“The History
We Live In”
Experience historic Council
Bluffs through its past.
They came from Germany, Ireland, England, Denmark, France, Canada, and the eastern and southern states. Each of their stories has a common thread: they left their homelands in search of a better life for themselves and/or their families. Some came with financial resources; most reached their goal through hard work and determination. They watched the tiny settlement grow from a frontier town, to a major outfitting station for those traveling west, to the fifth largest rail center in the country.
The History We Live In series attempts to tell their stories, as accurately as possible, through the homes they built by the architecture reflecting the culture of the times. In the very early days, houses did not have numbers; they were identified by the name of the occupants (e.g. the Snow House). This practice continued for several generations after numbers came into use.
Preserve Council Bluffs acknowledges the following sources of information: the Pottawattamie County auditor’s office; the reference department of the Council Bluffs Public Library; Council Bluffs Community Development Department; family members, homeowners, and individuals; and especially the documents relating to the nominations of the historic residential districts to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Author
Mary Lou
McGinn
254 Fletcher Avenue – George H. Champ/Charles Beno
George H. Champ was born in Ohio around 1845 and came to Council Bluffs in 1879. He was an investment banker and a partner in the firm of Kimball & Champ, and the first owner of this Queen Anne Stick style house built in 1886. Vincent Battin was the...
242 Park Avenue – Max Krasne
Unique in the neighborhood with its massive red tile roof is this house built in 1924 as a retirement home for Max Krasne and his wife, Fannie. Max Krasne was born in 1857 in Poland which, at that time, was under Russian rule. Fannie Krasne was born in 1863. Max and...
231 Park Avenue – Thomas Hart Benton and Patrick Lacy
One of the most significant houses in the Park and Glen Avenues Historic District is this two-story brick house built in 1857 by Thomas Hart Benton, Jr. Benton was a nephew of the Missouri senator and a partner in the banking firm Green, Ware and Benton, one of the...
228 Park Avenue – Jacob Neumayer
Jacob Neumayer was born in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany in 1843. He came to the United States in 1867and settled first in St. Louis. He arrived in Council Bluffs in 1871 and went to work for Conrad Geise, becoming manager of the Geise Brewery, a position he held until...
223 Park Avenue – Samuel Evans/Samuel S. Bayliss
Through the years, the house at 223 Park Avenue was believed to have been built in 1862, but a study of the district prior to its listing in the National Register of Historic Places determined that 1866 was the more likely date of construction. Based on court records,...
209 Park Avenue – Thomas Tostevin
Thomas Tostevin, the thirteenth mayor of Council Bluffs, was a familiar name in the early days of the city. The names of his friends, who were pallbearers at his funeral in 1905, are remembered as well- in names of streets and historic homes that are still standing:...
204 Fifth Avenue – Karl Holst
The first residents of this Craftsman house, built around 1910, were Karl Holst and his wife, Vera. Karl was a bookkeeper at the Council Bluffs Savings Bank. According to the nomination of the Willow/Bluff/Third Street District to the National Register of Historic...
203 Turley Avenue – Paul Coleman DeVol/L. Henry Cutler
This lovely Queen Anne bears the names of two families – DeVol and Cutler - who played a significant part in the growth and development of Council Bluffs. Three generations of the DeVol family appear in its early history, beginning in 1847 when the frontier town was...
203 Bluff Street – Henry Van Brunt
Henry H. Van Brunt was featured in the Council Bluffs souvenir booklet of the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition held in Omaha in 1898. His business was noted as “the largest and finest carriage repository west of Chicago . . . Mr. Van Brunt is the Prince...
201 Third Street – Dr. Henry B. Jennings
It isn’t often that an architect so loves the house he designed that he buys it from the builder and makes it his home for 22 years. Edward P. Schoentgen designed this home for Dr. Henry B. Jennings, his wife, Hattie, and their family in 1902. (The family had...
201 North First Street – John Linder
In the words of H.H. Field in his History of Pottawattamie County, published in 1907, John Linder was “a kind hearted, lovable man with hundreds of friends, his generous disposition and considerate spirit winning for him the warm esteem of those who know him...
156 Park Avenue – Ohio Knox
Ohio Knox was born in 1842 in Ohio, the first of his family to be born in that state. And so he was given its name. He enlisted in the Union Army at 19 years of age and served for four years during the Civil War as a member of the 17th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The...
Preserve Council Bluffs is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote and preserve the heritage of Council Bluffs through its architecture, sites, and people.
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