Council Bluffs, Iowa
Encyclopedia
Mormon Trail
The Mormon Trail or Mormon Pioneer Trail is the 1,300 mile route that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled from 1846 to 1868...
and eventual northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trails
Emigrant Trail
The Emigrant Trails were the northern networks of overland wagon trails throughout the American West, used by emigrants from the eastern United States to settle lands west of the Interior Plains during the overland migrations of the mid-19th century...
is a city in and the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Pottawattamie County
Pottawattamie County, Iowa
Pottawattamie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 93,158 in the 2010 census, an increase from 87,704 in the 2000 census and is the second largest county by area in Iowa. The Pottawattamie county seat is located at Council Bluffs. It is one of three Iowa...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and is on the east bank of the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
across from what is now the much larger city of Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
. Settlers departing west into the sparsely settled unorganized parts of the Territory of Missouri to the Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
and the newly conquered California Territory through the (eventual) Nebraska Territory
Nebraska Territory
The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska. The Nebraska Territory was created by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854...
from Kanesville traveled by wagon trains along the much storied Oregon, Mormon, or California Trails into the newly expanded United States western landsafter the first large organized wagon trains left Missouri in 1841, the annual migration waves began in earnest by spring of 1843 and built up thereafter with the opening of the Mormon Trail
Mormon Trail
The Mormon Trail or Mormon Pioneer Trail is the 1,300 mile route that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled from 1846 to 1868...
(1846) until peaking in the later 1860s when news of railroad progress had a braking effect. By the 1860s virtually all migration wagon trains were passing near the renamed town. The wagon train
Wagon train
A wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. In the American West, individuals traveling across the plains in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance, as is reflected in numerous films and television programs about the region, such as Audie Murphy's Tumbleweed and Ward Bond...
trails became less important with the advent of the first complete transcontinental railway in 1869 but while trail use diminished after that, their use continued on at lesser rates until late in the nineteenth century.
The population of Council Bluffs was 62,230 at the 2010 census. Along with neighboring Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
to the west, Council Bluffs was part of the 60th-largest metropolitan area in the United States in 2010, with an estimated population of 865,350 residing in the eight counties of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area
Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area
The Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area is a metropolitan area comprising the cities of Omaha, Nebraska, Council Bluffs, Iowa, and surrounding areas. The Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area has a population of 865,350 . The metropolitan area, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget,...
. Council Bluffs is more than a decade older than Omaha. The latter, founded in 1854 by Council Bluffs businessmen and speculators following the Kansas-Nebraska Act
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those territories to determine through Popular Sovereignty if they would allow slavery within...
, has grown to be the significantly larger city.
History
The city was named for an 1804 meeting of the Lewis and Clark ExpeditionLewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
with the Otoe tribe
Otoe tribe
The Otoe or Oto are a Native American people. The Otoe language, Chiwere, is part of the Siouan family and closely related to that of the related Iowa and Missouri tribes.-History:...
, which took place near present-day Fort Calhoun
Fort Calhoun, Nebraska
Fort Calhoun is a city in Washington County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 856 at the 2000 census.Fort Calhoun Nuclear Generating Station is built on...
, Nebraska. The Council Bluffs became the generic name for the land on both sides of the Missouri River north of the mouth of the Platte River
Platte River
The Platte River is a major river in the state of Nebraska and is about long. Measured to its farthest source via its tributary the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which in turn is a tributary of the Mississippi River which flows to...
and northwestern corner of Mills County, Iowa
Mills County, Iowa
-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 15,059 in the county, with a population density of . There were 6,109 housing units, of which 5,605 were occupied.-2000 census:...
was then specifically called Council Bluffs.
The present city of Council Bluffs was first settled by Sauganash
Sauganash
Billy Caldwell, baptized Thomas Caldwell , known also as Sauganash, was a British-Mohawk fur trader who was commissioned captain in the Indian Department of Canada...
and his Potawatomi
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
band in 1838. He won the respect of Americans in the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, but was later persuaded to remove from what became Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Sauganash, the mixed-race son of Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
immigrant William Caldwell and a Mohawk
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
mother, was also called Billy Caldwell. The Potawatomi main settlement, which numbered about 2,000 people, became called Caldwell's Camp. The U.S. Dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
s built a small fort nearby.
In 1838-39, the missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
Pierre-Jean De Smet
Pierre-Jean De Smet
Pierre-Jean De Smet , also known as Pieter-Jan De Smet, was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus , active in missionary work among the Native Americans of the Midwestern United States in the mid-19th century.His extensive travels as a missionary were said to total...
founded St. Joseph's Mission to minister to the Potawatomi. De Smet was appalled by the violence and brutality caused by the whiskey trade, and tried to protect the tribe from unscrupulous traders. He had little success in persuading tribal members to convert to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, and resorted to secret baptisms of Indian children.
During this time, De Smet contributed to Joseph Nicollet
Joseph Nicollet
Joseph Nicolas Nicollet , also known as Jean-Nicolas Nicollet, was a French geographer and mathematician known for mapping the Upper Mississippi River basin during the 1830s....
’s work in mapping the Upper Midwest. He produced the first detailed map of the Missouri River valley system, from below the Platte River to the Big Sioux River. De Smet's map included the first European-recorded details of the Council Bluffs area.
"Imagine a great number of cabins and tents, made of the bark of trees, buffaloAmerican BisonThe American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
skins, coarse cloth, rushes and sodSodSod or turf is grass and the part of the soil beneath it held together by the roots, or a piece of thin material.The term sod may be used to mean turf grown and cut specifically for the establishment of lawns...
s, all of a mournful and funeral aspect, of all sizes and shapes, some supported by one pole, others having six, and with the covering stretched in all the different styles imaginable, and all scattered here and there in the greatest confusion, and you will have an Indian village."
As more Indian tribes were pushed into the Council Bluffs area by pressure of European-American settlement to the east, inter-tribal conflict increased, fueled by the illegal whiskey trade. The US Army built Fort Croghan in 1842 to keep order and try to control liquor traffic on the Missouri River.
In 1844 the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party
Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party
The Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party consisted of ten families who migrated from Iowa to California prior to the Mexican-American War or the California Gold Rush. The Stephens Party is significant in California history because they were the first wagon train to cross the Sierra Nevada during the...
crossed the Missouri River here on their way to blaze a new path into California across the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Beginning in 1846 there was a large influz of Latter-day Saints into the area, although in the winter of 1847-1848 most Latter-day Saints crossed to the Nebraska side of the Missouri River. Initially the area was called Miller's Hollow after Henry W. Miller
Henry W. Miller
Henry W. Miller was the first member of the Iowa legislature from the area of Council Bluffs, Iowa.Miller was born in Lexington, Greene County, New York. He was trained as a carpenter as a youth and In about 1828 he moved to Illinois and settled in Quincy, Illinois. In September 1839 Miller...
who would be the first member of the Iowa State Legislature from the area. Miller also was the foreman for the construction of the Kanesville Tabernacle.
By 1848 the town had become known as Kanesville, named for benefactor Thomas L. Kane
Thomas L. Kane
Thomas Leiper Kane was an American attorney, abolitionist, and military officer who was influential in the western migration of the Latter-day Saint movement and served as a Union Army colonel and general of volunteers in the American Civil War...
, who had helped negotiate in Washington DC federal permission for the Mormons to use Indian land along the Missouri for their winter encampment of 1846-47. Built at or next to Caldwell's Camp, Kanesville became the main outfitting point for the Mormon Exodus to Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, and is the recognized head end of the Mormon Trail. Edwin Carter
Edwin Carter
Edwin Carter - log cabin naturalist, was born in upstate New York around 1830. Carter lived in the Breckenridge, Colorado area from 1860 to 1900...
, who would become a noted naturalist
Naturalist
Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, worked here from 1848-1859 in a dry goods store. He helped supply Mormon wagon trains.
