RailsWest History Museum

09/05/2026

Aren’t we all just here for the bell? 🚂 🔔

09/04/2026

Did you know the Iowa School for the Deaf has been part of Council Bluffs for more than 150 years?

Established in Iowa City with just 21 students in 1855, the ISD moved to Council Bluffs in 1870, where its campus has been part of our community ever since. From its early days as a self-sustained campus to changing approaches in Deaf education, athletics, student life, and the school we know today, the ISD has an incredible history!


Sources:
• Iowa School for the Deaf Museum
• The Legacy of Iowa School for the Deaf by Ronald E. Sutcliffe
• The Daily Nonpareil / The Nonpareil

09/03/2026

Washington Post, March 27, 1910: “BIGGEST SWINDLE ON RECORD… Council Bluffs, Iowa.” Having “railroads to everywhere” brought Council Bluffs a lot of commerce. It also provided fertile grounds for folks of a less honorable nature. Those railroads brought a lot of potential “pigeons” ready to be fleeced. John Mabray set up shop here, with confederates riding the trains seeking high rollers who wanted to bet “on a sure thing.” Actually, it was a sure thing— it was a sure thing the house would win. The technique was called The Big Store Con (as featured in Robert Redford/Paul Newman’s “The Sting,” Academy Award winner for Best Picture, 1973); Mabray is credited with inventing the technique and perfecting it right here in CB. It was complex and elaborate, but the payoff was huge and the suckers didn’t even know they’d been scammed.

08/31/2026

3.75 inches of rain in just a few hours can cause a lot of trouble. A Wabash freight pulled out of Council Bluffs and only made it as far as Mineola before disaster struck. By the way, even though that was 98 years ago, we’ve been told remnants of this wreck can still be seen along the old Wabash line (today’s Wabash Trace nature trail) near Mineola. Can any of you hikers or bikers confirm this? If anyone has any photos, please post them in the comments!

08/13/2026

Let’s say you are a county employee and came to work and found a big hole in the wall by your desk. Maintenance plastered it up, but it was back again the next day. Perhaps time for a new courthouse? Where to put it? The downtown stores had been leveled and some want to put a shopping center there, how about put the new courthouse there instead? That’s what was going on in town fifty years ago. Join us for the program “New Courthouse, Old Jail,” TONIGHT (Thursday, August 13), 6:30 pm at the RailsWest History Museum. Presented by Jennifer Benson and Richard Warner; there is no admission charge.

08/13/2026

08/01/2026

Thanks to our friends at “I Bike CB” for including the RailsWest History Museum in their History Bike Hike! It was a great group of folks of all ages and the Historical Society is elated to be able to work with them on these rides. There are three more History Bike Hikes this season (last Wednesday of August, September and October) and everyone is welcome to join in. Details will be available on the Society’s Council Bluffs Revealed page as the dates get closer or follow the group on their page at I Bike CB.

07/29/2026

Amelia Bloomer is often remembered for a style of clothing, but her greatest legacy was her fight for women’s rights.

Before moving to Council Bluffs, Amelia founded The Lily, becoming the first woman to own, operate, and edit a newspaper for women. She also became a leading voice in the temperance, women’s suffrage, and dress reform movements.

After moving to Council Bluffs in 1855, she spent the next 40 years advocating for women’s suffrage, equal pay, women’s right to an education. She helped found the Iowa Women’s Suffrage Association and left a lasting mark on our community.

She never lived to cast a vote herself, but because of pioneers like Amelia, generations of women after her could.

What piece of Council Bluffs history should I talk about next?

07/27/2026

Amelia Bloomer is often remembered for a style of clothing, but her greatest legacy was her fight for women’s rights.

Before moving to Council Bluffs, Amelia founded The Lily, becoming the first woman to own, operate, and edit a newspaper for women. She also became a leading voice in the temperance, women’s suffrage, and dress reform movements.

After moving to Council Bluffs in 1855, she spent the next 40 years advocating for women’s suffrage, equal pay, women’s right to an education. She helped found the Iowa Women’s Suffrage Association and left a lasting mark on our community.

She never lived to cast a vote herself, but because of pioneers like Amelia, generations of women after her could.

What piece of Council Bluffs history should I talk about next?