Lyon County, Iowa Genealogy

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

Parent County
1851--Lyon County was created 15 January 1851 as Buncombe County. The name was changed to Lyon in 11 September 1862. It was attached to Woodbury County prior to organization 1 January 1872. County seat: Rock Rapids

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



Neighboring Counties
O'Brien • Osceola •  Sioux •  Lincoln County, South Dakota •  Minnehaha County, South Dakota •  Nobles County, Minnesota •  Rock County, Minnesota

Census
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
George


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

Inwood


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

Local Histories

 * Early history of Lyon County. By George Monlux. Rock Rapid, Iowa : [s.n., 1909?]. Online at:;.

Maps

 * Old Antique Atlases &amp; Maps of Iowa

Military

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

Newspapers
NewspaperArchive.com ($) has a large collection of digitized Iowa newspapers online. This database is sometimes free at libraries.

Probate
Online Probate Records


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

Births

 * 1850-1939 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriages

 * 1838-1934 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Deaths

 * 1850-1990 - at FamilySearch - index
 * 1880-1992 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1921-1940 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Societies and Libraries
Lyon County Historical Society 605 S Boone St Rock Rapids, IA 51246 Telephone:712-472-3101 Website