Black Hawk County, Iowa Genealogical Records Information

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Black Hawk County History and Information

Black Hawk County Facts

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Black Hawk was created on February 17, 1843 (Organized in 1847 and reorganized in 1853) from Buchanan County. The County was named for Black Hawk, the Sac and Fox Native American chief who led a revolt against resettlement of his tribe in the Black Hawk War. The County Seat is Waterloo. See also County History and County Courthouse for more details.

Counties adjacent to Black Hawk County are Bremer County (north), Buchanan County (east), Benton County (southeast), Tama County (southwest), Grundy County (west), Butler County (northwest), Fayette County (northeast). Cities and Towns Include Cedar Falls, Dunkerton, Elk Run Heights, Evansdale, Gilbertville, Hudson, Janesville, Jesup, La Porte City, Raymond, Waterloo. Townships Include Barclay, Bennington, Big Creek, Black Hawk, Cedar, Cedar Falls, City of Waterloo, Eagle, East Waterloo, Fox, Lester, Lincoln, Mount Vernon, Orange, Poyner, Spring Creek, Union, Washington.

The Black Hawk County Official Government Website
Search the Iowa USGenWeb Archives
Black Hawk County, Iowa History Books at Amazon.com
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There are free downloadable and printable forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms, U.K. Census Extraction Forms, Research Calendar, Ancestral Chart, Research Extract, Correspondence Record , Family Group Sheet , Source Summary Form.

Records at the Black Hawk County Courthouse

PLEASE READ FIRST!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.

All Departments below can be contacted by clicking the link below, calling or visiting the Black Hawk County Courthouse at 316 East Fifth Street, Waterloo 50703; Tel: 319-833-3331. See Also Courthouse Street Addresses for current courthouse addresses for all Iowa Counties. NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time. Black Hawk County was attached to Delaware and Benton Counties for a breif time. Some early records may be found there.

Black Hawk County Recorder's Office has Birth Records from 1880, Marriage Records from 1853, Death Records from 1880 and Land Records from 1853.
The Recorder's Office was created in 1839 by the First Legislative Assembly. The Recorder continues to maintain official records of documents affecting title to real estate. Every real estate transaction that takes place begins in the Recorder's Office. One of the major duties of the office is the management of public records. As a result, accuracy and preservation of records are a must in the Recorder's Office. Instruments that are recorded are not only important for today, but serve as a historical library for all of the tomorrows.

In addition to real estate transactions, the Recorder's Office issues titles and liens; records veterans discharge papers; processes passport applications; accepts marriage applications and issues the subsequent license; issues certified copies of birth, death and marriage records as well as other numerous duties.

Black Hawk County Clerk of Court Office has Probate Records from 1853 and Court Records from 1853.
In each of Iowa's 99 counties, a clerk of district court office manages and maintains all trial court records, including pleadings, evidence and orders. The clerks of court have hundreds of administrative duties. They accept and process fines, fees and court costs owed to the state, child support checks, and civil judgments owed to litigants. They maintain a record of liens on all real estate in the county. Clerks help with involuntary hospitalization cases. They have the authority to dispose of scheduled violations which are not contested and do not require a court hearing. Clerks are also responsible for informing state and local government agencies of court orders.

The Iowa district court has general jurisdiction of all civil, criminal and juvenile cases and probate matters in the state. The district court, which is also known as the trial court, is the point of entry in the court system for most cases. The Iowa district court is composed of different kinds of judicial officers with varying amounts of jurisdiction-judicial magistrates, associate juvenile judges, associate probate judges, district associate judges, and district court judges.

Click Here to Search Iowa Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Below is a list of online resources for Black Hawk County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Black Hawk County Court Records by clicking the link below:

Black Hawk County Vital Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

The tax rolls for personal property and real estate were kept by the auditor or the treasurer of each county. A few of these records have been microfilmed and are available at the State Historical Society of Iowa. Original county tax rolls are usually not transferred.

Old age pension tax is a resource genealogists should consider in Iowa. A 1934 directive to collect an old age assistance tax was based on a list of all persons over twenty-one years of age. Although the tax was discontinued in 1936, the information included could be important: name, address, sex, date of birth, place of birth, and names of both parents. Many counties have had these lists microfilmed and they are available through the FHL.

