Council Bluffs, Iowa

Council Bluffs, Iowa
FIPS code		19-16860
GNIS feature ID	2393650[4]
Website	councilbluffs-ia.gov

Council Bluffs is a city in and the

to California was connected to the existing U.S. rail network at Council Bluffs.

History

1804–1843: Pottawattamie reservation and Caldwell's Camp

The first Council Bluff (which is singular) was on the Nebraska side of the river at

The

clearing the way for the city of Chicago to incorporate.

The largest group of Native Americans who moved to the area were the Pottawatomi, who were led by their chief Sauganash ("one who speaks English"), the son of the British loyalist William Caldwell, who founded Canadian communities on the south side of the Detroit River, and a Pottawatomi woman.

Seeking to avoid confrontation with the Sioux, who were natives of the Council Bluffs area, the 1,000 to 2,000 Pottawattamie initially had settled east of the Missouri River in Indian territory between Leavenworth, Kansas and St. Joseph, Missouri. When the area was bought from Ioway, Sac and Fox tribes in the Platte Purchase and part of Missouri in 1837, Sauganash and the Pottawatomi were forced to move to their assigned reservation in Council Bluffs. Sauganash's English name was Billy Caldwell, and his village was called Caldwell's Camp. The tribe were sometimes called the Bluff Indians. U.S. Army Dragoons built a small fort nearby.

In 1838–39, the

During this time, De Smet contributed to Joseph Nicollet's work in mapping the upper midwest. De Smet produced the first European-recorded, detailed map of the Council Bluffs area; it detailed the Missouri River valley system, from below the Platte River to the Big Sioux River.^[11][12]

Sauganash, near the site of Kanesville, later named Council Bluffs.^[11]

De Smet wrote an early description of the Potawatomi settlement:

Imagine a great number of cabins and tents, made of the bark of trees,

buffalo skins, coarse cloth, rushes and sods, all of a mournful and funereal 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.^[13]

As more Native Americans were pushed into the Council Bluffs area by pressure of European-American settlement to the east, intertribal 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. However the fort was destroyed in a flood later in the same year.^[14]

By 1846 the Pottawatomi were forced to move again to a new reservation at Osawatomie, Kansas.

1844–1851: Mormon community of Kanesville

In 1844, the

By 1848, the town had become known as Kanesville, named for benefactor Thomas L. Kane who had helped negotiate federal permission in Washington, D.C. for the Mormons to use Indian land along the Missouri as their winter encampment of 1846–47. Built next to or at Caldwell's Camp, Kanesville became the main outfitting point for the Mormon Exodus to Utah; it is the recognized head end of the Mormon Trail.

, worked here from 1848 to 1859 in a dry goods store. He helped supply Mormon wagon trains.

Settlers who departed west from Kanesville into the sparsely settled,

into the newly expanded United States western lands.

After the first large organized wagon trains left Missouri in 1841, the annual migration waves began in earnest by the spring of 1843. They built up thereafter, with the opening of the Mormon Trail (1846) and peaked in the later 1860s, when news of the progress of railroads had a braking effect on the number of travelers.

By the 1860s, virtually all migration wagon trains passed near the town now named Council Bluffs. The wagon train 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

, and the majority of Mormons left for Utah by 1852.

Transcontinental Railroad

.

1852–1900: Council Bluffs and the beginning of the railroad era

In 1852, the town was renamed Council Bluffs. It continued as a major outfitting point on the Missouri River for the

trade.

In 1863 an anonymous soldier on his way to fight the

Dakota Uprising

passed through Council Bluffs describing it as a hardscrabble town:

At Council Bluffs our arrival was greeted by a few rounds from the old six pounder, while the streets were lined with a curiosity-seeking class of humanity, among which could easily be traced the physiognomy of bipeds of almost every clime—all here to make money. The cute Yankee whittling out wooden hams to sell to Pikes' Peak emigrants, the Chatham Street peddler, with his stock of "oht clo's," ready to swear that he had them manufactured expressly for his western trade; the mock auctioneer, the jeweler with his pinchback jewelry of all kinds; horse and mule jockeys, gamblers, thieves, assassin—and the mischief knows what not, rather than what is—all congregated in this little 7×9 city, stuck in a great ravine, 3 miles from the Missouri River. When you understand that this is the great entrepot for emigration across the Plains, you will readily comprehend that this is a good point at which to "take (a) stranger in," and it is done almost every day. Our stay at Council Bluffs was very short (two days) and I think no one was sorry to leave it.

