Thursday, September 8, 2011

Some History on the Missouri Trip

We're in Lebanon, Missouri right now. We arrived yesterday after a drive through Illinois, the southeastern tip of Iowa (Keokuk) northern part of Missouri and down the western part on US-65.

Macomb, Illinois, has two squares, one a park and one with the county courthouse. Plus Western Illinois University, a school that always gives out alma mater a hard time in sports. Those Fighting Leathernecks (a good Marine name) are tough.

By Carthage, Illinois, where Mormon founder Joseph Smith was killed (the jail is a museum), US-136 aligned with Il-110 for a ways. Above the 110 shield they had C-K-C letters. We thought that was from an old named-highway (before 1928) and probably stood for Carthage-Keokuk-and some other "C" town.

Last night on he internet, I learned that it stood for a new road that is called the Chicago-Kansas City Expressway, a proposed direct route between the two cities.

The reason part of Iowa sticks down into Missouri at the southeast corner is because that is where the Des Moines River joins the Mississippi.

Interesting History. --Cooter

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