Iowa Highway 105

Iowa Highway 105 (Iowa 105) was an east–west route which ran 34 miles (55 km) from Lake Mills to St. Ansgar in northern Iowa. Since January 1, 1993, Iowa 105 has been known as County Road 105 (CR 105). County Road 105 was the first county road in Iowa to not follow the standard alphanumeric route numbering system.

Iowa Highway 105
Iowa 105 highlighted in red
Route information
Length	34.23 mi[1] (55.09 km)
Existed	July 1, 1920–December 31, 1992
Major junctions
West end	US 69 in Lake Mills
	I-35 near Northwood
East end	US 218 in St. Ansgar
Location
Counties	Winnebago Worth Mitchell
Highway system
Iowa Primary Highway System Interstate U.S. State Secondary Scenic ← Iowa 102 → Iowa 107

Route description

CR 105 passes through the rural farmland of northern Iowa

Iowa 105 began in Winnebago County at the intersection of Lake Street and Main Street in Lake Mills. Northbound U.S. Route 69 (US 69) traffic approached the intersection on Main Street and turned north at Lake Street; Iowa 105 began eastbound on Main Street.[2] At the intersection today, Interstate 35 (I-35) is signed using CR 105 as a connector route.[3] Just outside Lake Mills, Iowa 105 entered Worth County. It met I-35 at exit 214, the northernmost exit in Iowa. Now located at this exit is the Top of Iowa welcome center. Seven miles (11 km) east of the I-35 interchange, Iowa 105 entered Northwood along Central Avenue. At Eighth Street, it intersected southbound U.S. Route 65. US 65 and Iowa 105 overlapped each other for two blocks, ending at Sixth Street, when US 65 turned south again.[4]

Iowa 105 continued eastward towards Carpenter. Just west of Carpenter, the highway crossed into Mitchell County. One mile (1.6 km) east of Carpenter, Iowa 105 intersected Mitchell County Road S70, which travels 6 miles (9.7 km) north and connects to Minnesota State Highway 105.[5] East of the intersection with CR S70, the highway traveled southeast towards St. Ansgar. It entered St. Ansgar along Main Street, before turning east on Fourth Street. Iowa 105 crossed a Canadian National Railway line before ending at U.S. Route 218 just 100 yards (91 m) later.[6]

History

Eastern terminus at St. Ansgar

Iowa Highway 105 was an original state highway designated in 1920.[7] During its 72-year-long existence, Iowa 105's route changed very little.[8][5] On December 31, 1992, most of Iowa 105 was turned over to Worth and Mitchell Counties. All of Iowa 105 in Winnebago County became Iowa Highway 971. Sections of Iowa 105 in Northwood and St. Ansgar became Iowa 972 and Iowa 973, respectively.[9] The rest of Iowa 105 was designated County Road 105 by Worth and Mitchell Counties. CR 105 was the first numeric county route designation since Iowa began giving county routes an alphanumeric designation, e.g. County Road E41.[10]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Winnebago	Lake Mills	0.00	0.00	US 69 – Forest City, Albert Lea
Worth	Hartland Township	10.27	16.53	I-35 – Mason City, Minneapolis
	Northwood	16.87	27.15	US 65 north – Albert Lea	Western end of US 65 overlap
		17.00	27.36	US 65 south – Mason City	Eastern end of US 65 overlap
Mitchell	St. Ansgar	34.23	55.09	US 218 – Osage, Austin
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

1. "Volume of Traffic on the Primary Road System" (PDF). Iowa Department of Transportation. 1984. pp. 186, 245–246. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
2. Highway and Street Map of Lake Mills, Iowa (PDF) (Map). Iowa Department of Transportation. June 29, 2006. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
3. Morrison, Jeff (January 1, 2007). "End of Iowa 105". Iowa Highway Ends. Archived from the original on February 11, 2005. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
4. Highway and Street Map of Northwood, Iowa (PDF) (Map). Iowa Department of Transportation. April 2, 2009. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
5. Transportation Map (PDF) (Map). Iowa Department of Transportation. 2009. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
6. Highway and Street Map of Saint Ansgar, Iowa (PDF) (Map). Iowa Department of Transportation. August 20, 2008. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
7. Hancock, Jason (February 21, 2007). "Iowa Highways: 100 to 119". The Iowa Highways Page. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
8. Road and Reference Atlas (Map) (1947 ed.). 1:1,077,120. Rand McNally & Company. 1947. pp. 42–43.
9. Morrison, Jeff. "A Comprehensive(?) Listing of the 900s — Page 4". Iowa Highway Ends. Archived from the original on November 18, 2002. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
10. Hancock, Jason (February 16, 2009). "County Roads of Iowa". The Iowa Highways Page. Retrieved December 27, 2009.