Mormon Trails Association Gets $112,000

Daily Iowegian - 25 April 1995

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  The Iowa Mormon Trails Association, a non-profit historic preservation organization, has received $112,000 from federal ISTEA funds.

  The IMTA has worked for over a year to research, develop and market the Mormon Pioneer Trail across southern Iowa.  This trail has been designated a National Historical Trail by the National Park Service.

  The project funded by ISTEA is a three-tiered one. First, the funding will be used for consistent, statewide signage across the trail.  A sign will be placed anywhere that the trail crosses a county road. This will make it much easier to follow the actual trail route as closely as possible.

  Currently, the NPS has put signs on a designated auto tour route on state highways.  These signs are going to be replaced with bigger, more noticeable ones this spring.  The IMTA is also working on placing directional signs in key locations for specific trail sites.

  The second portion of the project involves funding for a statewide brochure/map of the Mormon Pioneer Trail.  It is planned as an 11 by 17-inch full color, glossy brochure which will be put at Iowa Welcome Centers, sites in Nauvoo, Ill., and Council Bluffs/Omaha, Neb. and other key locations.  The brochure will highlight the locations of signs and of wayside exhibits being developed by the IMTA all along the trail.

  The third phase will involve wayside exhibits with interpretive panels. The NPS has partially funded enough interpretive panels for each of the 12 counties crossed by the Mormon Pioneer Trail to have one panel. 

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  For detailed information:  Mormon Trails Across Appanoose County, Iowa, edited by Willis M. Heusinkveld [Centerville, IA: Appanoose County Mormon Trail Association, 1995]