Iowa Highway 22 was designated in 1926, and followed what is now U.S. Highway 61 between Muscatine and Davenport, passing through
Blue Grass; U.S. 61 followed the Mississippi River route at the time. The highway was extended to Thornburg in 1931. For years, several sections of Iowa Highway 22 was either
gravel or had a
bituminous surface. One of these sections — the section between Muscatine and Blue Grass — was paved in 1957, the same year U.S. 61 and Iowa Highway 22 switched routes; U.S. 61 now went through Blue Grass, while Iowa Highway 22 now followed the Mississippi River through Buffalo. The last segment — between
U.S. Highway 218 east of
Riverside to Iowa Highway 405 north of
Lone Tree, was upgraded from
bituminous to paved in 1988. ==Major intersections==