Council Bluffs, Iowa
Council Bluffs, Iowa
The Haymarket National Historic District
Location in Iowa
Coordinates: 41°15′13″N 95°51′45″W /
41.25361°N 95.8625°W / 41.25361; -95.8625
Country
United States
State
Iowa
County
Pottawattamie
Founded
Incorporated
Government
- Mayor
Tom Hanafan
Area
- City
39.7 sq mi (102.7 km2)
- Land
37.4 sq mi (96.8 km2)
- Water
2.3 sq mi (5.9 km2)
Elevation
1,090 ft (332 m)
Population (2000)
- City
58,268
- Density
1,558.7/sq mi (601.8/km2)
- Urban
822,549
- Metro
767,041
Time zone
CST (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes
51501-51503
Area code(s)
712
FIPS code
19-16860
GNIS feature ID
0455672
Website
www.councilbluffs-ia.gov
Council Bluffs is a city in and the county
seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United
States[1] and is on the east bank of the Mis-
souri River. The population was 58,268 at the
2000 census. Council Bluffs is several dec-
ades older than its significantly larger neigh-
bor across the river, the city of Omaha, Neb-
raska, which was founded by Council Bluffs
businessmen and speculators in 1854 follow-
ing the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
History
Lincoln Memorial where Abraham Lincoln is
said to have selected Council Bluffs as the
eastern terminus of the Transcontinental
Railroad.
Union Pacific museum in the former Carnegie
Library in downtown Council Bluffs
The city was named for the 1804 meeting of
the Lewis and Clark Expedition with the Otoe
tribe that took place near present-day Fort
Calhoun, Nebraska. The area in northwestern
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Council Bluffs, Iowa
1
Mills County, Iowa across the Missouri River
from present-day Bellevue, Nebraska was
later known as Council Bluffs.
The present city of Council Bluffs was first
settled by Sauganash’s band of Potawatomi
in 1838 after they were removed from what
became Chicago. Sauganash’s English name
was Billy Caldwell, so the Potawatomis’ main
settlement was called Caldwell’s Camp. The
U.S. Army built a small fort near Caldwell’s
Camp, this post was named the Council
Bluffs Blockhouse, and was occ