 on the [county] line), followed by Black
Hawk (7) tied with Pottawattamie (4 plus 3 on the [state] line), and Allamakee (3 plus 3 on the [state] line).
As far as I know, this isn't a technical road geek term. I'm using it for intersections in which the numbers are in sequence; for example, 1 and 2. If there's an actual name for this occurrence, let me know! I have a longer explanation about what I mean here. Many current highways at that intersection include one of the original numbers. The oldest current intersection is of IA 51 and US 52, which has been around since 1935. The last original 1920 intersection, of IA 106 and 107 south of Clear Lake, disappeared with the decommissioning of 106 in 1980. (Only five from 1920 lasted past 1926.) Highways 57 and 58 have intersected each other four times in three different places (two simultaneously) in the past 70 years. Nine sequential intersections exist today, two in Black Hawk County (20 and 21, 57 and 58). US 59 and IA 60 don't intersect in Iowa, but the circumstances surrounding their intersection are such that I decided to include it anyway.
| White: Existing intersection - all; includes shields | Gray: Old intersection with years listed - 1926-2002 | Dark gray: Oldest intersections - from original 1920 numbering |
| 1st | 2nd | Intersection (town or county) | Years | Current highways at that intersection | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Des Moines | 1920-26 | None; was US 65/US 6 | Jefferson Highway and Great White Way |
| 1 | 2 | Washington | 1926-38 | 1/92 | |
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Van Buren County, south of Keosauqua | 1941-present | -- | S end of 1 |
| 3 | 4 | Sidney | 1920-33 | 2/US 275 | 4 became US 275 |
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Pocahontas | 1969-present | -- | |
| 4 | 5 | Storm Lake | 1920-26 | Old US 71/7 | 4 became US 71 |
| US 6 | 7 | Des Moines | 1935-39 | US 6/28 | Merle Hay Road & Douglas Ave. |
| 10 | 11 | Oelwein | 1920-41 | 3/150 | 2-mile duplex |
| 16 | 17 | Jefferson | 1920-26 | US 30/4 | 8-mile duplex; 16 was with 6 (now US 30) |
| 17 | US 18 | Emmetsburg | 1926-69 | 4/US 18 | |
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Kossuth/Hancock county line, east of Wesley | 1969-present | -- | Change in 17/18 intersection due to Great Renumbering; N end of 17 |
| 19 | 20 | Clayton County | 1920-26 | US 18/US 52 | 15-mile duplex, Postville to Froehlig |
| US 20 | 21 | Holstein | 1926-35 | US 20/US 59 | 21 became US 59 |
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Waterloo | 1984-present | -- | First planned in 1950s; near N end of 21 |
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Keokuk County, west of Thornburg | 1940-present | -- | W end of 22 |
| 24 | 25 | Winterset | 1920-26 | 92/US 169 | 25 became 16, then 169 |
| 24 | 25 | Greenfield | 1926-27 | 92/25 | Exists on 1927 map, but may not have been around too long |
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Harrison County, west of Missouri Valley | 1967-present | -- | |
| 34 | 35 | Mapleton | 1920-26 | 141/175 | W end of 35 |
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Osceola | 1961-present | -- | |
| 35 | 36 | Sac County, north of Wall Lake | 1920-41 | 175 (and US 71)/36 | N end of 36 |
| 45 | 46 | Crawford County, north of Manilla | 1928-40 | 141/45 | N end of 45 after 46 took 45's E/W part |
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Postville | 1935-present | -- | S end of 51 |
| 57 | 58 | Grundy Center | 1920-26 | 14/175 | W end of 57 |
| 57 | 58 | Grundy Center | 1932-69 | 14/175 | W end of 58 |
| 57 | 58 | Cedar Falls | 1935-85 | none | University Avenue and Hudson Road |
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Waterloo | 1995-present | -- | E end of 57; N end of 58; interchange with US 218 |
| 58 | 59 | Traer | 1920-26 | 175 and 8/US 63 | 9-mile duplex north of Traer |
| 58 | 59 | Black Hawk County | 1933-35 | 175/US 63 | 58 had regained part of original route |
| 59 | 60 | Albia | 1931-35 | 137/5 | |
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Worthington, MN | between 1933 and 1941-present | -- | In Minnesota, but set on 'collision course' in Iowa after 1969 |
| US 63 | 64 | Prairie City | 1927?-34 | 163/117 | First routes of both |
| US 63 | 64 | Toledo | 1939-69 | US 63/US 30 | 64 duplexed with 30 |
| 64 | US 65 | Colo | 1926-36 | US 65 (/US 30) | 64 on 65's current route south of Colo |
| 77 | 78 | Richland | 1942?-80 | W15/78 | started in early 1940s, after 1941 map |
| 106 | 107 | Clear Lake | 1920-80 | B35/107 | small duplex with 107; highest and longest-lasting from 1920 |
| 150 | US 151 | Cedar Rapids | 1941-58 | none | Center Point Road and 1st Ave. E |
| 150 | US 151 | Cedar Rapids | 1958-84 | 100/Bus. US 151 | Collins Road and 1st Ave. E; S end of 150 |
| 210 | 211 | Story County, just south of Cambridge | 1931-80 | 210/R70 | S end of 211 |
| 234 | 235 | Marshall County, just east of Rhodes | 1931-66 | E63/S62 | E end of 235, later 245 |
Page last updated 4/9/06