The Mormon Battalion
Mormon Battalion
The Mormon Battalion was the only religiously based unit in United States military history, and it served from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican-American War. The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 534 and 559 Latter-day Saints men led by Mormon company officers, commanded by regular...
began their march from Kanesville to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
during the Mexican–American War
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known as the First American Intervention, the Mexican War, or the U.S.–Mexican War, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S...
. This was where their practice of plural marriage
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
was first openly practiced. Orson Hyde
Orson Hyde
Orson Hyde was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles...
began publishing The Frontier Guardian newspaper, and Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
was sustained as the second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church). The community was transformed by the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
and the majority of Mormons left for Utah by 1852.
Emigrant Trail
The Emigrant Trails were the northern networks of overland wagon trails throughout the American West, used by emigrants from the eastern United States to settle lands west of the Interior Plains during the overland migrations of the mid-19th century...
and Pike's Peak Gold Rush, and entertained a lively steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
trade. With the completion of the Chicago and North Western Railway
Chicago and North Western Railway
The Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was a Class I railroad in the Midwest United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s...
into Council Bluffs in 1867, the transcontinental railroad
First Transcontinental Railroad
The First Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad line built in the United States of America between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and the Union Pacific Railroad that connected its statutory Eastern terminus at Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska The First...
in 1869, and the opening of the Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge
Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge
The Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge is a rail truss bridge across the Missouri River connecting Council Bluffs, Iowa with Omaha, Nebraska.-History:...
in 1872, Council Bluffs became a major railroad center. Other railroads operating in the city came to include the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.-Incorporation:...
, Chicago Great Western Railway
Chicago Great Western Railway
The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad...
, Wabash Railroad
Wabash Railroad
The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including trackage in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri and Ontario. Its primary connections included Chicago, Illinois, Kansas City, Missouri, Detroit,...
, Illinois Central Railroad
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...
, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington or as the Q, the Burlington Route served a large area, including extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri,...
and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
The Milwaukee Road, officially the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until its merger into the Soo Line Railroad on January 1, 1986. The company went through several official names...
. In 1926 the portion of Council Bluffs west of the Missouri River seceded to form Carter Lake
Carter Lake, Iowa
Carter Lake is a city in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,248 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Carter Lake is located at ....
, Iowa, but this did not affect the main growth.
World Radio Laboratories
World Radio Laboratories, WRL, was a major supplier of amateur radio equipment from the 1950s through the 1970s. WRL was located in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and run by Leo Meyerson and his family....
, Dwarfies Cereal, Georgie Porgie
Georgie Porgie
"Georgie Porgie" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19532.-Lyrics:The most common modern lyrics are:There are various theories that link the character Georgie Porgie to historical figures including George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham , Charles...
Cereal, Blue Star Foods, and Frito-Lay
Frito-Lay
Frito-Lay North America is the division of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets and sells corn chips, potato chips and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks, Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips,...
. During the 1940s, Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
operated a greyhound racing
Greyhound racing
Greyhound racing is the sport of racing greyhounds. The dogs chase a lure on a track until they arrive at the finish line. The one that arrives first is the winner....
track in Council Bluffs.
The late 20th century brought economic stagnation, a declining population, and downtown urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
.
Geography
Council Bluffs is located at 41°15′13"N 95°51′45"W (41.253698, -95.862388).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 39.7 square miles (102.8 km²), of which, 37.4 square miles (96.9 km²) of it is land and 2.3 square miles (6 km²) of it (5.70%) is water.
Council Bluffs covers a unique topographic region originally composed of prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...
and savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
in the Loess Hills
Loess Hills
The Loess Hills are a formation of wind-deposited loess soil in the westernmost part of Iowa and Missouri along the Missouri River.-Geology:The Loess Hills are generally located between 1 and east of the Missouri River channel...
with extensive wetlands and deciduous forest along the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
. Excellent vistas can be had from KOIL
KOIL
KMMQ is a radio station licensed to serve Plattsmouth, Nebraska, USA. The station is owned by NRG Media and the license is held by Waitt Omaha, LLC.KMMQ broadcasts a Regional Mexican music format to the Omaha metropolitan area....
Point at Fairmont Park, the Lincoln Monument, Kirn Park, and the Lewis and Clark Monument. Lake Manawa State Park is located at the southern edge of the city.
For the 1820s era United States Army outpost, see Fort Atkinson (Nebraska)
Fort Atkinson (Nebraska)
Fort Atkinson was the first United States Army post to be established west of the Missouri River in the unorganized region of the Louisiana Purchase of the United States. Located just east of present-day Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, the fort was erected in 1819 and abandoned in 1827...
.
Demographics
2010 census
The 2010 census recorded a population of 62,230 in the city, with a population density of . There were 26,594 housing units, of which 24,793 were occupied.2000 census
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 58,268 people, 22,889 households, and 15,083 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,558.7 people per square mile (601.9/km²). There were 24,340 housing units at an average density of 651.1 per square mile (251.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.76% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 1.05% Black
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.45% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.59% Asian
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.03% Pacific Islander
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 1.81% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.31% from two or more races. Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
of any race were 4.45% of the population.
There were 22,889 households out of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were married couples living together, 14.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.1% were non-families. 27.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.03.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,221, and the median income for a family was $42,715. Males had a median income of $30,828 versus $23,476 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $18,143. About 8.2% of families and 10.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.0% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.
Neighborhoods
Downtown Council Bluffs historically covered the area along West Broadway and adjacent streets from Old Town west to the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company Railroad passenger depot at 11th Street. Downtown developed as the economic rival of Old Town after the 1853 opening of the Pacific House Hotel by Samuel S. Bayliss through the 1867 completion of the Chicago and Northwestern. In 1899, the Illinois Central passenger depot opened at 12th St. and West Broadway.The area declined as the city's primary retail center after the 1955 completion of the Broadway Viaduct, 1970s urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
, and the 1984 opening of the Kanesville Boulevard U.S. Route 6
U.S. Route 6
U.S. Route 6 , also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, a name that honors an American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system, running east-northeast from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts. Until 1964, it continued south from Bishop to...
bypass. Remaining buildings of note include the 1959 Council Bluffs Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
and Federal Building at 6th Street, the 1986 "Red" Nelson Building, the 501 Main Building, the substantially altered 1909 City National Bank Building, and the 1968 First Federal Building. The 1947 State Savings Bank Building at 509 West Broadway and the seven-story 1924 Bennett Building at 405 West Broadway are both listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. The 100 Block of West Broadway is a historic district
Historic district
A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries, historic districts receive legal protection from development....
listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
and the 1892 Broadway United Methodist Church at West Broadway and 1st St. remains a prominent community landmark.
Old Town Council Bluffs was adjudged by Judge Frank Street in the 1850s as the area between West Broadway and Glen Avenue and East Broadway and Frank Street from Harmony Street south to Pierce Street. Today this area encompasses Billy Caldwell‘s settlement of Potawatomi
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
on Indian Creek during the 1830s and Kanesville established by the Mormons
Mormons
The Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, a religion started by Joseph Smith during the American Second Great Awakening. A vast majority of Mormons are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while a minority are members of other independent churches....
as Miller's Hollow in 1848. Kanesville was the home of Mormon leaders Orson Hyde
Orson Hyde
Orson Hyde was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles...
, George A. Smith
George A. Smith
George Albert Smith was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and as a member of the church's First Presidency.-Childhood:Smith was born in Potsdam, St...
, and Ezra T. Benson
Ezra T. Benson
Ezra Taft Benson was as an apostle and a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints .-Early life:Benson was born in Mendon, Massachusetts, the son of John Benson and...
and served as a major outfitting point on the Mormon Trail
Mormon Trail
The Mormon Trail or Mormon Pioneer Trail is the 1,300 mile route that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled from 1846 to 1868...
during the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
. The reconstructed Kanesville Tabernacle in the 300 block of East Broadway is operated as a museum by the LDS Church.
