1853 Grenville Dodge Railroad Survey near Crescent
1853 Dodge Survey Party near Crescent
bigpigeon.us webpage Home > Resources >  Free Sites, updated by RAC 17 Jun 2022.

This is a collection of links to free web resources that I use in my research. From here you can also: Internal links to my own historical reports are distributed in different pages in my website.

Parts: 
  1. familysearch.org
  2. Pottawattamie County, Iowa on the Web
  3. Pottawattamie County Locales on the Web
  4. Iowa History on the Web
  5. United States History on the Web
  6. Additional Big Pigeon Links Information

==> Part 1 - familysearch.org
  • Access is free but registration is required.
  • In the list of Iowa databases below, database names are followed by record count and date last updated.
 
List of familysearch.org Iowa databases copied 11 Apr 2021:​
==> Part 2 -  Pottawattamie County, Iowa on the Web
​
​Part 2a - Pottawattamie County historical and genealogical research sites:
Part 2b - Pottawattamie County history museums:
Council Bluffs historic locations: Greater Omaha area history museums:
Part 2c - Pottawattamie County historical and biographical books: Commentary - Pottawattamie County historical and biographical books:: 
Part 2d - Directories for Pottawattamie County or for portions thereof: Commentary - Directories for Pottawattamie County:
  • ancestry.com has about 57 Council Bluffs directories but only the 1866 index is known to have free access.
  • Council Bluffs directories from the early 20th century include sometimes included rural residents.
  • The 1967 Pottawattamie County Atlas by Midwest Atlas Co. lists the majority of rural residents. However, as far as I know it is not available on-line.

​Part 2e - Pottawattamie County maps & atlases:

Pottawattamie County map from 1875 Andreas Historical Atlas of Iowa:  Commentary:
  • This is the highest-quality version of the 1875 Andreas map that I have seen.

Pottawattamie County atlases that have township land ownership plats: Commentary - Pottawattamie County atlases that have township land ownership plats::
  • On-line township plats often lack sufficient resolution. However, all of the above allow viewing a section of a township and thus are readable.
  • The Pottawattamie County Genealogical Society in Council Bluffs has most of these atlases. The nearby Council Bluffs Public Library also has some.
  • The content of the 1900 Inness plats seems identical to the content of the printed 1902 Ogle plats.
  • The 1919 Anderson atlas also has township directories listing most rural family members .
  • The plats in the 1930 Hixson atlas may be redrawings of the 1919 plats.

Current Pottawattamie County maps: Commentary - Current Pottawattamie County maps:
  • Thanks to Dennis Weeks for producing the index map, which shows all townships and incorporated towns. It appears in the Pott. Co. > Big Pigeon webpage heading.

Part 2f - Other Pottawattamie County sources:
Part 2g - Pottawattamie County vital records:
Below are some major on-line databases containing information specific to past Pottawattamie County residents. This summary reflects my own interests, namely the early history of rural northwestern Pottawattamie County, Iowa. 
Commentary - Pottawattamie County vital records:
  • Under Vital Records I include birth, christening & confirmation; marriage & divorce; death, obituary & cemetery.
  • Most on-line vital records are indices containing only basic information.
  • findagrave often has more information such as obituaries; parents & spouses; siblings & children.
  • There are various on-line lists of Pottawattamie County cemeteries, including some with maps. All such lists that I have seen have errors or are incomplete.
  • For some Pottawattamie County cemeteries, one can find on-line lists of burials. As to be expected, most such lists are incomplete.
​
​Vital records indices - Pottawattamie County Genealogy Society site - rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iapcgs: Commentary - rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iapcgs vital records:
  • Find the index you’re looking for in the Quick Links portion of the landing page.
  • The Marriage Record Index has marriages recorded at Council Bluffs 1902-1940 and at Avoca 1885-1921 and complements the printed marriage indices mentioned in the Resources Overview > Print Resources webpage. 
  • The Obituary Index covers years 1857-2014 and contains 236,392 listings. It does not include dates.
Vital records found at http://iagenweb.org/pottawattamie: Commentary - http://iagenweb.org/pottawattamie vital records:

==> Part 3 - Pottawattamie County Locales on the Web

Avoca locale websites: Griswold locale websites: ​Harlan locale websites: Minden locale websites: Neola locale websites: Oakland locale websites: Shelby locale websites: Walnut locale websites: Commentary - Pottawattamie County Locales on the Web:
  • Neola was founded in 1869 but the Neola centennial book may cover the years 1882 -1982.

​Non-Specific Pottawattamie County Websites:
==> Part 4  - Iowa History on the Web

Iowa Historical and Genealogical organizations:
Iowa Century & Heritage farms:
Iowa Gazetteers: Free Iowa Gazetteers available through google books: Commentary:
  •  In the 1884-1885 Gazetteer, Pottawattamie County information is mostly in Volume 3.

Other Iowa Sources: Commentary - Other Iowa Sources:
  • iowagravestones.org has photos of over a miliion gravestones in Iowa.

Links to key resources from area counties:
Harrison County, IA: ​Mills County, IA: Shelby County, IA: Omaha, Douglas Co., NE:
Gateway to Iowa Public Records (includes gateways for other states): Commentary on above gateway:
  • I just found this commercial site and am not sure if it is useful for on-line research. 

==> Part 5  - United States History on the Web

Geographical Atlases in the Library of Congress, 1920:
https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_List_of_Geographical_Atlases_in_the_Li/p7ZMAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=business+patrons+directory+of+pottawattamie+county&pg=PA363&printsec=frontcover

The Library of Congress's Chronicling America project: (old newspapers) Commentary - The Library of Congress's Chronicling America project:
  • chroniclingamerica includes the Omaha Bee (1872-1916) and the Missouri Valley Times (1899-1920).
  • You'll probably want to restrict a search to one newspaper by using the advanced search feature.

​Free nation-wide burial data: Commentary - Free nationwide burial data:
  • Findagrave contained about 180 million burial records as of May 2020. Many records include a gravestone photo, links to other family members, or biographical material.
  • Billiongraves is free, but requires registration.

​==> Part 6 - Additional Big Pigeon Links Information
  • None at this time.