Black Hawk County, Iowa Genealogy

Guide to Black Hawk County, Iowa ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records. 

Description
The County was named for Black Hawk. The County has Waterloo as its seat and the County was created 1843. The County is located in the northeast central area of the state.

County Courthouse
Black Hawk County Courthouse 316 E. 5th St. Waterloo, IA 50703-4774

(319) 833-3012

Black Hawk County

Parent County
1843--Black Hawk County was created 17 February 1843 from Buchanan County. Black Hawk County was attached to Buchanan, Benton, and Delaware Counties prior to organization 17 August 1853. County seat: Black Hawk

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Iowa County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Iowa County Boundary Maps" (1816-1872) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Places/Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog



Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Neighboring Counties
Benton • Bremer •  Buchanan •  Butler •  Fayette •  Grundy •  Tama

Cemeteries

 * Catholic Cemeteries of Waterloo Inc. 3912 West 4th Street - Waterloo, Iowa 319 233-0746
 * CEDAR VALLEY MEMORIAL GARDENS 319-233-6136
 * Elmwood Cemetery Associations 226 Elmwood Street, Cedar Falls, Iowa 319 232-2348
 * Fairview Cemetery Associations 611 Fairview Drive, Cedar Falls, Iowa 319 234-8621
 * Floral Hills Memorial Gardens ; Funeral Home 1093 Jackson Ave,Hazelton, Iowa 319 626-2442
 * GARDEN MEMORIAL CEMETERY &amp; MOUSOLEUM 2669 Logan Ave, Cedar Falls, Iowa 319 233-6126
 * Garden View Chapel 3655 Logan Ave, Cedar Falls, Iowa 319 232-2222
 * Oelwein City 13o1 W Charles Street, Oelwine, Iowa 319 283-5228
 * Waterloo Cemetery 1830 Kimbal Ave. Waterloo, Iowa 319 232-4751
 * Waterloo Memorial Park Cemetery and Chapel 3430 West 4th Street, Waterloo, Iowa 319 232-4165


 * RICHARDSON FUNERAL HOME at 615 Main Street, Cedar Falls, Iowa 319-266-3525, is an excellent contact when you are looking for someone who has died in the Cedar Falls, Iowa Area. They can direct you to the place they are buried and whom to contact for more information. Their records are on the computer. They told me to contact Rusty at 11:00 Midwest time for more information. This lead to finding several generations of the person who had died. He was the sexton of one of the cemeteries.

Other funeral homes are: Parrot &amp; Wood Chapel of Memories www,overtonservice.com 319-232-3235 Redman-Schwartz Funeral Home, Parkersburg, Iowa 319-346-1534 Redman-Schwartz Funeral Home, Clarkville, Iowa 319-278-4245 Reiff Funeral Home, Independence, Iowa 319-334-2501 Richardson as above 319-266-3525 Sanders Funeral Service 319-232-5667 Vogel Funeral Home Allison, Iowa 319-267-2507 White Funeral Home Independence, Iowa 319-334-2595 White Funeral Home Jessup, Iowa 319-827-3695 Woods Funeral Home Fredericksburg, Iowa 319-827-3695

Census
Iowa recorded not only the federal census but state census through out the years as well. The state census contains very valuable genealogical information. Where the census information can be found, what years it was taken, mortality schedules, census substitutions and much more is discussed in the very informative Iowa Census article.

State Census
 * 1895 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1905 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1915 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1925 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Lutheran
Trinity Lutheran Church, Waterloo


 * Records of the Trinity Lutheran Church, Waterloo, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Washburn


 * Records of the American Lutheran Church, Washburn, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Local Histories
Local Histories and memories of Cedar Falls, Black Hawk, Iowa. Go to Facebook.com search for:  igrewupin Cedar Falls There are memories of places, events form the early years to date. Wonderful to learn about the residents of a Great town. Have you ever heard of DeTasseling Corn? It is in there. How about a Breaded Pork Tenderloin sandwich? Who made the best ever? The town's concentration and love for the arts and music... Check out the site.


 * Melendy, Peter. Historical record of Cedar Falls, the garden city of Iowa : containing a brief history of Iowa, of Black Hawk County, and a full and complete description of industrial and picturesque Cedar Falls. Cedar Falls, Iowa : Peter Melendy, 1893.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)


 * Van Metre, Isaiah. History of Black Hawk County, Iowa and representative citizens. Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co., 1904.
 * Online at ROD Library (Free)


 * History of Black Hawk County, Iowa, and its people. Chicago, Illinois : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1915.
 * Vol 1 Online atFamilySearch (Free)
 * Vol 2 Online at FamilySearch (Free)

Maps

 * Old Antique Atlases &amp; Maps of Iowa
 * Township Map of 1875 Black Hawk County, Iowa with enlarged views of each township (My Genealogy Hound)
 * Iowa USGS Topographic Choose Airport, Bridge, Building, Cemetery, Church, Civil, Hospital, Lake, Locale, Park, Populated Place, Post Office, School, Stream, Summit, Trail []

Military

 * 1835-1998 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1949 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1862-1910 - at FamilySearch — index

Civil War

 * - 1st Regiment, Iowa Cavalry, Company G
 * - 3rd Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company K
 * - 9th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company G
 * - 12th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company E

World War I

 * 1917-1918 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1859-1990 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

 * NewspaperArchive.com ($) has historical newspapers online including Waterloo newspapers that covered local news on Black Hawk County residents. This database is free at some libraries.


 * Cedar Falls Gazette (Cedar Falls, Iowa) at Ancestry.com ($)
 * Waterloo Daily Courier. Waterloo, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
 * Progress Review. La Porte City, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
 * Waterloo Sunday Courier. Waterloo, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
 * 'La Porte City Progress. La Porte City, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
 * La Porte City Review. La Porte City, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com($)
 * La Porte City Progress Review. La Porte City, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)

Probate
Online Probate Records


 * 1758 - 1997 Iowa Wills and Probate Records 1758-1997 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Taxation

 * 1934-1958 - at FamilySearch — index

Births

 * 1850-1939 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1921-1942 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriages

 * 1518-1996 - Iowa, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1838-1934 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Deaths

 * 1850-1990 - at FamilySearch - index
 * 1880-1992 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1904-1951 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Societies and Libraries
Northwest Iowa Genealogical Society P O Box 2274 Waterloo, IA 50704-2274 E-mail: [mailto:neigsinfo@gmail.com neigsinfo@gmail.com] Website

Family History Centers
Cedar Falls/Waterloo Iowa Family History Center 3006 Pleasant Drive Cedar Falls, IA 50613 United States Location Map