Reading the rural landscape along Western Skies Scenic Byway

Scenic byways are routes that encourage travelers to leave the busy highways and explore more scenic routes showcasing natural and cultural resources. In this series, Golden Hills suggests ideas of things to notice while you're exploring Western Skies Scenic Byway. 

See other posts in our 'reading the landscape along WSSB:

• Wind & water shaped the land along Western Skies Scenic Byway
• Reading the rural landscape along Western Skies Scenic Byway
• Navigating the road system along Western Skies Scenic Byway

​Town development & layout: 
While many railroads in the region are no longer active, their development facilitated the growth of most rural communities in western Iowa. Rail lines tended to follow the lay of the land, often along river valleys. When hills were unavoidable, cuts were made into the hills, and the rails were built on an embankment to reduce the slopes. Even railroads that have been abandoned for decades can still be seen from the ground and in aerial & LIDAR imagery due to the amount of earthwork required for their construction.  

Town streets and county roads, on the other hand, are commonly aligned at right angles with cardinal directions. Most small-towns have a main street that has historically been the center of commerce and civic activities. In many railroad towns, the “T-town” style is common, where the business district extends perpendicularly from the railroad where the train depot was once located. Buildings on the Main Streets fill the block, although some gaps my exist where decrepit buildings have been razed. The Main Street buildings are usually one or two stories tall, with the occasional third story, especially in larger communities. These areas often have wide sidewalks and are great walkable areas for shopping, dining, and other business.  

Railroad town layouts. From John C. Hudson's "Town's of the Western Railroads." Click image for source link.

Panama is an example of a railroad "T-town." Main Street (highlighted red) runs perpendicular to the railroad (in yellow).

According to  John Hudson's  Plains Country Towns,  a  Standard Railroad block was 300 feet square, 140-foot deep lot with 20 foot alley, divided into six 50-foot wide residential or 12 25-foot business lots. County seats, often the largest town in the county, were frequently laid out with a business district surrounding the county courthouse. As you drive through the towns along Western Skies Scenic Byway, see if you can figure out how each town was laid out and where the railroad was. 

As is the case across America, following World War II, development has shifted to a more suburban-style model both among housing, commerce, and industry. Today, even in small towns, significant growth has occurred along highways on the edge of town, decentralizing the business districts. New housing developments also follow more suburban patterns with larger homes on larger lots, spaced farther apart than residential neighborhoods in town. 

The city of Harlan's growth pattern reflects these trends. The historic downtown square in the northeastern part of town is surrounded by a tightly-organized, walkable street grid system. Newer development along highways 44 & 59 is more spread out and designed primarily for automobile use.

Satellite image & map of Harlan, showing changing development patterns over the years.

The types of business vary across communities as well. All businesses have a threshold population that depends on factors such as proximity to the nearest similar business. In general, larger communities have a greater variety of businesses, including stores and restaurants. Small communities often have a bar/restaurant, gas station, bank, church, and farm co-op, but the smallest communities may not even have those. Incorporated communities have a city hall and post office, which are usually located on the Main Street.  

Most communities in this part of Iowa peaked in population around or before 1930, and have had fluctuating or declining populations since then. Exceptions include those with easiest access to the metro areas, where people can live in a small town and easily commute to their metro jobs. Commuting has also led to an increase in people building new homes on acreages, which in some cases has led to rural population growth even while the nearest city populations decline. ​

At one point in time, the number of children on farmstead necessitated one-room schoolhouses on nearly every one-mile section. The old adage about ‘walking uphill both ways’ harkens back to this layout! Over time, these schools consolidated, primarily into the nearby small towns. Although many schoolhouses are long gone, some have been maintained as historic structures.  

Existing one-room schoolhouses along WSSB. Click image to view source map.

In recent decades, further consolidation has required multiple towns to have shared school systems, in some cases covering large parts of multiple counties. Sometimes these school districts have built new school campuses out in the country to serve multiple towns. 
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Many small, rural Iowa communities also have public libraries. Iowa, in fact, has among the highest public library visits per capita of all states! While you’re driving the Byway, stop in and check out the local libraries. They often have rare and hard-to-find books and documents about local history to help you learn about the local area. 

Iowa's public libraries. Click image to view source.

Churches are another a dominant feature along the Western Skies corridor. Most towns have at least one, usually multiple, churches, and many churches also exist out in the country. The Western Skies corridor was settled primarily by German and Danish immigrants, and many churches reflect this heritage. The German colonies in Shelby County each have a Catholic church. The area around Elk Horn and Kimballton has Danish Lutheran churches. 

As long as people have lived in the region, people have also died in the region. Native burial sites are typically difficult to see anymore, and many have been plowed under crop fields. Since European colonization, designated cemeteries have been the main form of human burials. Most towns and churches have their own cemeteries nearby. Some early pioneer cemeteries still contain small remnant prairies. Notice how many cemeteries you see while crossing the western Iowa countryside. 
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Although the entire Byway corridor would be considered rural by most people, it is technically anchored by the two largest metropolitan populations in Iowa. Harrison County is part of the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), with a population of nearly one million people. Guthrie County is part of the Des Moines-West Des Moines MSA, with almost 700,000 residents. At their closest point, between northeastern Pottawattamie and southwestern Guthrie counties, the two metro areas are less than 25 miles apart. Harrison and Guthrie are rural counties, but economic and social ties to the metro areas have led government agencies to include them as part of the greater metro areas. Shelby and Audubon counties are considered more rural. 

