Plymouth County, Iowa Genealogy

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

Parent County
1851--Plymouth County was created 15 January 1851 from unorganized territory. It was attached to Woodbury County prior to organization 27 October 1858. County seat: Le Mars

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
Cherokee • O'Brien •  Sioux •  Woodbury •  Union County, South Dakota

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
Plymouth County


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

St. John's Lutheran Church, Craig


 * Records of the St. John's Lutheran Church, Craig, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Sioux City


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

Directories

 * Sioux City, Iowa Directories, 1889-90, 1892-93 at Ancestry.com ($)

Local Histories

 * Woodbury and Plymouth Counties, Iowa History at Ancestry.com ($)


 * The British in Iowa. By Jacob Van der Zee. Iowa City, Iowa : State Historical Society of Iowa, 1922. Online at:, Internet Archive, Google Books;.


 * History of Plymouth County, Iowa, her people, industries and institutions : with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families. By W. S. Freeman. Online at: Vol.1, Vol. 2 , Vol. 1 and 2 HathiTrust;.


 * History of the counties of Woodbury and Plymouth, Iowa : includes an extended sketch of Sioux City, their early settlement and progress to the present time; a description of their historic and interesting localities; sketches of the prominent men, and biographies of many of the representative citizens. By Will Leach Clark, J. E. Norris. Online at:, Internet Archive, HathiTrust.

Maps

 * Old Antique Atlases &amp; Maps of Iowa

Military

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

Newspapers

 * Akron Hometowner - digitized issues in Google News Archive; includes 2006-2009


 * Le Mars Globe Post. 1953-54, 1956-57, and 1959. Le Mars, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
 * Le Mars Daily Sentinel. 1963 and 1972. Le Mars, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
 * Lemars Semi Weekly Sentinel. 1951-52. Le Mars, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
 * Le Mars Sentinel. 1953-54 and 1957. Le Mars, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
 * Barometern. 1884-86. Sioux City, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
 * The Sioux City Sunday Journal. 1964. Sioux City, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
 * Le Mars Daily News Sentinel. 1958, 1969, and 1977. Le Mars, 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 $

Births

 * 1850-1939 - 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
 * 1880-1992 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1921-1940 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Societies and Libraries
Northwest Iowa Genealogical Society C/O Le Mars Public Library 46 First Ave. S.W. Le Mars, IA 51031 E-mail: [mailto:mkholub@gmail.com mkholub@gmail.com] Website

Family History Centers



 * Sioux City Iowa Family History Center 1201 W Clifton Ave, Sioux City, IA 51104 United States Location Map