Below is a list of online resources for Black Hawk County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Black Hawk County Tax Records by clicking the link below:

Black Hawk County Tax Assesors Office, Phone: (319) 833-3006
The Treasurer is responsible for collection of property taxes and other fees for state, county, city, school districts, community colleges, and other taxing entities such as townships, fire districts, and drainage districts.
Black Hawk County, Iowa Tax Books at Amazon.com

Black Hawk County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Iowa Genealogical Addresses

The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.

Below is a list of online resources for Black Hawk County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Black Hawk County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

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Local Iowa Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
State Historical Society of Iowa, Capitol Complex, Des Moines, IA 50319
Iowa Genealogical Society, 6000 Douglas, P.O. Box 7735, Des Moines, IA 50322
State Historical Society of Iowa Research Library, 402 Iowa Avenue, Iowa City, IA 52240
State Historical Society of Iowa Library, Capitol Complex, Des Moines, IA 50319
National Archives; Central Plains Region, Kansas City, 2312 East Bannister Road, Kansas City, Missouri 64131-3011; Email: kansascity.archives@nara.gov; Phone: 816-268-8000
Iowa Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Iowa Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

Black Hawk County Church & Cemeteries

Click Here to Search Iowa Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.

There are many churches and cemeteries in Black Hawk County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Black Hawk County Tombstone Transcription Project.

Predominant church groups in Iowa include Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, and Baptist. Less in size, but equally important in religious history in the state are the Quakers, Mormons, Mennonites, and Congregationalists. The first church building in Iowa, a Methodist church built of logs, was constructed in Dubuque in 1834. A year later the Catholics erected a parish building in the same city. In 1843 the “Iowa Band” of Congregational and Presbyterian clergy began ministering to the settlers in Iowa. In 1854 a small group of the Community of True Inspiration arrived from Germany, settling along the Iowa River in the mid-section of the state. A year later additional members of their group joined them, establishing the unique Amana colonies of present-day Iowa.

Many of the local chapters of the Iowa Genealogical Society have publications of cemetery records in their respective counties which can be ordered through the chapter. A state-wide publication listing is available through the state society. A large number of cemetery transcription collections as well as records of funeral homes, casket lists, and obituary indexes are held by the FHL

Below is a list of online resources for Black Hawk County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Black Hawk County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

IOWA WPA GRAVES REGISTRATION SURVEY - These records contain burials throughout much of Iowa that were compiled by WPA workers in the 1930 s, including grave markers which no longer exist today. Records may be searched within a county or state-wide.
Iowa Cemetery Records: These cemetery records represent seventy-six counties and Graceland Cemetery of Sioux City, Iowa, in the united States, that were transcribed by the Works Project Administration. Records in this database generally include the page number where the record can be found in the WPA index, the name of the deceased, birth date, death date, age, cemetery name, town name, and additional comments if any.
Iowa Civil War Soldier Burial Records: Listing of 30,000 Civil War veterans who served or lived in Iowa following the war.
Black Hawk County, Iowa Cemetery Books at Amazon.com
Black Hawk County, Iowa Church Books at Amazon.com

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Click Here to Search Iowa Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Black Hawk County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Black Hawk County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Black Hawk County USGenweb Archives
Black Hawk County, Iowa Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

Before the Europeans came, the valley of the Cedar River was almost completely covered in dense timber. Yet at a point about seven miles below the falls of the Cedar, unwooded prairie grasses covered both banks of the river for a stretch of about a mile. The river itself at that point fell in a swift rapids. Underneath the rapids, the riverbed was solid rock.

When the region was opened to white inhabitants, after the Sac and Fox Indians lost their hold on it following the Black Hawk War of 1832, the falls were an attraction to entrepreneurs who saw their potential for water power. One such, William Sturgis, made plans for a dam and lent his name to the early gathering of cabins.

The combination of open space and a solid river bottom at the rapids made a safe and, hence, a popular crossing for the Indians and for the early white visitors. The site inevitably became a settlement, initially named Prairie Rapids by first settlers George and Mary Hanna. Thus Sturgis Falls and Prairie Rapids, later to be renamed Cedar Falls and Waterloo, became in 1845 the first settlements in Black Hawk County, and between them at the end of the year they boasted the county’s entire white population of thirteen pioneers.

