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. 

Description
The County was named for Plymouth, Massachusetts. The County has Le Mars as its seat and the County was created 1851. The County is located in the northeast area of the state.

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

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
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
 * 1862-1910 - at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1859-1990 - 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 $

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
 * 1880-1992 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1904-1951 - 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