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
and downtown Omaha
Downtown Omaha
Downtown Omaha is the central business, government and social core of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area, and is located in Omaha, Nebraska. The boundaries are 20th Street on the west to the Missouri River on the east and the centerline of Leavenworth Street on the south to the centerline...
, Nebraska, west of 10th St. and the Broadway Viaduct, and north of 9th Ave. and the Union Pacific Transfer railyards. These neighborhoods of long, tree-shaded avenues are divided by the commercial corridor of West Broadway (U.S. Route 6
U.S. Route 6
U.S. Route 6 , also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, a name that honors an American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system, running east-northeast from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts. Until 1964, it continued south from Bishop to...
), once part of the Lincoln Highway
Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway was the first road across the United States of America.Conceived and promoted by entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, the Lincoln Highway spanned coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, originally through 13 states: New York, New Jersey,...
. This stretch of West Broadway has traditionally had several drive-in fast food restaurants and automobile dealerships with several grain elevator
Grain elevator
A grain elevator is a tower containing a bucket elevator, which scoops up, elevates, and then uses gravity to deposit grain in a silo or other storage facility...
s adjacent along 1st Avenue. West Broadway ends at the Interstate 480
Interstate 480 (Iowa-Nebraska)
Interstate 480 is an auxiliary Interstate Highway, a mere long, that connects Interstate 80 in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, with Interstate 29 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The portion of I-480 in Nebraska has been named the Gerald R. Ford Freeway, named in honor of the former President, who was a...
bridge to downtown Omaha. Iowa Highway 192
Iowa Highway 192
Iowa Highway 192 is a north–south highway in western Iowa. It has a length of . The entirety of its route is within the city of Council Bluffs. The south end is at an interchange with Interstate 29 and 80 in the southern part of Council Bluffs...
follows North 16th St. from West Broadway to Interstate 29
Interstate 29
Interstate 29 is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern United States. I-29 runs from Kansas City, Missouri, at a junction with Interstate 35 and Interstate 70 to the Canadian border near Pembina, North Dakota, where it connects with Manitoba Highway 75 via the short Manitoba Highway 29.-Route...
. Neighborhood landmarks include the 1890s Illinois Central Railroad
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...
Missouri River bridge, Stan Bahnsen
Stan Bahnsen
Stanley Raymond Bahnsen is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Nicknamed the "Bahnsen Burner," he once made 118 starts over a three year stretch while playing with the Chicago White Sox in the mid 1970s.-New York Yankees:...
Park, the Golden Spike
Golden spike
The "Golden Spike" is the ceremonial final spike driven by Leland Stanford to join the rails of the First Transcontinental Railroad across the United States connecting the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads on May 10, 1869, at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory...
monument, the Narrows River Park, Big Lake Park, the site of Dodge Park Playland
Dodge Park Playland
Dodge Park Playland was an amusement park formerly located at Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA. It was in operation from 1948 to 1970.- History :The Playland Speedway was originally a dog racing track formed in 1941, but was shut down in 1943. The dog-racing track was operated by Meyer Lansky...
, the Dodge Christian Church (built with the N.P. Dodge Memorial funds) and many examples of late 19th and early 20th century residential architecture. The West End was used as a location by film director Alexander Payne
Alexander Payne
Alexander Payne, born Alexander Constantine Papadopoulos is an American film director and screenwriter. His films are noted for their dark humor and satirical depictions of contemporary American society.- Early life :...
in the movies Citizen Ruth
Citizen Ruth
Citizen Ruth is a 1996 film that tells a story of a poor, irresponsible and pregnant woman who unexpectedly attracts attention from those involved in the debate about the morality and legality of abortion. The film stars Laura Dern, Swoosie Kurtz, Mary Kay Place, Kurtwood Smith and Kelly Preston,...
and About Schmidt
About Schmidt
About Schmidt is a 2002 American comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne, starring Jack Nicholson in the title role. It is loosely based on the 1996 novel of the same title by Louis Begley. Many of the scenes were filmed on location, especially in Omaha, Nebraska and Denver, Colorado...
.
Casino Row is located on and near the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
south of West Broadway and Interstate 480
Interstate 480 (Iowa-Nebraska)
Interstate 480 is an auxiliary Interstate Highway, a mere long, that connects Interstate 80 in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, with Interstate 29 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The portion of I-480 in Nebraska has been named the Gerald R. Ford Freeway, named in honor of the former President, who was a...
, west of South 35th St. and Interstate 29
Interstate 29
Interstate 29 is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern United States. I-29 runs from Kansas City, Missouri, at a junction with Interstate 35 and Interstate 70 to the Canadian border near Pembina, North Dakota, where it connects with Manitoba Highway 75 via the short Manitoba Highway 29.-Route...
, and north of Interstate 80
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...
along 23rd Avenue west of South 24th St. The opening of the Bluffs Run Greyhound Park in 1986 (now the Horseshoe Council Bluffs
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
Horseshoe Council Bluffs is a racino located in Council Bluffs, Iowa near Omaha, Nebraska. It has . of gaming space, 1900 slot machines, 62 table games, live greyhound races and simulcast horse racing, a WSOP poker room, and accommodations through Hilton Garden, the local Country Inns & Suites,...
was followed in the mid 1990s by riverboat casino
Riverboat casino
A riverboat casino is a type of casino found in several areas of the United States which use a riverboat as a casino. Several states authorized this type of casino to limit the areas where casinos could be constructed under a type of legal fiction.-History:...
s operated by Ameristar
Ameristar Casinos
Ameristar Casinos, Inc. is a casino operator based in Paradise, an unincorporated township in Clark County, Nevada, United States in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The company has eight properties in seven markets, including four in the United States’ largest 30 metropolitan markets.The company...
and Harvey's Casino Hotel (now Harrah's Council Bluffs
Harrah's Council Bluffs
Harrah’s Council Bluffs is a riverboat casino operated by Harrah's Entertainment. It is located in Council Bluffs, Iowa across the Missouri River from Omaha, Nebraska. Harrah’s Council Bluffs is the largest casino in the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area...
). New development in this previously industrial area has included the Mid-America Center
Mid-America Center
The Mid-America Center is an arena and convention center located in Council Bluffs, Iowa, just five minutes from downtown Omaha, Nebraska. The arena's maximum capacity is about 8,000 for concerts and 6,700 for ice hockey and arena football. The arena continues to provide free parking.It is the...
, several restaurants and hotels, an AMC Theatres
AMC Theatres
AMC Theatres , officially known as AMC Entertainment, Inc., is the second largest movie theater chain in North America with 5,325 screens, second only to Regal Entertainment Group, and one of the United States's four national cinema chains AMC Theatres (American Multi-Cinema), officially known as...
with an IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
, and a Bass Pro Shops
Bass Pro Shops
Bass Pro Shops is a privately held retailer of hunting, fishing, camping and related outdoor recreation merchandise. Bass Pro Shops is known for a large selection of hunting, fishing, and other outdoor gear.-History:The owner, John L...
. The appearance of legalized gambling in Council Bluffs became a major issue in neighboring Omaha where Mayor Hal Daub
Hal Daub
Harold John "Hal" Daub, Jr. is a politician and lawyer affiliated with the Republican Party.-Background:...
had declared Iowa a " state" in 1995 as horse-racing came to an end at Ak-Sar-Ben
Ak-Sar-Ben
Ak-Sar-Ben, or Aksarben, was an indoor arena and horse racing complex in Omaha, Nebraska. Built to fund the civic and philanthropic activities of the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben, the thoroughbred race track was built in 1920 and the Coliseum was built in 1929...
.
Twin City is located south of where Interstate 29
Interstate 29
Interstate 29 is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern United States. I-29 runs from Kansas City, Missouri, at a junction with Interstate 35 and Interstate 70 to the Canadian border near Pembina, North Dakota, where it connects with Manitoba Highway 75 via the short Manitoba Highway 29.-Route...
splits from Interstate 80
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...