— Soldier of the 6th Iowa Cavalry, Linn County Register, 15 August 1863, p.2

Council Bluffs (rather than Omaha) was designated by President

opened (railroad cars had to be ferried across the Missouri River from Council Bluffs to Omaha in the early days of the Transcontinental).

The

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad

.

1901–present

In 1926, the portion of Council Bluffs west of the Missouri River seceded to form Carter Lake, Iowa. Carter Lake had been cut off by a change in the course of the Missouri River.

By the 1930s, Council Bluffs had grown into the country's fifth largest rail center. The railroads helped the city become a center for grain storage, and massive

track in Council Bluffs.

Restructuring of the railroad industry caused the loss of many jobs after the mid-20th century, as did the restructuring of heavy industry. Many jobs moved offshore. By the late 20th century the city and region were suffering economic stagnation and a declining population, as they struggled to develop a new economy. Downtown urban renewal was undertaken to create a new future while emphasizing the strengths of heritage.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 43.62 square miles (112.98 km²), of which 40.97 square miles (106.11 km²) is land and 2.65 square miles (6.86 km²) is water.^[17]

Council Bluffs covers a unique topographic region originally composed of

is located at the southern edge of the city.

Neighborhoods

Golden Spike Memorial was dedicated in 1939 during the world premiere of Union Pacific at milepost 0 of the transcontinental railroad

Downtown Council Bluffs

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Downtown Council Bluffs historically was the area along West Broadway and adjacent streets from Old Town west to the

passenger depot opened at 12th St. and West Broadway.

Downtown declined as the city's primary retail center after the 1955 completion of the Broadway Viaduct, 1970s urban renewal, and the 1984 opening of the Kanesville Boulevard

Church at West Broadway and 1st St. remains a prominent community landmark.

Old Town Council Bluffs

Old Town Council Bluffs was adjudged by Judge Frank Street in the 1850s to be the area between West Broadway and Glen Avenue and East Broadway and Frank Street from Harmony Street south to Pierce Street. Today the area encompasses Billy Caldwell's settlement of Potawatomi on Indian Creek during the 1830s and Kanesville established by the Mormons as Miller's Hollow in 1848. Kanesville was the home of Mormon leaders Orson Hyde, George A. Smith, and Ezra T. Benson and was a major outfitting point on the Mormon Trail during the California Gold Rush. The reconstructed Kanesville Tabernacle in the 300 block of East Broadway is operated as a museum by the LDS Church.

The West End

The West End is a geographically large area on the flood plain east of the Missouri River and

.

Casino Row

Casino Row is located on and near the Missouri River south of West Broadway and Interstate 480, west of South 35th St. and Interstate 29, and north of Interstate 80 along 23rd Avenue west of South 24th St. The opening of the Bluffs Run Greyhound Park in 1986, now the Horseshoe Council Bluffs, was followed in the mid-1990s by riverboat casinos operated by Ameristar and Harvey's Casino Hotel (now Harrah's Council Bluffs). New development in this previously industrial area has included the Mid-America Center, several restaurants and hotels, and other businesses. The appearance of legalized gambling in Council Bluffs became a major issue in neighboring Omaha where Mayor Hal Daub had declared Iowa an "XXX state" in 1995 as horse-racing came to an end at Ak-Sar-Ben.

Twin City

Twin City is located south of where Interstate 29 splits from Interstate 80, east of

, and has since been demolished.

Manawa

Manawa is the portion of Council Bluffs from the combined Interstate 80 and Interstate 29 south to the city limits between Mosquito and Indian Creeks. The area was developed as a

can frequently be seen at Lake Manawa, particularly along the southwest shore.