Prior to the establishment of permanent homes, Black Hawk County, first created in 1843 and named for the Sac war leader who lost the war that bears his name (and who never set foot in the area named for him), had been under the administration of Delaware County. Responding to the gradual western trend of white expansion, Benton County officials took over in 1845, the year before Iowa statehood, followed by Buchanan County in 1851. By act of the Iowa legislature, Black Hawk County was allowed to organize its own government and elect officers in 1853. At the same time, the counties of Bremer, Grundy, and Butler were administratively attached to Black Hawk County. The first election of county officials was held on August 17.

The legislature also called for a commission to locate the county seat in the same year. Sturgis Falls, with its thriving mills, was the leader in commerce at the time and got the nod. Waterloo boosters, unwilling to acquiesce, convinced the legislature to call for an election and by a vote of 388 to 260, the more centrally-located Waterloo became the county seat in 1855. It was already vying with Cedar Falls in the milling industry, a dam having been constructed in 1854, the year the city was platted.

Many eastern Iowa settlements moved swiftly from frontier outposts to civilized cities in the beginning of the last half of the nineteenth century. Surrounded by some of the richest farmland to be found anywhere on the globe, the cities of Black Hawk County became important centers for the agricultural community. Despite a brief period of high water, which allowed the steamboat Black Hawk to make twenty-four round trips between Cedar Rapids and Waterloo in 1859, the Cedar River was not destined to provide a transportation advantage. However, the railroads arrived in 1861, precipitating another rivalry between the neighbors on the Cedar. When, in 1870, the Illinois Central Railroad chose Waterloo over Cedar Falls as the site of its repair shop, Waterloo was set in its path to become a major industrial center by the turn of the century.

Cedar Falls developers were chagrined by Waterloo’s ascendancy in commerce, but their city started to form it's distinct personality in 1876 with the establishment of the Iowa State Normal School, a teacher’s college that opened with twenty-seven students in a former orphanage and quickly grew. As it took on the adornments of a college town, Cedar Falls gained the nickname of “The Lawn City”, in sharp contrast with Waterloo which by the early 1900s was known as “The Factory City”.

From the earliest days, another rivalry existed in the county, that of East and West Waterloo. Probably, the Indians argued about which side of the river was better before the white settlers ever arrived, as both sides had well established paths, the route on the east side leading to present day Marion and the one on the west to Iowa City. Early residents of Waterloo clashed on the location of the courthouse. (Disgruntled Cedar Falls citizens threw the decisive votes to the East Side to avenge themselves on the West Side businessmen who finagled the county seat referendum out of the legislature in 1855). Separate school districts were established in 1866, merging only in 1942.

Probably the most famous cross-river spat came when philanthropist Andrew Carnegie began in 1898 his campaign to subsidize the building of public libraries. Of the 1,679 libraries built by the program’s end in 1919, 101 were built in Iowa, two in Waterloo. A remarkably patient Carnegie foundation negotiated with implacable East and West Side factions from 1902 to 1904. Instead of the original $30,000 grant, $40,000 was offered to build two libraries, one on each side of the river or one library sited in the middle of the river. (Mayor P.J. Martin had suggested building one on the not-yet-completed Fourth Street Bridge.) Two small, but tasteful, buildings were finally erected and served their respective patrons until 1981 when the library moved into the former post office, which moved from the West Side to a new location on the East Side.

While such quarrels may have wasted energy best expended elsewhere, the competition was healthy in other respects. When one side attracted a new business or platted a new housing addition, the other side frequently followed suit with alacrity. The result is that Waterloo enjoyed startling growth around the turn of the twentieth century. The city’s population grew from 6,674 in 1890 to 36,230 in 1920. Between 1881 and 1914, the number of factories increased from 28 to 144.

Black Hawk County Courthouse

In 1855, the Black Hawk County Board of Commissioners decided to move the county seat from Cedar Falls to Waterloo. From there, Judge John Randall took over the plans for construction of a county courthouse. Although the public wanted a voice in picking the site, the Judge rejected their assistance and contracted to build the courthouse for $12,747.61. Because of a number of changes in the plans, the final project cost reached $27,000! This building, with its $2,200 fence, six massive two-story pillars, and cupola was demolished in 1907.

With the voters' approval, money was raised to buy a construction site for the second courthouse and jail. This building was completed and dedicated in 1902.

The present red and black polished stone courthouse was completed in 1964 at a cost of $2,850,000.

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