, east of South Omaha, Nebraska, west of Indian Creek, and north of the South Omaha Bridge Road (U.S. Route 275
U.S. Route 275
U.S. Route 275 is a north–south United States highway. It is a branch of US 75, originally terminating at that route in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The highway's northern terminus is in O'Neill, Nebraska, at an intersection with U.S. Highway 20 and U.S. Highway 281. Its southern terminus is near...
and Iowa Highway 92). This neighborhood developed mostly during the 1960s for workers in nearby Omaha factories and at Offutt Air Force Base
Offutt Air Force Base
Offutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force installation near Omaha, and lies adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S...
. The Interstate 80 Exit at 1-B at South 24th Street includes two large truck stops, a Sapp Brothers and a Pilot Travel Centers
Pilot Travel Centers
Pilot Flying J is a chain of truck stops in the United States and Canada. The company is based in Knoxville, Tennessee where Pilot Corporation, the majority owner, is based. The company is owned by Pilot, FJ Management Inc., and CVC Capital Partners...
, along with several motels, the Western Historic Trails Center, the Bluffs Acres manufactured home development, and The Marketplace shopping area with J.C. Penney
J.C. Penney
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. is a chain of American mid-range department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. The company operates 1,107 department stores in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. JCPenney also operates catalog sales merchant offices nationwide in many...
as its primary tenant. The Willows on the South Omaha Bridge Road is an example of mid-20th century roadside motel architecture and Bart's Motel further east at South 24th St featured prominent neon signage, was used as a location in the motion picture The Indian Runner
The Indian Runner
The Indian Runner is a 1991 drama film written and directed by Sean Penn. It is based on Bruce Springsteen's song, "Highway Patrolman".-Plot:...
, and has since been demolished.
Manawa is the portion of Council Bluffs from the combined Interstate 80
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...
and Interstate 29
Interstate 29
Interstate 29 is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern United States. I-29 runs from Kansas City, Missouri, at a junction with Interstate 35 and Interstate 70 to the Canadian border near Pembina, North Dakota, where it connects with Manitoba Highway 75 via the short Manitoba Highway 29.-Route...
south to the city limits between Mosquito and Indian Creeks. The area was developed as a trolley park
Trolley park
In the United States, trolley parks, which started in the 19th century, were picnic and recreation areas along or at the ends of streetcar lines in most of the larger cities. These were precursors to amusement parks. These trolley parks were created by the streetcar companies to give people a...
by the Omaha and Council Bluffs Streetcar Company after the former channel of the Missouri River was "cut-off" during an 1881 flood to become modern Lake Manawa State Park. Later development followed the establishment of U.S. Route 275
U.S. Route 275
U.S. Route 275 is a north–south United States highway. It is a branch of US 75, originally terminating at that route in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The highway's northern terminus is in O'Neill, Nebraska, at an intersection with U.S. Highway 20 and U.S. Highway 281. Its southern terminus is near...
and the completion of Interstate 80 with additional growth during the 1990s. A variety of fast food restaurants, motels, big-box store
Big-box store
A big-box store is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store...
s, a TravelCenters of America
TravelCenters of America
TravelCenters of America is the largest "full service" truck stop chain in North America. The majority of customers are professional truck drivers. The corporate headquarters is located in Westlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland...
truck stop, automobile dealerships, and other businesses are located between Interstate 80 and Interstate 29 south to the state park. The Lake Manawa Inn hosts early examples of roadside cabin architecture. In February and March, bald eagles & red-tailed hawks can frequently be seen at Lake Manawa, particularly along the southwest shore.
The South End is bordered by 12th Avenue on the north, South 16th St. and the Union Pacific Transfer railyards on the west, Interstate 80
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...
and Interstate 29
Interstate 29
Interstate 29 is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern United States. I-29 runs from Kansas City, Missouri, at a junction with Interstate 35 and Interstate 70 to the Canadian border near Pembina, North Dakota, where it connects with Manitoba Highway 75 via the short Manitoba Highway 29.-Route...
on the south, and the South Expressway (Iowa Highway 192
Iowa Highway 192
Iowa Highway 192 is a north–south highway in western Iowa. It has a length of . The entirety of its route is within the city of Council Bluffs. The south end is at an interchange with Interstate 29 and 80 in the southern part of Council Bluffs...
) on the east. This neighborhood developed during the late 19th century with the railroads, especially the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.-Incorporation:...
, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington or as the Q, the Burlington Route served a large area, including extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri,...
. In the early 20th century much of the area was dubbed "Dane Town" or "Little Copenhagen" for the large number of Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
immigrants with several Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n and Mexican
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
families closer to the Union Pacific railyards at "Little Vienna". Neighborhood landmarks include Peterson Park, Longfellow School, and the 1899 Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific passenger depot, now the RailsWest Railroad Museum
RailsWest Railroad Museum
RailsWest Railroad Museum is a railroad museum operated by the Historical Society of Pottawattamie County at 16th Avenue and South Main Street and illustrates the history of railroads in Council Bluffs, Iowa.-History:...
.
The Oakland-Fairview neighborhood developed during the 1890s and features a wealth of 19th century architecture, including the Judge Finley Burke mansion at 510 Oakland built in 1893 out of Minnesota granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
. The neighborhood is also home to the Lincoln Monument. Located at the western end of Lafayette Avenue, the monument was erected in 1911 by the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence....
that, according to folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, commemorates the spot where Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
decided on the location of the transcontinental railroad
Transcontinental railroad
A transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...
in 1859. The monument offers expansive views across the West End in the Missouri River Valley
Missouri River Valley
The Missouri River Valley outlines the journey of the Missouri River from its headwaters where the Madison, Jefferson and Gallatin Rivers flow together in Montana to its confluence with the Mississippi River in the State of Missouri. At long the valley drains one-sixth of the United States, and is...
to Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, Nebraska. Nearby is the entrance to Fairview Cemetery, situated on the north side of Lafayette Avenue, which predates the establishment of the present city and includes the Kinsman Monument and the burial place of many early settlers, including Amelia Bloomer
Amelia Bloomer
Amelia Jenks Bloomer was an American women's rights and temperance advocate. Even though she did not create the women's clothing reform style known as bloomers, her name became associated with it because of her early and strong advocacy.-Early life:Bloomer came from a family of modest means and...
. At the east end of Lafayette Avenue where it intersects with North Second Street stands the Ruth Anne Dodge Memorial, the "Black Angel" designed by Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French was an American sculptor. His best-known work is the sculpture of a seated Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.-Life and career:...
, although the wife of Grenville Dodge is actually buried elsewhere in Council Bluffs.
Madison Avenue is the area of Council Bluffs adjacent to Exit 5 of Interstate 80
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...
along Madison and Bennett avenues, Valley View Drive, and the area between Iowa Highway 92 north to McPherson Avenue. Mosquito Creek
Mosquito Creek (Iowa)
Mosquito Creek, about 60 mi. long, is a tributary of the Missouri River in southwest Iowa in the United States. It rises near Earling, in Shelby County, and flows in a generally southwesterly direction, meeting the Missouri approximately 5 mi. downstream of Council Bluffs.-External links:*...
flows through this area which was originally notable for the Potawatomi
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
and now includes the usual roadside gas stations, fast food restaurants, motels, and the tracks of the Iowa Interstate Railroad
Iowa Interstate Railroad
The Iowa Interstate Railroad is a Class II railroad operating in the central United States. The railroad is owned by Railroad Development Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-History:...
. Plans for a shopping mall here first appeared in 1972 and construction finally began on the Mall of the Bluffs in 1985. A Sears, Old Navy
Old Navy
Old Navy is an American clothing brand as well as a chain of stores owned by Gap, Inc., with corporate operations in San Francisco and San Bruno, California. It is one of the first major corporations to house headquarters in the new Mission Bay district of San Francisco.Gap, Inc. was run by...
