(July 1, 1920-July 1, 2003)
WEST End: Stop sign, US 218/IA 27 and J40, Lee County
Facing west on 103
Photo by Jason Hancock
Facing west on 103
Facing north on 218 (pre-decommissioning)
Facing north on 218/27
The Harmony school district is nominally of Farmington, but the high school itself is half a mile west of the Lee/Van Buren county line on J40, about six miles north of Farmington.
These pictures were not taken in quite the same place as the nighttime picture, because around this intersection, the new four-lane was constructed without using the existing roadbed. A short piece of the old two-lane is in the northwest corner of this intersection as a park-and-ride.
Facing south on 218 / Facing north on 218/27
Left photo by Jason Hancock
Bentonsport is one of the Villages of Van Buren, and has the distinction of being the only town printed in red on the state map.
Originally, IA 103 was not scheduled to die in the Second Great Decommissioning, but Lee County was spared a worse fate - an IA 16 between US 218 and US 61 badly in need of repair. In an exchange decided near July 1, 2003, the whole of 103 was turned over while 16 was spared. I think it makes a little more sense in the greater scheme of things, anyway, since 16 is more equidistant between US 34 and IA 2 between 218 and 61.
But judging by the street sign, Lee County apparently wasn't quite sure what to do with the road naming-wise. The blue pentagons say J40, but the E911 markers don't. (Locals may keep referring to it as Highway 103 for the next 30 years. We'll see.)
*Original Number, Original End* (intersection obliterated in 2005-06)
EAST End: Stoplight, US 61/IA 2/Avenue H, Fort Madison, Lee County
This map doesn't show part of the one-way pair of 61 and 2 west of 18th Street, but all else is to scale. This is the easternmost extent of the Sullivan Line, a line intended to demarcate the Iowa-Missouri border (west of the Des Moines River) and the Half-Breed Tract (south of the line) in the 1810s. Unfortunately, Sullivan screwed up; the line is not supposed to be anywhere near downtown Fort Madison. In fact, the line migrates northward one mile between the west and east borders of Lee County. Avenue L follows the line, and 61 and 2 follow it for a while. Just east of 103's end, the line goes in the river and parallels the shoreline for a while. IA 2 crosses into Illinois on the right side of the map.
Facing south, but heading east, on 103
Photo by Jason Hancock
Closer to the intersection
Photo by Jason Hancock
The backs of signs below can be seen by the "Do Not Enter" sign. The oncoming traffic is northbound on 61/2, but to go south on 61/2, you need to turn right (hence the double arrow).
Facing north on 61, but heading east on 2 (pre-decommissioning)
Photo by Mark Roberts
Jason Hancock says "Overhead signs in Fort Madison indicate the point where US 61 and IA 2 make a turn eastward (again) after about two blocks running north-south." There are also shields on the sides of the road. Southbound traffic uses 21st Street, three blocks west. After IA 103 was decommissioned, the overhead signs changed.
Replacements for above signs (post-decommissioning)
Facing north on 61, but heading east on 2
Sign on left side of 18th Street at intersection
Sign on right side of 18th Street at intersection
Last seen: 2003
Pictures by Jason Hancock: First, sixth, ninth, and tenth, 3/31/02
Eleventh picture by Mark Roberts: Summer 1998
Pictures by me: Second, fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth, 4/20/08; third, 12/30/01; 12th-15th, 12/18/06
Page created 12/12/01; last updated 5/11/08