The South End

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 and Interstate 29 on the south, and the South Expressway (Iowa Highway 192) on the east. This neighborhood developed during the late 19th century with the railroads, especially the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, the

.

Oakland-Fairview

Oakland-Fairview 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

Grenville Dodge

is actually buried elsewhere in Council Bluffs.

Madison Avenue

Madison Avenue is the area of Council Bluffs adjacent to Exit 5 of Interstate 80 along Madison and Bennett avenues, Valley View Drive, and the area between Iowa Highway 92 north to McPherson Avenue. Mosquito Creek flows through this area which was originally notable for the Potawatomi gristmill and now includes the usual roadside gas stations, fast food restaurants, motels, and the tracks of the Iowa Interstate Railroad. Plans for a shopping mall here first appeared in 1972 and construction finally began on the Mall of the Bluffs in 1985. Residential growth east of the railroad tracks towards State Orchard Road and the Council Bluffs Municipal Airport and north to U.S. Route 6 has included developments outside the Council Bluffs city limits.

Huntington Avenue

Huntington Avenue consists of early 20th century Craftsman homes which wind along the top of the Loess Hills past the 1925 studio of radio station KOIL; the station is now apartments.

The historic "Council Bluffs' Red-light district" was formed during the late 19th century, when at least 10 separate brothels 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 at 8th St. and West Broadway.

Environmental problems

In 2010, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources found that air in central Council Bluffs measured above the national air quality standard for lead, most likely due to lead emissions in this area by Griffin Pipe Products Company.^[18] In 2011, EPA found numerous violations of the Clean Water Act, because the plant's contaminated stormwater commingled with treated process wastewater and was pumped out to the storm sewer, which discharged into the Missouri River.^[19]

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1860	2,011	—
1870	10,020	+398.3%
1880	18,063	+80.3%
1890	21,474	+18.9%
1900	25,802	+20.2%
1910	29,292	+13.5%
1920	36,162	+23.5%
1930	42,048	+16.3%
1940	41,439	−1.4%
1950	45,429	+9.6%
1960	55,641	+22.5%
1970	60,348	+8.5%
1980	56,449	−6.5%
1990	54,315	−3.8%
2000	58,268	+7.3%
2010	62,230	+6.8%
2020	62,799	+0.9%
2021 (est.)	62,415	−0.6%
Iowa Data Center[20] Source: U.S. Decennial Census[21][6]

Council Bluffs is the primary city of the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area.

2010 census

As of the

of any race were 8.5% of the population.

There were 24,793 households, of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.4% were married couples living together, 15.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.4% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.01.

The median age in the city was 35.9 years. 24.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.1% were from 25 to 44; 25.6% were from 45 to 64; and 13.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.7% male and 51.3% female.

2000 census

As of the census^[23] of 2000, there were 58,268 people, 22,889 households, and 15,083 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,558.7 inhabitants per square mile (601.8/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, 1.05% Black or African American, 0.45% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.81% from other races, and 1.31% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino 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.

Age spread: 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

, including 14.0% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.

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 States, with revenue equaling nearly $434 million.^{[citation needed]} Casinos include Ameristar Casino Council Bluffs, Harrah's Council Bluffs, and the Horseshoe Council Bluffs.

Council Bluffs industry includes "frozen foods, robotics, dairy products, plastics, railroading, electrical products, and pork and beef packaging" per the city's website.

have manufacturing plants in the city.

Griffin Pipe Products, established in 1921, closed its plant employing about 250 people in March 2014, when it was bought by U.S. Pipe and Foundry, based in Birmingham, Alabama.[25] Griffin Wheels, a part of American Steel Foundries, was one of the largest US manufacturers of iron railroad-car wheels until it switched to pipes in the 1960s.^[26]

In 2007,

Arts and culture

Council Bluffs is the location of the Pottawattamie County

.

Carnegie Library

which is in downtown Council Bluffs

The city's strong ties to the railroad industry are commemorated by three local museums. The Union Pacific Museum is located in the former Council Bluffs Free Public Library (a

.

The Iowa West Foundation, the charitable wing of the local gambling industry, funded a public art planning process for Council Bluffs in 2004 which 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 with 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 a public art website.