, and Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District in Manhattan in New York City. Barnes & Noble also operated the chain of small B. Dalton...
later opened at the mall which is owned by General Growth Properties
General Growth Properties
General Growth Properties, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust in the United States. It is based in Chicago, Illinois at 110 North Wacker Drive, a historic building designed by architectural firm Graham, Anderson, Probst & White...
with adjacent commercial development by Hy-Vee
Hy-Vee
Hy-Vee is an employee-owned chain of supermarkets located in the Midwestern United States. Over 100 of its supermarkets are located in Iowa, with additional stores in Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and now Madison, Wisconsin...
and No Frills Supermarkets. Residential growth east of the railroad tracks towards State Orchard Road and the Council Bluffs Municipal Airport
Council Bluffs Municipal Airport
Council Bluffs Municipal Airport is a general aviation airport located 4 miles east of Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States. Flight School and Air Charter Company, Advanced Air Inc. operates out of this airport...
and north to U.S. Route 6
U.S. Route 6
U.S. Route 6 , also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, a name that honors an American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system, running east-northeast from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts. Until 1964, it continued south from Bishop to...
has included developments outside the Council Bluffs city limits. Original anchor stores J.C. Penney
J.C. Penney
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. is a chain of American mid-range department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. The company operates 1,107 department stores in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. JCPenney also operates catalog sales merchant offices nationwide in many...
and Target
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
both relocated from the Mall of the Bluffs in 2008.
The Huntington Avenue neighborhood consists of early 20th century Craftsman
American Craftsman
The American Craftsman Style, or the American Arts and Crafts Movement, is an American domestic architectural, interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts style and lifestyle philosophy that began in the last years of the 19th century. As a comprehensive design and art...
homes that wind along the top of the Loess Hills
Loess Hills
The Loess Hills are a formation of wind-deposited loess soil in the westernmost part of Iowa and Missouri along the Missouri River.-Geology:The Loess Hills are generally located between 1 and east of the Missouri River channel...
passed the 1925 studio of radio station KOIL
KOIL
KMMQ is a radio station licensed to serve Plattsmouth, Nebraska, USA. The station is owned by NRG Media and the license is held by Waitt Omaha, LLC.KMMQ broadcasts a Regional Mexican music format to the Omaha metropolitan area....
, now apartments.
The historic Council Bluffs' Red-light district
Red-light district
A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...
was formed during the late 19th century, when at least 10 separate brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
s were located on Pierce Street east of Park Avenue with another three brothels down the block on the south side of West Broadway east of Park. One 1890 newspaper article referenced in Lt. RL Miller's "Selected History of the Council Bluffs Police" noted the "places of vice and corruption on Pierce" and Stella Long's above the Ogden House along with the "terrible den at the corner of Market and Vine" and Belle Clover's bagnio
Bagnio
A Bagnio was originally a bath or bath-house.The term was then used to name the prison for hostages in Istanbul, which was near the bath-house, and thereafter all the slave prisons in the Ottoman Empire and the Barbary regencies...
at 8th St. and West Broadway.
Economy
The liberalization of Iowa gambling laws was followed by the opening of The Bluffs Run Greyhound Park in 1986. By 2005 Council Bluffs was the 19th largest casino market in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, with revenue equaling nearly $434 million. Casinos include Ameristar Casino Hotel Council Bluffs, Harrah's Council Bluffs
Harrah's Council Bluffs
Harrah’s Council Bluffs is a riverboat casino operated by Harrah's Entertainment. It is located in Council Bluffs, Iowa across the Missouri River from Omaha, Nebraska. Harrah’s Council Bluffs is the largest casino in the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area...
, and the Horseshoe Council Bluffs
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
Horseshoe Council Bluffs is a racino located in Council Bluffs, Iowa near Omaha, Nebraska. It has . of gaming space, 1900 slot machines, 62 table games, live greyhound races and simulcast horse racing, a WSOP poker room, and accommodations through Hilton Garden, the local Country Inns & Suites,...
.
Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods, Inc. is a multinational corporation based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork only behind Brazilian JBS S.A., and annually exports the largest percentage of beef out of...
, Con-Agra, Grundorf
Grundorf
Grundorf Corporation is an American Loudspeaker manufacturers, Road case company headquartered in Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA.- History :Grundorf Corporation was formed in 1984 to manufacture and repair audio equipment for regional and touring musicians...
, American Games, Omaha Standard, Barton Solvents, Katelman Foundry, Red Giant Oil, and Griffin Pipe all have manufacturing plants in the city. In 2007 Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
began construction of a server farm
Server farm
A server farm or server cluster is a collection of computer servers usually maintained by an enterprise to accomplish server needs far beyond the capability of one machine. Server farms often have backup servers, which can take over the function of primary servers in the event of a primary server...
on the former site of the Council Bluffs Drive-in theater
Drive-in theater
A drive-in theater is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor screen, a projection booth, a concession stand and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers can view movies from the privacy and comfort of their cars.The screen can be as simple as a...
.
Arts and culture
Council Bluffs is the location of the Pottawattamie County "Squirrel Cage" JailPottawattamie County Jail
The Pottawattamie County Jail in Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States was built in 1885 and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. The building is a Squirrel Cage Jail, also known as a Rotary Jail.-History:...
, in use from 1885 until 1969, which is one of three remaining examples of a Rotary Jail
Rotary Jail
A Rotary jail was an architectural design for some prisons in the US Midwest during the late 19th century. Cells in the jails were arranged so that they rotated in a carousel fashion; allowing only one cell at a time to be accessible from the single opening per level.-Design and patent:The rotary...
s. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, it was built as a rotary jail with pie-shaped cells on a turntable somewhat based on Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism...
's panopticon
Panopticon
The Panopticon is a type of building designed by English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the late eighteenth century. The concept of the design is to allow an observer to observe all inmates of an institution without them being able to tell whether or not they are being watched...
. To access individual cells, the jailer turned a crank to rotate the cylinder until the desired cell lined up with a fixed opening on each floor. According to the Historical Society of Pottawattamie County, the Squirrel Cage Jail is the only three-story rotary jail constructed. Although the rotary mechanism was disabled in 1960 the building remained the county jail for another nine years. Similar, smaller examples of the concept can be seen in Crawfordsville
Crawfordsville, Indiana
Crawfordsville is a city in Union Township, Montgomery County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 15,915. The city is the county seat of Montgomery County...
, Indiana and Gallatin
Gallatin, Missouri
Gallatin is a city in Daviess County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,789 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Daviess County.-History:...
, Missouri.
Carnegie library
A Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929, including some belonging to public and university library systems...
) at Pearl Street and Willow Avenue, the Grenville Dodge Home is on Third Street, and the RailsWest Railroad Museum
RailsWest Railroad Museum
RailsWest Railroad Museum is a railroad museum operated by the Historical Society of Pottawattamie County at 16th Avenue and South Main Street and illustrates the history of railroads in Council Bluffs, Iowa.-History:...
is at South Main Street and Sixteenth Avenue. RailsWest is housed in an 1899 Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.-Incorporation:...
passenger depot later shared with the Milwaukee Road which was used by the Rocky Mountain Rocket
Rocky Mountain Rocket
The Rocky Mountain Rocket was a streamlined passenger train of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. Rock Island's train numbers 7 and 8 ran from Chicago's LaSalle Street Station to Denver's Union Station and Colorado Springs, Colorado...
, the Arrow
Arrow (passenger train)
The Arrow offered the Milwaukee Road's overnight service between Chicago, Cedar Rapids, and Omaha, Nebraska. The train ran with coaches, a tap-diner and sleeping cars. A separate section of the train including a parlor and tap diner continued on to Sioux City and Sioux Falls. The train was split at...
passenger train, and the Midwest Hiawatha
Midwest Hiawatha
The Midwest Hiawatha was passenger train service of the Milwaukee Road. The service was inaugurated on December 11, 1940 and operate between Chicago's Union Station and Omaha, Nebraska, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, through northern Illinois and Iowa and South Dakota...
