Ask Mr. Answer Person: What's the story behind the cat paintings on the water caps of the dike?

Posted: Tue, Jan 15, 2019 10:39 AM

The cat face paintings are on the dike water caps northwest of the highway 9 and 52 intersection

(Sharon e-mails: "Since I was a child I've loved seeing these cat faces painted on the water caps of the dike. When did they first paint the cats and who do we get to thank for bringing joy to so many for so long?)

Mr. Answer Person says: "The cat faces have been there for quite awhile. The dike they're on is right next to the Beard family farm on Highway 9, just out of town toward Cresco. Beard family member John Beard says they were painted in the 1950s by his mother, Killy, who thought the hinges on the flood gates looked like car ears, which led her to create the cat paintings.

There is still one remaining mystery about the cat faces—they've been repainted several times over the years, but John Beard says he doesn't know who has done that!"