In 2008 a 50-foot (15 m)-tall Molecule Man sculpture by Jonathan Borofsky was installed at the Mid-America Center; nearby sculptures were designed by William King and Jun Kaneko. Albert Paley designed elements of the nearby South 24th Street bridge at Exit 1B of the combined Interstate 29 and Interstate 80 at Council Bluffs and Ed Carpenter designed Gateway for the West Broadway viaduct. Artist Dan Corson and the Big Mo by Mark di Suvero are featured at Tom Hanfan's River's Edge Park along the banks of the Missouri River.

Council Bluffs is also home to the Chanticleer Community Theater, TVI Filtration Corporation (a major supplier of discount automotive products), and Hamilton College (Iowa) which is now part of Kaplan University – Council Bluffs.

The black squirrel is the city's mascot. John James Audubon wrote about these squirrels in 1843, along the Missouri River at Council Bluffs.

For one week in late July/early August, the annual

Sports

The

from 2002 until 2008. Iowa Rampage Arena Football to kick-off in 2024 with relaunch of Arena Football League [34]

Council Bluffs hosted two

The teams hosted minor league home games at Broadway Park in 1935 and the Lake Manawa Ballpark in 1903.

Education

Public education in the city of Council Bluffs is provided by two school districts: Council Bluffs Community School District^[36] and Lewis Central Community School District.^[37] Most of the city is located within the Council Bluffs Community School District which operates these public schools: 10 elementary schools, two middle schools, two high schools (Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson), Tucker Career & College Center, Anne E. Nelson Early Learning Center, and Kanesville Alternative Learning Center. As of the 2008–2009 school year, the district had a total enrollment of 9,246.^[38] The Lewis Central Community School District (one high school, one middle school, and two elementary schools) serves the southern portion of Council Bluffs and enrolled 3,047 students as of the 2008–2009 school year.^[38]

There are several private schools in Council Bluffs including Community Christian School, Heartland Christian School, Liberty Christian School, Saint Albert Catholic Schools (of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines), and Trinity Lutheran Interparish School.

The Iowa School for the Deaf 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 is located on the eastern edge of Council Bluffs near the intersection of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 6 and is the home of the radio station KIWR. Buena Vista University also has a location in Council Bluffs and partners with Iowa Western Community College to offer bachelor's degree completion programs to IWCC graduates.

Infrastructure

Transportation

The city is well served by

has a large coal-burning power plant near the southern city limits.

An extensive system of off-street paved trails aids in walking and bicycling around the city, including the currently under construction FIRST AVE trail spanning the city's West End. Walking, bicycling, and other active transportation access across the Missouri River into Omaha currently exists at two points: the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge and a trail connection across the South Omaha Veterans Memorial Bridge on US-275.

Transit access around Council Bluffs is available via two Metro bus lines, the blue and yellow routes. Each route originates in downtown Omaha and provides access across the Missouri River as well as between various points around Council Bluffs. According to city plans it is possible that a streetcar line may be constructed along the First Avenue right-of-way. The streetcar line would terminate near Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital in the east and in downtown Omaha in the west; it would have a connection to the planned Omaha Streetcar. In order to facilitate streetcar access across the Missouri River, plans call for a new multimodal bridge to be constructed just south of the existing I-480 bridge. The multimodal bridge would be built approximately where the Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge once stood and carry multimodal traffic between Council Bluffs and Omaha.

Commercial air travel for Council Bluffs occurs primarily out of Omaha's Eppley Airfield. The Council Bluffs Municipal Airport also serves the general aviation needs of Council Bluffs and surrounding areas.

