(37) Keokuk County 10.7.2023

We knew we had to do Keokuk County when the What Cheer Flea Market was happening, and that is how we started our day in Keokuk County! We actually tried to stop in Coal Creek on our way to What Cheer because it is a “ghost town” in Keokuk County, but when we went there, there were literally only 3 houses left and we felt a little weird taking a picture! Back in it’s day Keokuk County was a booming coal mining area, but after the coal industry went into decline in the late 1800’s Keokuk County has never seen a rise in population.

We spent the whole morning perusing the What Cheer Flea Market. We definitely didn’t make it through all of it, and somehow, we came out empty-handed, but we enjoyed looking through all junk!

 

We drove through Delta to look at the Burr Arch Truss covered bridge only to get there and find out it was burned down by arson in 2003 (somehow, we missed that in our research!). All we found was this replica instead 😊

We then made our way to Sigourney where we perused the town square, got some lunch at the Copper Lantern and did some shopping at the antique store.

 

We got some ice cream at the Walk-“ER” 

We then headed to the Keokuk County Historical Society Museum where we got a tour and learned about the local history.  

While on our tour we inquired about the Carnegie Library in town, and our "tour guide" informed us that a local woman had bought it and was renovating it to turn it into a house and that he could take us there to see it! We don’t have any pictures of the inside because we want to respect her privacy, but it was SO neat as she kept some of the original bookcases and other features of the library. She also isn’t able to build the walls all the way to the ceiling because she has to keep the upper windows exposed.

On our way out of town we had to stop at the Yenruogis Park only because if you notice it’s Sigourney spelled backwards- that’s clever! It only felt right to pose backwards for this pic :)

 

We will say it looked like a cute county park and has camping sites available and a little lake.

We made *our way through some of the smaller towns on our way home, but we honestly didn’t take any pictures because there really wasn’t much to see!

 

Return Rating: 2 

Other things to see/do:

• County Fair and County Expo—What Cheer
• Opera House—What Cheer
• Double Depot—Hedrick
• Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church--Harper
• Lancaster School—Sigourney
• Site of Talley’s War—South English