(1948-July 1, 2003)
WEST End: I-35 exit 123, Story County
Facing west on 221 (pictures are from 2002 and text in present tense unless noted)
This sign is after the interchange; today only an E18 shield is here. Notice the sign assembly at lower left, shown below.
Facing east on E18 (March 2002 / September 2003)
This sign is farther west than the end sign. Given its state, I'm pretty sure the March setup was from before 1980, when 221 was truncated at I-35 from US 69, 3 miles west of here. (There was no "Jct 221" sign, which is why I think it predates the end.)
Facing east on E18 (September 2003 / March 2002)
East of the above sign, Story County did sign the end of E18. The second "East 221" sign can be seen at bottom left. The September 2003 picture of the LGS and sign behind it shows that the "End E18" has been removed. (The left picture was cropped from the picture that had the 35 signs above. It helps show the improvement in digital cameras since I started. :-)
Facing north on 35 (March 2002 / September 2003 / March 2002)
A candidate for the "How did THAT get on a sign?" award, Zearing (pop. 614) is 13 miles away; Hubbard is 23. Hubbard is listed for this exit because it was the "odd man out" for towns on IA 175, since only four can be listed at a time. On southbound 35, Hubbard is listed at Exit 139 (D41). (Although I wonder whether there is any signage anywhere after either exit.)
Since the far right photo was taken, pranksters have liberally applied spray paint to the sign in the background, changing "Hog Factories: Poisoning Iowa" to "Hog Factories: Feeding Iowa" with "Class of 2004" over the skull and crossbones.
Facing north on 35 (September 2003)
With the 221 shield pried off, the E18 shield is centered on this BGS, but not centered above the towns.
Facing south on 35
Because of the Story City exit, the preliminary BGS is half a mile away instead of a mile.
EAST End: Between Ash and Walnut streets, Roland, Story County
Facing west on E18 / Facing east on 221
Highway 221 does NOT end at a four-way stop in Roland and continue as E18; instead it turns north and serves the business district on Main Street. However, westbound E18 only indicates 221 goes straight ahead. By the way, this intersection is a block east of R77.
Facing north, but heading east, on 221
A hypothesis of why 221 ends where it does has supporting evidence at 214: It went to the railroad tracks. Why it went to the railroad tracks, I'm not entirely sure. Notice that the street stops entirely in a block and a half.
Facing south, but heading west, on 221
A block and a half south of here 221 turns west for its journey to I-35. The pavement also widened a bit here (not shown).
Last seen: 2003 (2003 map)
All pictures by me: First, second, fifth, sixth, eighth, twelfth-fourteenth, 3/15/02; tenth and eleventh, 11/9/02; third, fourth, and ninth, 9/5/03
Page created 4/16/02; last updated 12/16/03
