The Golden Spike in Council Bluffs is located in a city park across from the Union Pacific Rail Yard at Council Bluffs. The monument was erected in 1939 at the 50th anniversary of the completion of the Union Pacific RR, and formally dedicated on he day the motion picture "Union Pacific" premiered.
The Golden Spike is placed at a point in the park that corresponds to Mile 0 of the Union Pacific Railroad. The monument is located 8 blocks south of the Lincoln Highway/US 6 as it passes through downtown Council Bluffs.
See the Lincoln Highway Association website for a map showing the route of the Lincoln Hihway through Council Bluffs here: (
visit link)
From the Iowa Lincoln Highway Association: (
visit link)
"Pottawattamie County
The land in the county is a black rich loam that allows abundant yields of all types of grain. The Missouri River runs along the western border and only touches the bluffs at one point. It leaves wide bottom lands on the eastern bank with a valley that is 2-10 miles wide and narrows at Council Bluffs. The bluffs skirt the valley and rise 50-300 feet. They are generally clay and sand with a few exceptions where stone is found. There are numerous streams that flow through the prairie in a southwesterly direction and into the Missouri River.
The Loess Hills are made from wind deposited soil and are found in this county to the east of the bluffs and bottom lands. The Hills continue to the north for several counties and to the south near the Iowa /Missouri state border.
LHHB Crescent Shea's Garden Grove photo courtesy Francie (3)
Crescent Shea’s Garden Grove ©Francie O’Leary
Buffalo and other game were very plentiful on the prairie. The first fur traders to the area were the French. The Pottawattamie Indians lived in Indiana, southern Michigan and eastern Illinois before coming to Iowa. In 1755, the French, Pottawattamie and other Indians were in a war with England. The Pottawattamie carried on the war even after the French and English made peace and became friends of the colonists’ government.
In 1804, Lewis and Clark started out from St. Louis, MO and traveled up the Missouri River. The Pottawattamie lived in Iowa by this time. The Indians came from all directions to check out the boats and equipment. Lewis and Clark and the Pottawattamie had frequent assemblages of the commanders of the expedition and the Indians. One of these meetings took place at a point near the northwest corner of the county causing that spot to be called Council Bluffs. A fort was erected at or near that spot and for 50 years it was called Council Bluffs.
Once the Pottawattamie figured out their land would be eventually taken by the settlers, they distanced themselves and readied themselves for battle. In the War of 1812, the Pottawattamie took the side of the English. In the Treaty of Ghent, they placed themselves under the protection of the US Government and both sides mutually forgave and forgot their past difficulties. In a treaty on June 5, 1846, the Pottawattamie sold their possessions to the Government and were eventually removed to Kansas. The county was organized in 1848, but the county seat was not very extended in size and “red men were scattered in and about the city in large numbers and several Indian traders occupied tents and small trading posts.”
As the Indians left, the Mormons came and made their winter quarters in Council Bluffs. They named the town Kanesville in honor of Col. Kane from Pennsylvania, who visited the Mormons and was a true friend to them. Some of the Mormons left in the spring and traveled on to Salt Lake City, but some did stay in the Kanesville area.
The 1849 Gold Rush led to Kanesville becoming a noted outfitting post. In 1853, citizens of the county seat, by special act of the General Assembly, adopted the name Council Bluffs and a US Land Office was established that same year.
In 1882, there were 20,000 residents and Council Bluffs became the terminus of the Union Pacific Railway.
Timber was not abundant in the early years, but what was found was mostly cottonwood. If prairie fires could have been prevented for 10-15 years, timber would have been abundant in every Iowa county – even Pottawattamie. Limestone and sandstone was found in the county and brick manufacturing was possible where the best of sand and clay could be obtained. Wild fruit was often found- grapes, raspberries, gooseberries, strawberries, and crab apples. Today the bottomland grass is good for grazing and the rolling hills are usable with the implementation of terrace farming.
Information compiled from History of Pottawattamie County 1882 by W. T. Giles.
Towns on the Lincoln Highway in Pottawattamie County
. . .
Council Bluffs
The Pottawattamie Indians and the Lewis and Clark commanders met here often and called it Council Bluffs. When the Mormon’s moved into the area, they called it Trader’s Point, Hart’s Bluff, and Miller’s Hollow because it was the assemblage point for them to cross the Missouri River. Later they named it Kanesville. As a good number of Mormons left for Salt Lake City, the citizens of the town petitioned to rename it Council Bluffs. Today with Omaha, NE just across the river, there are many things to see and do. Just on the Iowa side alone, there is the 1897 August Beresheim House, Block House Site Marker (built by the Dragoons), California Gold Rush Trail Historic Site, Frontier Heritage Library and Museum, Golden Spike Monument, Grand Encampment/Mormon Battalion Mustering Grounds Marker, and the Great Plains Wing Museum.
Other sites include the Historic General Dodge House, Historic Squirrel Cage Jail, Kanesville Tabernacle and Visitor’s Center, Lewis& Clark Monument Scenic Overlook, Lincoln Monument, Railwest Railroad Museum, Ruth Ann Dodge Memorial, Western Historic Trails Center, and the Loess Hills Lodge Interpretive Facility.
There are 3 casinos (Horseshoe Casino, Harrah’s Casino, and Ameristar Casino) and several vineyards and orchards (Dittmer’s Orchard and Vineyard, Pioneer Trail Orchard and Pumpkin Patch, Prairie Hawk Vineyards, and Welch’s Orchard and Pumpkin Patch).
Art is important in Council Bluffs and can be experienced at the Broadway Fountain (Broadway and Pearl St), Grant Wood Corn Room Memorials (Pottawattamie County Courthouse), Grant Wood Paintings (Iowa Western Community College) Louis Grall Paintings (Pottawattamie Courthouse) and the Sidewalk Mosaics and Streetscape Tiles (Pearl and W Broadway). Another interesting art project is the Eagles of Honor project of handcrafted bronze eagles created by a local couple to thank all the veterans and their families. Eagles have been placed in Avoca, Carson, Carter Lake, Council Bluffs, Crescent, Hancock, Macedonia, McClelland, Minden, Neola, Oakland, Treynor, Underwood, and Walnut. Each eagle is unique.
The Lincoln Highway and Pottawattamie County
As in other counties, the Lincoln Highway followed the railroad. The rail lines were laid first and found the best way to wind through the Loess Hills. In 1928, the Highway was given the number #30. Years later, as a new bridge was built in Harrison County to Blair, NE, the Highway #30 bypassed Pottawattamie County altogether. The original road in Iowa has been identified and signed as the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway and still travels through Pottawattamie County to Council Bluffs and crosses the Missouri River into Omaha, NE."