. RailsWest features an outdoor display of historic train cars, including a Railway Post Office
Railway post office
In the United States a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery. The RPO was staffed by highly trained Railway Mail Service postal clerks, and was off-limits to...
car, two steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s, two caboose
Caboose
A caboose is a manned North American rail transport vehicle coupled at the end of a freight train. Although cabooses were once used on nearly every freight train, their use has declined and they are seldom seen on trains, except on locals and smaller railroads.-Function:The caboose provided the...
s, a Burlington Lounge car
Lounge car
A lounge car is a type of passenger car on a train, where riders can purchase food and drinks. The car may feature large windows and comfortable seating to create a relaxing diversion from standard coach or dining options...
, and a 1953 switcher produced by the Plymouth Locomotive Works
Plymouth Locomotive Works
Plymouth Locomotive Works was a US builder of small railroad locomotives. All Plymouth locomotives were built in a plant in Plymouth, Ohio until 1997 when the company was purchased by Ohio Locomotive Crane and production moved to Bucyrus, Ohio in 1999...
.
The Iowa West Foundation, the charitable wing of the local gambling industry, funded a public art
Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
planning process for Council Bluffs in 2004 that emphasized a 2015 goal for the city to become "a prosperous urban area known for its cultural enlightenment and public art collection."
To this end the city renovated Bayliss Park in downtown, which was re-dedicated in early 2007. It has a new fountain dubbed Wellspring. Its performance pavilion, known as Oculus, was designed by sculptor Brower Hatcher. This was the first installation of the Iowa West Public Art, a foundation established during the Public Art Master Planning process. The Iowa West Foundation then established IWPA along with public art website. In 2008 a 50 feet (15.2 m)-tall Molecule Man sculpture by Jonathan Borofsky
Jonathan Borofsky
Jonathan Borofsky is an American sculptor and printmaker who lives and works in Maine.Borofsky was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University in 1964, after which he continued his studies at France's Ecole de Fontainebleau and received his...
was installed at the Mid-America Center
Mid-America Center
The Mid-America Center is an arena and convention center located in Council Bluffs, Iowa, just five minutes from downtown Omaha, Nebraska. The arena's maximum capacity is about 8,000 for concerts and 6,700 for ice hockey and arena football. The arena continues to provide free parking.It is the...
; nearby sculptures were designed by William King
William King (artist)
William King is a contemporary American sculptor born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1925. His work spans countless media and usually revolves around the figurative portrayal of human figures. After attending the University of Florida, King moved to New York in 1945 and graduated from Cooper Union in...
and Jun Kaneko
Jun Kaneko
is a Japanese ceramic artist living in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. In 1942 he was born in Nagoya, Japan, where he studied painting during his high school years. He came to the United States in 1963 to continue those studies at Chouinard Institute of Art when his focus was drawn to...
. Albert Paley
Albert Paley
Albert Paley is a modernist American metal sculptor, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1944. He earned both a BFA and an MFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Paley initially worked as a goldsmith and moved to Rochester, New York in 1969 to teach at the Rochester Institute...
designed elements of the nearby South 24th Street bridge at Exit 1B of the combined Interstate 29
Interstate 29
Interstate 29 is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern United States. I-29 runs from Kansas City, Missouri, at a junction with Interstate 35 and Interstate 70 to the Canadian border near Pembina, North Dakota, where it connects with Manitoba Highway 75 via the short Manitoba Highway 29.-Route...
and Interstate 80
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...
at Council Bluffs.
Council Bluffs is also home to the Chanticleer Community Theater, TVI Filtration Corporation (a major supplier of discount automotive products), and Hamilton College (Iowa)
Hamilton College (Iowa)
The name of Iowa- and Nebraska-based "Hamilton College" no longer exists. All seven campuses are now named Kaplan University.Hamilton College was the DBA name of the Iowa College Acquisition Corporation, a company that owns and operates independent, private, for-profit colleges. Hamilton College...
which is now part of Kaplan University
Kaplan University
Kaplan University is the "doing business as" name of the Iowa College Acquisition Corporation, a company that owns and operates for-profit colleges...
- Council Bluffs.
The black squirrel
Black squirrel
The black squirrel is a melanistic subgroup of the Eastern Grey Squirrel. They are common in the Midwestern United States, Ontario, Quebec, and in parts of the Northeastern United States and Britain.-Habitat:...
is the city's mascot. John James Audubon
John James Audubon
John James Audubon was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. He was notable for his expansive studies to document all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations that depicted the birds in their natural habitats...
reported the squirrels in 1843 along the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
at Council Bluffs.
Sports
The Iowa BlackhawksIowa Blackhawks
The Council Bluffs Express formerly known as the Iowa Blackhawks are an indoor football team in the American Professional Football League. They have been around since 2004...
of the American Professional Football League
American Professional Football League
The American Professional Football League is a Midwestern United States-based indoor football league founded in 2003. The league consists of professional and semi-professional teams, with a few core teams that play a full 10 game schedule and other teams that play partial schedules. At the end of...
play at the Mid-America Center
Mid-America Center
The Mid-America Center is an arena and convention center located in Council Bluffs, Iowa, just five minutes from downtown Omaha, Nebraska. The arena's maximum capacity is about 8,000 for concerts and 6,700 for ice hockey and arena football. The arena continues to provide free parking.It is the...
. The Mid-America Center was previously home to the Omaha Lancers
Omaha Lancers
The Omaha Lancers are a Tier 1 junior ice hockey team playing in the West Division of the United States Hockey League .From 2002-2009, the Lancers' home ice was the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, across the Missouri River from Omaha. Until the 2001-2002 season, the Lancers played at...
from 2002 until 2008. The Mid-America Center, casinos, and Westfair Amphitheater east of the city on U.S. Route 6
U.S. Route 6
U.S. Route 6 , also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, a name that honors an American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system, running east-northeast from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts. Until 1964, it continued south from Bishop to...
have made Council Bluffs a growing entertainment venue.
Education
Public education in the city of Council Bluffs is provided by two school districts: Council Bluffs Community School DistrictCouncil Bluffs Community School District
The Council Bluffs Community School District is a public school district headquartered in the city of Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States.The district serves most of the city of Council Bluffs and the cities of Carter Lake and Crescent.-Senior High Schools:...
http://www.council-bluffs.k12.ia.us/ and Lewis Central Community School District
Lewis Central Community School District
The Lewis Central Community School District is a public school district headquartered in Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States.The district is located primarily in southwestern Pottawattamie County and serves the southern portion of Council Bluffs...
http://www.lewiscentral.org/. Most of the city is located within the Council Bluffs Community School District, which operates 14 elementary schools, two middle schools, two high schools (Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson High School (Council Bluffs, Iowa)
Thomas Jefferson High School is one of two senior high schools in the Council Bluffs Community School District.The school was founded in 1922 to service students on the west end of Council Bluffs....
), a career center, and Kanesville alternative high school. As of the 2008-2009 school year, district had a total enrollment of 9,246. The Lewis Central Community School District serves the southern portion of Council Bluffs and enrolled 3,047 students as of the 2008-2009 school year.
There are several private schools in Council Bluffs, including Community Christian School, Heartland Christian School, Liberty Christian School, Saint Albert Catholic Schools, and Trinity Lutheran Interparish School.
The Iowa School for the Deaf
Iowa School for the Deaf
Iowa School for the Deaf is a pre-K to 12th grade school for deaf and hard-of-hearing students located in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It serves students who live in Iowa or Nebraska.-History:...
moved to the south edge of Council Bluffs in 1870 along what is now Iowa Highway 92. It is open to all students in both Iowa and Nebraska who are younger than 21 and whose hearing loss places them at a disadvantage in the public schools.
