Polk County, Iowa Genealogy

United States &gt; Iowa &gt; Polk County

Parent County
1846--Polk County was created 13 January 1846 from unorganized territory. County seat:  Des Moines

Neighboring Counties
Boone | Dallas | Jasper | Madison | Marion | Story | Warren

Cemeteries

 * 1) I have photos of all headstones in the Oralabor Cemetery in Ankeny, Polk County, Iowa as of 2008. If you need one looked up please e-mail me at:E-Mail Me  Please provide a surname, christian name and DOD if you have it.

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Des Moines

Directories
Fold3.com ($) has Des Moines City Directories 1881-1913 (2 yrs. missing) and miscellaneous years going back to 1866 available online.

Local Histories

 * History of Polk County, Iowa: A History of the County, its Cities, Towns, etc.

Union Historical Company, 1880

http://books.google.com/books?id=dHkUAAAAYAAJ&amp;pg=PA749&amp;dq=butler+co+iowa&amp;lr=&amp;as_brr=1&amp;client=firefox-a#PPR4,M1

Maps

 * View historic Polk County, Iowa maps in the David Rumsey Map Collection.

Newspapers

 * Altoona Public Library Archives, Polk County (1876-2000)
 * Johnston Historical Society Archive, Polk County (1970-2007)
 * NewspaperArchive.com ($) has historical newspapers online including Des Moines newspapers that covered local news on Polk County residents. This database is free at some libraries.


 * Roland Historical Society Archives, Story County (1895-1975)
 * Warren County Newspapers (1855-1896)

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Des Moines Iowa Family History Center

Web Sites

 * Polk County, Iowa Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Polk County, Iowa Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)