Rural-urban continuum codes for Iowa counties. Click image to view source.

Natural & Agricultural landscapes: 
Although most of western Iowa was prairie, scattered woodlands did exist, particularly along river valleys. Nearly all of these trees were cut for railroad, farmstead, and town construction as settlement began. Few of the trees you see today are pre-settlement, and those that are were likely cut at some point and grew back with two or more trunks. As you cross the landscape, note that there are often more trees and woody vegetation on north- and east-facing slopes. These areas have less sunlight and are slightly cooler and wetter, on average, compared to south- and west-facing hillsides. There are often more trees on the eastern sides of river valleys, due to the fact waterways provided an obstacle to prairie fires driven by prevailing westerly winds.  

Farmsteads often have windbreaks of coniferous trees along the north and west sides to buffer the cold winter winds.  

Within the agricultural landscape, corn and soybean fields are the dominant crops. Many of the steepest slopes, particularly in the Loess Hills of Harrison County and the rolling hills of southern Audubon and Guthrie counties, still have significant areas of pasture land.  

Iowa’s once-diversified small farms have largely been consolidated and converted to few crops. Livestock that were once commonly seed throughout the rural landscape are now mostly raised indoors in confined feeding operations and out of sight.  

Barbed-wire fencing is the most common physical divider between farms and paddocks. With fewer livestock on the land and increased mechanization of rowcrop farming, many fences have been removed in recent decades.  

On farms, common buildings include corn cribs, silos, and livestock feeder barns. Modern machine sheds are typically metal structures used for storing machinery. 

The Hausbarn is a unique historic site in Manning demonstrating a type of farm structure that combined the farmers’ home with a livestock barn. 
Barn quilts are a common sight, especially in Shelby County. 

The Poplar Rural District in eastern Shelby and western Audubon county exemplifies the settlement patterns laid out by local Danish farmers. This district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The nearby communities of Elk Horn and Kimballton make up the largest rural Danish settlement in the U.S. 

Tractors, combines, sprayers, other modern farm equipment are common along Western Skies, especially during the spring planting and fall harvest seasons.  

At certain times of year, you’ll see haybales dotting the pasture lands. 
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Aerial application of seed and chemicals has become more common, and you may see airplanes flying low over the fields. Municipal airports are still fairly common in rural areas, such as those near Missouri Valley, Harlan, Audubon, and Guthrie Center. 

Iowa aviation map. Click image to view source.

Vineyards were once much more common in western Iowa, but today you can see a couple along Western Skies, including near Elk Horn and Stuart. 

​You’ll still see the occasional old farm windmill, like the one included in Western Skies Scenic Byway logo and signage. Today, modern wind turbines are much larger and wind farms cover many square miles.  

Nearly every small town has at least one city park, with larger communities tending to have multiple parks in different neighborhoods. County and state parks and wildlife areas also dot the landscape, particularly in areas that are less suitable for farming. 
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Another thing you may notice while driving Western Skies Scenic Byway are county fairgrounds. Each county has their own—often, but not always, located in the county seat. Harrison County’s is located in Missouri Valley, Shelby County’s is in Harlan, Audubon County’s in Audubon, and Guthrie County’s fairgrounds are in Guthrie Center. 

Infrastructure: 
Today many of the bridges on state highways have been upgraded to modern standards, but if you venture off onto gravel and dirt roads you may see many other styles that were historically used. 

Iowa DOT has an historic bridges webpage identifies some of the types of bridges to look for as you drive Western Skies Scenic Byway.

Look for other types of infrastructure while your driving the Byway. Notice how some small towns still have more historic styles of street lighting while the highway lighting is more modern. 

Other common types of infrastructure and utilities are visible across the rural landscape. Power lines follow most roads. Larger transmission lines connect larger cities. Cellphone towers have gone up in strategic spots throughout rural Iowa. Tornado sirens warn residents and visitors of severe storms. Some towns still have a noon and/or 6pm ‘bell’ where the sirens sound daily. On the edge of most towns you’ll find a sewage wasterwater treatment facility. Sourcewater well fields provide drinking water to communities, and Regional Water systems have become more common. Still, many farms and rural homesteads have their own well systems. 

Counties typically have their own landfills, and usually recycling bins in town. 

​Rock quarries exist in several places across the Byway. Some have been filled with water and now provide recreational opportunities. Mining is generally not common, except for fill dirt. Guthrie County at one time had numerous coal mines. One site at Whiterock Conservancy in Guthrie County still has visible coal slag. 

Water towers and grain elevators are often the most dominant feature while approaching a small town. 

Some very small towns are unincorporated, meaning they lack a city government. Most towns, though, have a city council and mayor. Each six-by-six mile township has its own board of trustees too. Each county is governed by an elected Board of Supervisors. The city halls and county courthouses are where councils and boards meet to make decisions. 

Each county has an engineer and county road system, and strategically-located ‘county sheds,’ where machinery like snowplows are housed. Iowa DOT has similar ‘state sheds’ across the state. 

This post is intended to help you to see and understand the landscape you see while traveling Western Skies Scenic Byway. Take time to try and read the landscape while you're exploring western Iowa, and let us know what you notice!