(28) Pottawattamie County 2.17.2023-2.19.2023

This county incidentally took 3 days to conquer, it being the 2nd or 3^rd largest county in Iowa (this is debatable according to various sources)!

 

We started off our weekend adventure scouring the shelves of “Antique City” in Walnut, Iowa. As always, it had a large selection of relics from ages gone by, and as always, they seemed to be a bit overpriced so we only came out with a few records and smaller items.

While in Walnut, we were able to tour the Walnut Creek Historical Museum which was very well done. It contained 3 floors worth of Walnut history!

We then made our way to Avoca. We checked out the historical court house which was at one point in time 1 of 2 courthouses for Pottawattamie County. Residents in the eastern side of the county rallied to build a second courthouse in the county in order to receive a fair trial and not have to travel as far as Council Bluffs to attend a trial. It was last used in the mid-70’s. It was very beautiful woodwork with one piece having come all the way over from a castle in England.

We also stopped at a local coffee shop, Barley and Beans Coffee, and the downtown area was very neat and seemed to be thriving! We didn’t stay to do any shopping, but it’d be a fun one to come back to!

Before leaving town though we did stop and see the Octagon Prayer House which was built in the mid 1870’s in the Graceland Cemetery. 

And of course, we couldn’t leave Avoca without seeing the infamous Volkswagen Spider Beetle.

On our drive through Oakland, we were able to stop and snap a picture of the mural on the Nishna Historical Museum and the old Sinclair station. The Nishna Historical Museum is only open by appointment so we missed it on this trip.

Our last real stop in Pottawattamie County on Friday was Macedonia. We were able to get a personal tour of the Stempel Bird Collection and the Pioneer Trails Museum. The Stempel Bird Collection was worth the stop in and of itself as it housed over 300 birds that are over 100 years old. It was absolutely amazing to see so many beautifully preserved birds in one space. 

It was also neat to learn a little more about the history of Macedonia at the Prairie Trails Museum.

After leaving Macedonia, we headed to our hotel for a night of swimming in the pool and getting rested up for the next day’s adventures.

 

Saturday was dedicated entirely to Council Bluffs as it is such a major city in Pottawattamie. It supplied more than enough activities for the day! We started our day by touring a few local monuments:

 

The Golden Spike—symbolic of the joining of the Transcontinental Railroad

 

The Lincoln Memorial

 

And the Black Angel Statue (aka the Ruth Anne Dodge Memorial)

 

The first museum of the day was the Union Pacific Museum where we learned all about the history of the Union-Pacific Railway. It was quite the fascinating museum and was free which is always a perk!

 

Right next to the Union Pacific Railway Museum is the Squirrel Cage Jail Museum. This museum is one of 18 of these kinds of jails in America and the only 3 story of its kind. It’s a rotating jail house and was officially shut down in 1969 due to safety hazards and malfunctioning of the rotating mechanism. It was a little expensive but definitely interesting as we have never seen anything like it before!

 

Bayliss Park is also right across the street from the Union Pacific Railway Museum so we stopped over there and were able to spot a few of the famous black squirrels that Council Bluffs is known for!

We took a little break from learning and stopped at the Sugar Makery for some candy sold by the ounce- which the kids definitely enjoyed!

Back to the museums after our sugar-fix. We started off at the Bregant Home, a custom-built house for Jean and Inez Bregant, 2 midgets (using this term as that is what they were referred to during their life). We were able to hear their story and see the uniquely built house to fit their size- very interesting!

 We then headed to probably one of the largest houses in Council Bluffs- General Dodge’s House. General Dodge was a general in the Civil War and also one of the chief engineers for the Union-Pacific and played a huge part in completing the Transcontinental Railway. We definitely learned a lot about who this man was and enjoyed seeing the extravagancies of his mansion, complete with a ballroom on the third floor! In this tour, you also get to see the August Beresheim House but only get to see a few rooms in this house.

We headed just a few blocks away for dinner at Boxer BBQ- which was absolutely delicious- would highly recommend to anyone visiting Council Bluffs!

 We then headed back to the hotel for another night of swimming and resting for the weekend’s final day of adventures!

 

On our last day in Pottawattamie County, we started the day off visiting two unique Iowa/Nebraska borders. First off, we visited the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge where you can be in both states at one time! On the Iowa side of the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge is Tom Hanahan Park with this giant statue made out of pie tins!

Followed up by visiting Carter Lake, which is a small part of Iowa that is actually located west of the Missouri River inside Nebraska! This part of Iowa was cut off when the Missouri River’s course was shifted to reduce flooding.

We then went to the Lewis and Clark Scenic Overlook which was the first point where Lewis and Clark met Native Americans. This is where Council Bluffs got its name, because they held council along the bluffs. 

Travis insisted we stop at one of the only 2 Runza restaurants in Iowa (the one one is located in Clarinda), as he insisted we couldn’t miss out on this cultural experience! Like it or not, there’s nothing like it :D

We tried to stop at the Tastee Treat for some ice cream since Travis was the only one who ate at Runza but were thwarted as it doesn’t open for the season until March 1 ☹

So we made our way back to Avoca as the Vale of Avoca Museum is only open on the third Sundays of the month or by appointment. It was a quaint little museum with the biggest selection of game taxidermy that we’ve ever seen! A local man made it his mission to personally catch game from all over the world in order for the people of Avoca to experience different wildlife. We also learned other neat facts about Avoca while there!

 

Return Rating: 5

 

Other things to see/do:

• Lake Manawa State Park
• Bison/Elk Farm, Botna
• Walnut City Antiques
• Monroe #8 One Room County School House, Walnut
• School House, Avoca
• Carter Lake
• Nishna Heritage Museum, Oakland
• Destination Coffee and Food, Oakland
• Java Supply Coffee, Treynor
• Hitchcock Nature Center & Loess Hills Lodge, Crescent
• Creamery, Crescent
• Ray’s Interactive Light Display, Council Bluffs
• Blockhouse Site Marker (the site of the first building erected in Council Bluffs), Council Bluffs
• California Goldrush Trail Historic Site, Council Bluffs
• Frontier Heritage Library Museum, Council Bluffs
• Rails West Museum, Council Bluffs
• Great Plains Wing Commemorative Air Force Museum, Council Bluffs
• Children’s Square USA Visitor Center & Bronze Sculptures, Council Bluffs
• West Fair Amphitheatre, Council Bluffs
• Shady Lane Ranch (horseback riding), Council Bluffs
• Welch’s Pumpkin Patch, Council Bluffs
• Ditmar’s Orchard, Council Bluffs
• Pioneer Trail Orchard and Pumpkin Patch, Council Bluffs