Notable people

Academics

• Nathan M. Pusey: educator and former president of Harvard University

Arts

• Walter Cassel: opera singer
• Janet Dailey, romance novelist
• John Durbin: actor
• Addison Farmer: jazz musician
• Art Farmer: jazz musician
• Louise Fitch (1914–1996): actress
• Joan Freeman: actress, co-starred with Elvis Presley in Roustabout
• Peg Hillias: actress
• silent movie
  star
• Sagan Lewis: actress (St. Elsewhere)^[39]
• James Millhollin: character actor
• Lula Greene Richards: poet
• Charles Roscoe Savage: photographer
• Ernest Schoedsack: film director, including the original King Kong and Mighty Joe Young
• David Yost: actor

Business

• Abraham Harry Blank (1879–1971), founder of the Central States Theater Corporation and a major philanthropist
• Jonathan Browning: gunsmith
• wrestler
  , founder of mail-order "Farmer Burns Scientific School of Wrestling"
• Millard Seldin (1926–2020), real estate developer, banker, basketball investor, and horsebreeder.

Journalism

• William Pfaff: journalist
• Jack Lawrence Treynor (February 21, 1930 – May 11, 2016): editor of Financial Analysts Journal

Military

• Air Force general and Commander in Europe during the Cold War
• John S. McCain Jr.: Navy Admiral, father of U.S. Senator and presidential candidate John S. McCain III
• Raymond R. Wright: Marine Corps General during World War II

Politics

• suffragist^[40]
• Thomas Bowman: businessman and U.S. Congressman
• Sam Brown: organizer Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, former Colorado state treasurer
• Union Pacific during construction of the transcontinental railroad
• Majority Leader Iowa Senate^[41]
• Septimus J. Hanna (1845–1921): Christian Scientist, appointed judge of County Court (then in Council Bluffs) at age 23^[42]
• Lieutenant Governor of Iowa^[43]
• Joseph Lyman: Civil War soldier, lawyer, judge, U.S. Congressman
• William Henry Mills Pusey
  : State Senator and U.S. Congressman
• Coleen Seng: former Mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska
• Walter I. Smith Circuit Court Judge and U.S. Congressman

Religion

• death
  on June 27, 1844.
• Phineas F. Bresee (1838–1915): founder of the Church of the Nazarene^[44]
• Jesuit missionary
• Arnold Potter: leader of an LDS splinter group and self-proclaimed Messiah

Science and engineering

• inventor
  , the "Grandfather of Television"
• William Harrison Folsom: architect
• J. Chris Jensen: architect
• Hans Schlegel: astronaut

Sports

• Stan Bahnsen: pitcher for six Major League Baseball teams
• Don Chandler: NFL football player^[45]
• Zoe Ann Olsen-Jensen: diver, 1948 Summer Olympics silver medalist, 1952 Summer Olympics bronze medalist^[46]
• Ben Leber: professional football player
• Jon Lieber: professional baseball player
• Carlos Martinez: professional football player
• Ted Monachino: outside linebackers coach for the Atlanta Falcons
• National Championship-winning baseball coach at the University of Virginia
• Bob Smith: football player
• Jerry Smith: professional golfer^[47]
• William Smith: Olympic gold medalist in wrestling at 1952 Summer Olympics
• Ron Stander: boxer, the "Bluffs Butcher" who fought Joe Frazier in 1972 for the heavyweight title
• Joshua Turek (born April 12, 1979) is an American wheelchair basketball player and a member of the United States men's national wheelchair basketball team.
• Jake Waters: football player
• Max Duggan: football player and 2022 Heisman Trophy Finalist
• Cole Jensen, soccer player in Major League Soccer

Other

• Robert Ben Rhoades: serial killer
• Sauganash or Billy Caldwell: Potawatomi spokesman, son of William Caldwell
• Marjabelle Young Stewart: etiquette expert
• Watseka: niece of Potawatomi Chief, married to Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard and Noel Le Vasseur
• Farrah Abraham: reality television star, known for MTV's 16 And Pregnant and Teen Mom
• Union Pacific

Sister cities

Council Bluffs' sister cities are:^[48]

• El Hajeb, Morocco
• Herat, Afghanistan
• Kandahar, Afghanistan
• Karrada (Baghdad), Iraq
• Prizren, Kosovo
• Tobolsk, Russia

See also

• Fort Atkinson (Nebraska) - describes 1820s United States Army outpost
• History of Omaha
• Mormon Trail
• Route of the Oregon Trail
• Winter Quarters
  , Nebraska

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Council Bluffs.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Council Bluffs".

• City of Council Bluffs
• Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce