Artist shows Iowa pride in Pocahontas

Mon, Jul 26, 2010 | by Michael Morain

The artist Daryl Bruxvoort showed off some of his handiwork in the back of pickup truck along the route in Pocahontas: a 99-county map of Iowa nailed made from old license plates.

He bought the old plates, ranging back to the 1930s, on eBay and nailed them to a plywood board, with a different piece for each of the counties. There map included specialty plates from each of the Iowa’s three state universities – in Story, Johnson and Black Hawk counties – as well as a smattering of plates for different causes, such as education and natural-resource conservation.

“In the ‘50s and ‘60s, you got a new plate every year,” said the artist, who lives in Elkader. “But around 1979 they switched to the standard green ones for a few years in a row.”

Bruxvoort makes maps of the United States, too, and sells them for $500 to $600.

– Michael Morain

Pocahontas, RAGBRAI

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