Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
HIGHWAY 151
HIGHWAY 151. In 1839 the United States Army assigned an engineer named Tilghman to survey land between Dubuque and Iowa City for the construction of a MILITARY ROAD. The route would allow soldiers to move quickly in the event of an Indian attack. Once the survey was finished, Lyman DILLON was hired to plow a furrow to mark out the route for construction. The route, called "Dillon's Furrow," was built by Lucius Hart LANGWORTHY and James LANGWORTHY. The road was said to lead from Tim Fanning's log cabin tavern in Dubuque to the Lean-back Hall saloon in Iowa City.
Settlements developed along the road. Cascade, Anamosa and Monticello survived, while Ivanhoe, Bowen's Prairie and Pamaho were not on railroad lines and disappeared. The route was eventually taken over by the government which renamed it Highway 151.
In the 1920s the Iowa Legislature passed a bill allowing counties to sell bonds for financing state roads. In July 1929 bids were let for the paving of the highway.
In 1970 reconstruction of the road began that bypassed a section of the old road southwest of Key West.
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Source:
McCormick, John. "Highway 151-Past and Present," Telegraph Herald, July 9, 1970, p. 21