Iowa Western Community College
Iowa Western Community College
Iowa Western Community College is a community college in Council Bluffs, Iowa, near Omaha, Nebraska. The college was founded in 1967, and offers 84 programs in both vocational and technical areas as well as in liberal arts. It is also home to a respected flight school for various aircraft related...
is located on the eastern edge of Council Bluffs near the intersection of Interstate 80
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...
and U.S. Route 6
U.S. Route 6
U.S. Route 6 , also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, a name that honors an American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system, running east-northeast from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts. Until 1964, it continued south from Bishop to...
and is the home of the radio station KIWR
KIWR
KIWR is a radio station broadcasting an Alternative format. Based in Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA, the station serves the Omaha Metro area. The station is licensed to Iowa Western Community College. The station has broadcast alternative rock since January 1, 1996...
.
Transportation
The city is well served by Interstate 80Interstate 80
Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...
, Interstate 29
Interstate 29
Interstate 29 is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern United States. I-29 runs from Kansas City, Missouri, at a junction with Interstate 35 and Interstate 70 to the Canadian border near Pembina, North Dakota, where it connects with Manitoba Highway 75 via the short Manitoba Highway 29.-Route...
, U.S. Route 6
U.S. Route 6
U.S. Route 6 , also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, a name that honors an American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system, running east-northeast from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts. Until 1964, it continued south from Bishop to...
, and the Loess Hills
Loess Hills
The Loess Hills are a formation of wind-deposited loess soil in the westernmost part of Iowa and Missouri along the Missouri River.-Geology:The Loess Hills are generally located between 1 and east of the Missouri River channel...
National Scenic Byway
National Scenic Byway
A National Scenic Byway is a road recognized by the United States Department of Transportation for its archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and/or scenic qualities. The program was established by Congress in 1991 to preserve and protect the nation's scenic but often...
. The Union Pacific, BNSF, Iowa Interstate, and Canadian National Railroads all connect in Council Bluffs and carry important freight traffic. MidAmerican Energy
MidAmerican Energy Company
MidAmerican Energy Company is an energy company based in Des Moines, Iowa. Its service area includes almost two-thirds of Iowa, as well as portions of Illinois, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Its territory is wholly encompassed by the territory of the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator...
has a large coal-burning power plant near the southern city limits.
Notable people
- Stan BahnsenStan BahnsenStanley Raymond Bahnsen is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Nicknamed the "Bahnsen Burner," he once made 118 starts over a three year stretch while playing with the Chicago White Sox in the mid 1970s.-New York Yankees:...
: baseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player. - Thomas BeerThomas BeerThomas Beer was an American author.Thomas Beer may also refer to:* Tom E. Beer , American football player* Tom Beer , American football player...
: author. - Christian BeranekChristian BeranekChristian Beranek is an American graphic novelist, actor, musician and film/tv producer.-Biography:Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Beranek currently resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico and runs Lead Pipe Entertainment. His graphic novel credits include Dracula vs. King Arthur and Silent Forest...
: writer/producer - Gladden BishopGladden BishopFrancis Gladden Bishop was a minor leader in the Latter Day Saint movement after the 1844 succession crisis. Bishop claimed to be the rightful successor to Joseph Smith, Jr.; from the 1850s until his death, Bishop led a succession of small groups of Latter Day Saints and converts...
: contender for LDS Church president after Joseph Smith's death. - Amelia BloomerAmelia BloomerAmelia Jenks Bloomer was an American women's rights and temperance advocate. Even though she did not create the women's clothing reform style known as bloomers, her name became associated with it because of her early and strong advocacy.-Early life:Bloomer came from a family of modest means and...
(1818–1894) 19th century suffragist. - Phineas F. BreseePhineas F. BreseePhineas F. Bresee was the primary founder of the Church of the Nazarene, and founding president of Point Loma Nazarene University.-Early life and ministry:...
(1838–1915) founder of the Church of the NazareneChurch of the NazareneThe Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the... - Sam BrownSam Brown (activist)]]Sam W. Brown, Jr. was a political activist, the head of ACTION under Carter, and ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.-Early life and education:Sam W. Brown, Jr. was born July 27, 1943 in Council Bluffs, Iowa...
: organizer Moratorium to End the War in VietnamMoratorium to End the War in VietnamThe Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam was a large demonstration against the United States involvement in the Vietnam War that took place across the United States on October 15, 1969. The Moratorium developed from Jerome Grossman's April 20, 1969, call for a general strike if the war had not...
, former ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
State Treasurer. - Jonathan BrowningJonathan BrowningJonathan Browning was an American inventor and gunmaker. Born in Sumner County, Tennessee, he started earning a living as a blacksmith and later switched to become a lock and gunsmith. He invented a 'sliding breech' repeating rifle also called a Harmonica gun between 1834 and 1842 while living...
: gunsmith. - Martin BurnsMartin BurnsMartin "Farmer" Burns was a world champion "catch-as-catch-can" wrestler as well as wrestling coach and teacher. Born in Cedar County, Iowa he started wrestling as a teenager and made money traveling around the Midwest wrestling in carnivals and fairs...
: championship wrestler, founder of mail-order "Farmer Burns Scientific School of Wrestling". - Walter CasselWalter CasselWalter Cassel was a renowned American operatic baritone and actor. He began his career singing on the radio during the mid 1930s and appeared in a couple of Hollywood musical films in the late 1930s. He made his first stage appearances in a handful of Broadway productions during the late 1930s and...
: opera singer - Don ChandlerDon ChandlerDonald Gene "Don" Chandler was an American college and professional football player who was a punter and placekicker in the National Football League for twelve seasons in the 1950s and 1960s...
(1934– ) NFLNational Football LeagueThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
footballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player. - Elizabeth Dean (writer) author — need Wikipedia article Elizabeth DeanMillvina DeanElizabeth Gladys Millvina Dean was the last remaining survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, which occurred on 15 April 1912. At 2 months and 13 days of age, she was also the youngest passenger on board the ship....
is Titantic survivor - Lee De ForestLee De ForestLee De Forest was an American inventor with over 180 patents to his credit. De Forest invented the Audion, a vacuum tube that takes relatively weak electrical signals and amplifies them. De Forest is one of the fathers of the "electronic age", as the Audion helped to usher in the widespread use...
: inventor. The "Grandfather of Television". - Pierre-Jean De SmetPierre-Jean De SmetPierre-Jean De Smet , also known as Pieter-Jan De Smet, was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus , active in missionary work among the Native Americans of the Midwestern United States in the mid-19th century.His extensive travels as a missionary were said to total...
: famed Jesuit missionary. - Grenville Dodge: US Congressman, Civil War General, Chief Engineer of the Union Pacific during construction of the transcontinental railroadTranscontinental railroadA transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...
. - Ralph Doubleday: rodeoRodeoRodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
photographer — need Wikipedia article - John DurbinJohn Durbin- Filmography :* Take Out ... as Hershel Kammer* Sabrina, the Teenage Witch** episode I Fall to Pieces ... as Ed* Angel** episode Quickening ... as Dr. Fetvanovich* The Breed ... as Boudreaux* Star Trek: Voyager...
: actor. - Frank F. EverestFrank F. EverestFrank Fort Everest was a United States Air Force general, and served as Commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe, and Commander, Tactical Air Command.-Biography:He was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 1904...
: Air ForceUnited States Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
general and Commander in Europe during the Cold WarCold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. - Art FarmerArt FarmerArthur Stewart "Art" Farmer was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet/flugelhorn combination designed for him by David Monette. His identical twin brother, Addison Farmer Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer (August 21, 1928, Council Bluffs, Iowa –...
: jazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician. - Addison FarmerAddison FarmerAddison Farmer was an American jazz bassist. He was the twin brother of Art Farmer.Addison was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He took bass lessons from Fred Zimmermann, and studied at Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music...
: jazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician. - William Harrison FolsomWilliam Harrison FolsomWilliam Harrison Folsom was an architect and contractor. He constructed many of the historic buildings in Utah, particularly in Salt Lake City. Folsom is probably best known as a Latter-day Saint architect. Many of his most prominent works were commissioned by The Church of Jesus Christ of...
: architect. - Joan FreemanJoan FreemanJoan Freeman is an American actress.Freeman was a child actor, having appeared in her first film in 1949 at the age of seven...
