Jump to content
American Road Magazine
Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

Us 34 In Iowa


Recommended Posts

I was thinking about the Iowa section of U.S. 34 when I was watching the TV coverage of the Iowa Caucuses yesterday. I believe most folks who Blue Highways would have positive experiences on this great old road.

 

I have a blog post that I put up today that links to 11 photos from our Iowa U.S. 34 trip back in June 2004:

 

Windy City Road Warrior Blog

 

There are some pristine Portland Concrete sections out there for anyone who would like to get out to the southern Iowa countryside and find them!

 

Enjoy!

 

Regards,

 

Dave Clark

Windy City Road Warrior

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I enjoyed the Iowa pics (Any more shots of the thresher museum?) but I've got a decidedly non-Iowa thread-twisting question. The blog link accesses not just the US-34 pictures but your full Flickr gallery. Just beyond the Iowa stuff is a picture (Killups_Waco_1930-0825) of a fellow in front of an airplane that I assume is a Waco. Wacos were built not too far from here where an annual fly-in is still held. Can I ask what's your Waco connection?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I enjoyed the Iowa pics (Any more shots of the thresher museum?) but I've got a decidedly non-Iowa thread-twisting question. The blog link accesses not just the US-34 pictures but your full Flickr gallery. Just beyond the Iowa stuff is a picture (Killups_Waco_1930-0825) of a fellow in front of an airplane that I assume is a Waco. Wacos were built not too far from here where an annual fly-in is still held. Can I ask what's your Waco connection?

Denny:

 

I'll be happy to dig up some more thresher museum stuff if I can. As for the Killups-Waco picture, I know a bit more about the fellow in front of the airplane than about the airplane itself. His name was Arthur Killups, and he was a barnstorming pilot from LaGrange, Illinois in the 1920s and early 1930s. As a pilot, his greatest moment of flying glory came on August 24, 1930, when he won the men’s Class A Atlantic Derby, flying the 1500 miles from Miami to Chicago in just under 12 hours.

 

But Mr. Killups first came to my attention not for his flying but for the businesses he ran on Illinois Route 4 in the suburbs west of Chicago--and of course Route 4 would become U.S. 66 in 1926. First, he owned Lyons Motor Sales, which was a Hudson-Essex dealership located on Ogden Avenue in Lyons, Illinois. (In fact, this location was on Illinois Route 4 and 18 and it was on the section of Ogden that was original 66 from 1926-28. It was also U.S. 32 until that route was eliminated in the early 1930s and then it became U.S. 34--so we are back to the original topic!

 

Killups used his income from the car dealership to fund his aerial activities, and he also opened an airport on IL 4/U.S. 66 on Joliet Road in McCook, Illinois. The airfield was named Stinson Airport. Killups was a dealer for the Stinson Aircraft Corporation and thus named his field after the brand of planes you could buy there and to cash in on the name of the then-famous flying family. Stinson Airport stayed in business until 1958, when it closed due to expanded rock quarrying operations at the location. If you are familiar with the closed section of 66/Joliet Road in McCook and Hodgkins, well that is where the old airport was located (north of Joliet Road, east of East Avenue.

 

I actually had forgotten that the Killups photo was still on my Flickr gallery. I have a couple of articles coming up in a magazine later this year that contain a series of stories about pioneering aerial events that happen to coincide with U.S. 66. So, thanks for asking, Denny!

 

Regards,

 

Dave Clark

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is that the area where the road may or may not (I think lawyers are still fighting it out) have been undermined by the quarrying? I was somewhat aware that there had been an airport around there. I may even have read that it was named Stinson but I'm not sure.

 

Will those articles be in the Federation News or elsewhere? The airplane-66 connection definitely sounds interesting. Mr. Killups was obviously quite interesting all by himself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is that the area where the road may or may not (I think lawyers are still fighting it out) have been undermined by the quarrying? I was somewhat aware that there had been an airport around there. I may even have read that it was named Stinson but I'm not sure.

 

Denny:

 

Asked and answered! I just finished a post to my blog about Stinson Airport, the upcoming articles, and I also put 18 related photos on my flickr gallery:

 

Windy City Road Warrior Blog

 

Stinson Airport flickr Gallery Image Set

 

Thanks for the further inquiry!

 

Regards,

 

Dave Clark

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was thinking about the Iowa section of U.S. 34 when I was watching the TV coverage of the Iowa Caucuses yesterday. I believe most folks who Blue Highways would have positive experiences on this great old road.

 

I have a blog post that I put up today that links to 11 photos from our Iowa U.S. 34 trip back in June 2004:

 

Windy City Road Warrior Blog

 

There are some pristine Portland Concrete sections out there for anyone who would like to get out to the southern Iowa countryside and find them!

 

Enjoy!

 

Regards,

 

Dave Clark

Windy City Road Warrior

 

When you went to Omaha, did you cross the Missouri River on US 34 at Plattsmouth, or did you cross right at Omaha? If you went straight to Omaha, the next time you're in the area I'd recommend crossing the river on US 34. It still uses the 1929 toll bridge with two 10-foot lanes.

 

1497816866039645027S425x425Q85.jpg

 

The photo and one of the toll plaza on the other side of the bridge can be found at http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1497816866039645027bxyJRd .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...