Iowa Highway 139 (Iowa 139) is an highway in northeastern

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. It begins at Iowa 9 east of Cresco and ends at the

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

state line, where it continues northward as Minnesota State Highway 139. It crosses the

Upper Iowa River The Upper Iowa River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 13, 2011 tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwest of the United States. Its headwaters rise ...

near Kendallville. The roadway has been a part of the state's primary highway system since its inception in 1920; however, it has only been known as Iowa 139 since 1930. From 1935 to 1980, the highway extended south to Protivin.

Route description

Iowa 139 begins at an intersection with Iowa 9 on the

Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

– Winneshiek county line east of Cresco. Iowa 9 enters the intersection from the west and the south, County Road W34 (CR W34) makes up the eastern leg, and Iowa 139 heads north. The highway curves to the east, fully entering Winneshiek County, and then back to the north. It snakes through into the

valley and goes through Kendallville. Rising out of the valley, the road curves to the north and remains in its heading until just before the

state line. It eases to the east and continues north as Minnesota State Highway 139.

History

The roadway that is now Iowa 139 has been a part of the primary highway system since the system was created in 1920. It was originally part of Primary Road No. 20 (No. 20), which was a north–south route that passed through Decorah,

Dubuque Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...

Davenport Davenport may refer to: Places Australia *Davenport, Northern Territory, a locality * Hundred of Davenport, cadastral unit in South Australia **Davenport, South Australia, suburb of Port Augusta **District Council of Davenport, former local govern ...

Fort Madison Fort Madison is a city and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States along with Keokuk. Of Iowa's 99 counties, Lee County is the only one with two county seats. The population was 10,270 at the time of the 2020 census. Located along the ...

, and Keokuk. In 1926, when most of No 20 became

U.S. Highway 61 U.S. Route 61 or U.S. Highway 61 (U.S. 61) is a major United States highway that extends between New Orleans, Louisiana and the city of Wyoming, Minnesota. The highway generally follows the course of the Mississippi River and is designated ...

(US 61) and US 55, only the length of the road north of Decorah did not become a

U.S. Highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

. A short

overlap Overlap may refer to: * In set theory, an overlap of elements shared between sets is called an intersection, as in a Venn diagram. * In music theory, overlap is a synonym for reinterpretation of a chord at the boundary of two musical phrases * Ove ...

of Iowa 9 was eliminated, which left the segment now known as Iowa 139. ''Service Bulletin'' (1925), p. 4. (Map) However, it would be another four years before it was called Iowa 139. From 1926 to 1930, the graded, dirt road was known as Iowa 130. In 1935, Iowa 139 was extended southward to Protivin. It overlapped Iowa 9 for through Cresco and then south for . The Protivin

spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to back ...

was paved in 1955, while the northern half of the route was not paved until 1957. In 1980, the Protivin spur was turned over to Howard County, where today it is CR V58.

Major intersections

References

Footnotes

Work cited

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139 139 may refer to: * 139 (number), an integer * AD 139, a year of the Julian calendar * 139 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 139 (New Jersey bus) 139 may refer to: * 139 (number), an integer * AD 139, a year of the Julian calendar * 13 ...