: actress, co-starred with Elvis in Roustabout. - Michael GronstalMichael GronstalMichael E. Gronstal is the Iowa State Senator representing the 50th District in the Iowa Senate. He has served since 1985 and is currently the majority leader and chairman of the Rules and Administration committee...
(1950– ) former Minority LeaderMinority leaderIn U.S. politics, the minority leader is the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative body. Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the minority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat, with their counterpart being of the opposite party. The position...
, present Majority LeaderMajority leaderIn U.S. politics, the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.In the federal Congress, the role differs slightly in the two houses. In the House of Representatives, which chooses its own presiding officer, the leader of the majority party is elected the Speaker of the...
Iowa SenateIowa SenateThe Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 50 members of the Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 59,500 per constituency. Each Senate district is composed of two House districts...
. - Hard-Heart (Wang-e-waha): Ioway Chief — need Wikipedia article
- Zoe Ann Olsen-JensenZoe Ann Olsen-JensenZoe Ann Olsen-Jensen is an American diver who competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics and in the 1952 Summer Olympics....
(1931– ) awarded the silver medal in diving at the 1948 Summer Olympics1948 Summer OlympicsThe 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in London, England, United Kingdom. After a 12-year hiatus because of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin...
. - Harry LangdonHarry LangdonHarry Philmore Langdon was an American comedian who appeared in vaudeville, silent films , and talkies. He was briefly partnered with Oliver Hardy.-Life and career:...
: silent movieSilent MovieSilent Movie is a 1976 satirical comedy film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976...
star.
- Jon LieberJon LieberJonathan Ray Lieber is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates , Chicago Cubs , New York Yankees , Philadelphia Phillies . He batted left-handed and threw right-handed...
: baseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player. - Carlos Martinez: football player.
- John S. McCain, Jr.John S. McCain, Jr.John Sidney "Jack" McCain Jr. was a United States Navy admiral, who served in conflicts from the 1940s through the 1970s, including as the Commander, United States Pacific Command....
: Navy Admiral, father of John S. McCain IIIJohn McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election.... - William PfaffWilliam PfaffWilliam Pfaff is an American author, op-ed columnist for the International Herald Tribune and frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books. He was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and is of German, English, and Irish origin...
: journalist. - Arnold PotterArnold PotterArnold Potter was a self-declared Messiah and a leader of a schismatic sect in Latter Day Saint movement. Potter referred to himself as Potter Christ....
: leader of an LDS splinter group and self-proclaimed Messiah. - Nathan M. PuseyNathan M. PuseyNathan Marsh Pusey was a prominent American university educator.-Early life and education:Pusey was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa to John and Rosa Pusey...
: educator, former president of Harvard UniversityPresident of Harvard UniversityThe President of Harvard University is the chief administrator of the university. Ex officio the chairman of the Harvard Corporation, he or she is appointed by and is responsible to the other members of that body, who delegate to him or her the day-to-day running of the university...
. - SauganashSauganashBilly Caldwell, baptized Thomas Caldwell , known also as Sauganash, was a British-Mohawk fur trader who was commissioned captain in the Indian Department of Canada...
or Billy Caldwell: PotawatomiPotawatomiThe Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
spokesman, son of William CaldwellWilliam Caldwell (ranger)William Caldwell , was a Scots-Irish immigrant to North America who became a soldier with the British Indian Department, . He fought against the American rebels in the American Revolutionary War, especially with Butler's Rangers, based near upstate New York...
. - Charles Roscoe SavageCharles Roscoe SavageCharles Roscoe Savage was a British-born landscape and portrait photographer who produced images of the American West. He is best known for his 1869 photographs of the linking of the first transcontinental railroad....
: photographer. - Hans SchlegelHans SchlegelHans Wilhelm Schlegel is a German physicist, an ESA astronaut, and a veteran of two NASA Space Shuttle missions.-Early life and education:...
: German astronaut. - Ernest Schoedsack: film director, including the original King KongKing Kong (1933 film)King Kong is a Pre-Code 1933 fantasy monster adventure film co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, and written by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman after a story by Cooper and Edgar Wallace. The film tells of a gigantic island-dwelling apeman creature called Kong who dies in...
and Mighty Joe Young. - Coleen SengColeen SengColeen Seng was the 50th mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska. She served as mayor from May 19, 2003 to May 19, 2007. She is best known for seeking payment for $32,000 worth of security expenses, incurred during the 2004 fundraising visit of Dick Cheney.- Political career :Seng was elected in 2003, beating...
: former Mayor of LincolnLincoln, NebraskaThe City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....
, Nebraska. - Jerry SmithJerry Smith (golfer)Jerry Smith is an American professional golfer. He has played on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour.Smith was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He played college golf at Baylor University. He turned professional in 1987....
, professional golfer - Ron StanderRon StanderRon Stander is a boxing referee and former professional boxer from Council Bluffs, Iowa, who was once a challenger for the heavyweight championship of the world....
: boxerBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, the "Bluffs Butcher" who fought Joe FrazierJoe FrazierJoseph William "Joe" Frazier , also known as Smokin' Joe, was an Olympic and Undisputed World Heavyweight boxing champion, whose professional career lasted from 1965 to 1976, with a one-fight comeback in 1981....
in 1972 for the heavyweight title. - Marjabelle Young StewartMarjabelle Young StewartMarjabelle Young Stewart was an American writer and expert on etiquette.Marjabelle Young Stewart was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa to Marie and Clarence Cullen Bryant . She, and her three sisters lived in an orphanage after her parents divorced, where her youngest sister died of a mastoid infection...
: etiquetteEtiquetteEtiquette is a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group...
expert. - WatsekaWatsekaWatseka or Watchekee was a Potawatomi Native American woman, born in Illinois, and named for the heroine of a Potawatomi legend. Her uncle was Tamin, the chief of the Kankakee Potawatomi Indians....
: niece of PotawatomiPotawatomiThe Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
Chief, married to Gurdon Saltonstall HubbardGurdon Saltonstall HubbardGurdon Saltonstall Hubbard was an American fur trader, insurance underwriter and land speculator. Hubbard first arrived in Chicago on October 1, 1818 as a voyageur...
and Noel Le VasseurNoel Le VasseurNoel Le Vasseur was a trader and merchant born in St. Michel d`Yamaska, Canada and died in Bourbonnais Grove, Illinois....
. - David YostDavid YostDavid Harold Yost is an American actor and producer known for his role of Billy Cranston on the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and Power Rangers Zeo.-Early life:...
: actor, the Power RangersPower RangersPower Rangers is a long-running American entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live action children's television series featuring teams of costumed heroes...
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See also
- History of Omaha
- Mormon TrailMormon TrailThe Mormon Trail or Mormon Pioneer Trail is the 1,300 mile route that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled from 1846 to 1868...
- Winter QuartersWinter Quarters, NebraskaWinter Quarters was an encampment formed by approximately 2,500 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they waited during the winter of 1846–47 for better conditions for their trek westward. It followed a preliminary tent settlement some 3½ miles west at Cutler's Park. The...
, Nebraska - Carter Lake, IowaCarter Lake, IowaCarter Lake is a city in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,248 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Carter Lake is located at ....
Further reading
- Warner, Dr. Richard and Ryan Roenfeld. Council Bluffs: Broadway. Arcadia Publishing. 2007.
- Gerber, Kristine with Ryan Roenfeld. Council Bluffs: 365 Days, 150 Years. Nonpareil Publishing. 2007.
External links
- The Historical Society of Pottawattamie County
- The Council Bluffs Public Library
- Official Council Bluffs City Website
- The Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce
- Council Bluffs Pride
- Downtown Council Bluffs
- OmahaWiki.org – a wiki website for the Omaha-Council Bluffs metro area
- Council Bluffs Forum
- Iowa West Public Art Council Bluffs' public art program
- City Data Comprehensive Statistical Data and more about Council Bluffs, Iowa