T-R PHOTOS BY MIKE DONAHEY — Pictured is the Marshalltown Welcomes You sign at the intersection of Iowa Ave. West and Iowa Highway 14 recently in Marshalltown. A similar welcome sign greets travelers on Iowa Highway 14 near Riverside Park.

This is the sixth in a series of articles about Marshalltown street names.

Today’s article details how the grand opening of the U.S. Highway 30 Bypass in 1997 replaced the former U.S. Highway 30 by-pass installed in 1950 also on Marshalltown’s southside.

That replacement led to the renaming of the heavily-traveled roadway as Iowa Avenue East and Iowa Avenue West.

A second feature reports on the unique transition of South Third Street immediately to South Sixth Street in front of the local MEGA-10 Park informally known as the “Caboose Park.”

In past weeks and months, other stories reported five Marshalltown streets and possibly one county road is named in honor of U.S. presidents.

Others reported on the streets named after prominent Marshalltown citizens – the town’s earliest developers Henry Anson and Greenleaf Woodbury. Another reported on how 16 streets had name changes — some more than once.

Readers who have knowledge of how streets were named, name changes, of others no longer in use, or new streets or avenues are asked to contact Times-Republican reporter Mike Donahey at medonahey@gmail.com

Iowa Avenue East

For nearly 28 years, Marshalltonians and visitors and businesses along its route have had the opportunity to learn the street was renamed Iowa Avenue East after formerly being known as the U.S. Highway 30 East bypass.

It begins where Iowa Highway 14 intersects with Iowa Avenue East at one of the busiest intersections in Marshalltown.

A wide variety of commercial businesses including a car wash, La Carreta Mexican Grill, Rose Hill Cemetery, Plumb Supply and the Adult Store among others call the street home. The street terminates at the intersection of 18th Avenue with the Sinclair Truck Stop being prominent.

Cecil’s Café at 13 Iowa Ave. E. was once one of the best-known businesses bordering the roadway. It closed abruptly in 2018.

The late Cecil Johnson opened it in 1960. Later, his late son Gordon “Gordo” Johnson took over management duties and he operated it for many years before selling it to an employee.

Gordo Johnson was a marine veteran, a successful businessman and life-long promoter of Marshalltown. No one was a stranger.

His greeting and smile were sincere, and his handshakes were enthusiastic and firm. He was elected to the Marshalltown city council and later, to the Marshall County Board of Supervisors.

Additionally, he and his wife were partners with others in the former Iowa International Raceway in the Marshalltown Industrial Park.

The raceway attracted a number of nationally known go-kart and automotive enthusiasts including prominent Des Moines developer Bill Knapp. Others attended the track’s numerous rallies – including one for Corvettes — and other events held during weekends in spring, summer and fall.

The roadway property was later sold to Alliant Energy, also a tenant in the industrial park. Cecil’s Café did a robust business in its halcyon days.

During breakfasts and lunch hours, it was difficult to find a parking spot near the building. And it was home to many a local civic club, which hosted their weekly and monthly meetings.

One was the Marshall County Pachyderm Herd club which held their weekly Friday meetings in one of two meeting rooms at the eatery. Fittingly, numerous Republican presidential hopefuls stopped.

They presented their bona-fides to convince attendees they were worthy to hold the nation’s highest office when the semi-influential Iowa Caucus was held every four years. Former Texas governor Rick Perry was one of many in 2016.

Another well-known politician was former Iowa fourth district congressman Steve King, who once pinch-hit for Texas senator Ted Cruz, when the latter was prevented from attending a scheduled appearance due to winter weather conditions also in 2016.

A giant white chicken made of metal or plastic with a distinctive black top hat and red wattles was once perched majestically on the café’s rooftop and served as an iconic symbol. It disappeared shortly after the famed café closed.

Film director Joseph Kosinski, a Marshalltown High School graduate who spent his formative years here, brought international attention to Cecil’s Café when it was mentioned in a scene during his critically acclaimed and commercially successful film “Top Gun: Maverick” in 2022.

Kosinski and his creative team are currently enjoying the positive reviews from his latest film “F1.” The modest, one-story building which saw thousands pass through its modest entrance now sits vacant next to a busy truck stop and gas station.

Like the famed chicken, many of its booths and other fixtures have been removed. Its windows are covered with layers of dirt and grime, and the parking lot is full of litter.

Iowa Avenue West

The vibrant street is home to one of two Marshalltown’s welcome signs and a wide variety of hospitality-based businesses and more.

Included are the Hampton Inn & Suites, Holiday Inn Express, Casey’s, Taco Bell, Culver’s, AmericInn, Central Iowa Farm Store, Van Metre & Associates, Stalzers Home Furniture & Sleep Store, Menards, Theisens, Mitchell Family Funeral Home, Scotter Tire & Auto, OJ’s Diner, Animal Medical Clinic and more.

The United Auto Workers Local 893 headquarters — once The Captain’s Galley restaurant — is on the street’s north side next to the Central Iowa Farm Store.

Also on Iowa Avenue West north side is a giant pink flamingo, considered a Marshalltown icon in some circles, identifying the vacant Pink Flamingo Motel. It is for sale.

South 3rd Street/South 6th Street

Perhaps unbeknownst to the hundreds if not thousands of motorists who use this roadway daily is that South 3rd Street abruptly ends and immediately becomes South 6th Street.

This transformation is signed and occurs on the west side of the popular MEGA-10 Park and immediately before north and south bound drivers go over the Linn Creek viaduct.

City Administrator Carol Webb said that it is her understanding this designation was done years ago to align city streets with increased development on its south side.