History
Lyon County was originally called Buncombe County in honor of Edward Buncombe of North Carolina. It was created in 1851 from a part of Woodbury County. In 1862 the county’s name was changed to Lyon County in honor of General Nathaniel Lyon, a Civil War general who was killed while leading the First Iowa Infantry at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek in Missouri.
A county seat was not designated until 1873, when Rock Rapids was named the county seat. Prior to that, county business was conducted at the homes of various county officials. Some offices were located in Beloit. The current courthouse was built in 1916.
Boundaries
Lyon County is in the extreme northwest corner of Iowa. It is bordered by the states of Minnesota on the north and South Dakota on the west. The Big Sioux River is its west boundary. Adjacent counties include: west – Lincoln County, South Dakota; north – Minnehaha County, South Dakota, Rock and Noble Counties, Minnesota; east – Osceola County, SE – O’Brien County, and south – Sioux County
Current towns and communities (Zip codes given for towns having Post Offices)
1890 2000
Alvord 51230 Doon 50 187
Beloit Lyon 50
Doon 51235 Doon 200 533
Edna Liberal
George 51237 Liberty, Wheeler 250 1,051
Inwood 51240 Richland 300 875
Larchwood 51241 Larchwood 200 788
Lester 51242 Allison 25 251
Little Rock 51243 Elgin 100 489
Rock Rapids 51246 Rock, Riverside 1,394 2,573
Abandoned towns
Town Township
Town Township
Ernest Doon Pennington Richland
Gilbraltar Sioux River View Grant
Granite Sioux Royal Ridge Rock
Iuka became Granite Smead Rock
Klondike Centennial Upland Centennial
Krogness Richland Warren became Inwood
Park became Alvord Willda Dale
Section II: Resource Centers
Courthouse:
· [LCCH] Lyon County Court House
Rock Rapids, Iowa 51246
Historical Societies
· [LCHS] Lyon County Historical Society
605 South Boone, Rock Rapids, Iowa 51246
Libraries with Genealogical or Historical Collections
· [DPL] Doon Public Library
207 Barton Avenue, Doon, Iowa 51235
· [GPL] George Public Library
119 South Main Street, George, Iowa 51237
· [IPL] Inwood Public Library
103 South Main Street, Inwood, Iowa 51240
· [LPL] Larchwood Public Library
1020 Broadway, Larchwood, Iowa 51241
· [LRPL] Little Rock Public Library
402 Main Street, Little Rock, Iowa 51243
· [RRPL] Rock Rapids Public Library
102 South Greene, Rock Rapids, Iowa 51246
· [IGSL] Iowa Genealogical Society Library
628 East Grand Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50309
· [ISHL] Iowa State Historical Library
600 East Locust Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50319
Section III: Records – records may be found at the record sites abbreviated after each entry. See Section II for complete record site information.
Census
· Federal: 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, microfilm: [ISHL], [IGSL]; 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920; [RRPL]
· Federal Indexes: 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1920: [ISHL], [IGSL]
· Iowa State: 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925, microfilm: [ISHL], [IGSL]; 1885, 1895, 1915, 1925: [RRPL]
Vital Records
· Birth records, (from 1880): [LCCH]; (1880 – 1936), microfilm: [ISHL], [IGSL]
· Index to birth records, (1880 – 1894), microfilm: [ISHL]
· Marriage records, (from 1876): [LCCH]; (1872 – 1928), microfilm: [ISHL], [IGSL]
· Indexes to marriage records, (1872 – 1913), microfilm: [ISHL]
· Death records, (from 1880): [LCCH]; (1880 – 1919), microfilm: [ISHL], (1880-1935), microfilm: [IGSL]
Probate and related records
· Probate records, (from 1885): [LCCH]; (1872 – 1926), microfilm: [ISHL]
· Will records, (1875 – 1894), microfilm: [ISHL]
Land and related records
· Land records, (from 1862): [LCCH]
· Town lot deeds, (1872 - 1893), microfilm: [ISHL]; index (1872 - 1905), microfilm: [ISHL]
· Land deed records, (1868 – 1904), microfilm: [ISHL]; index (1868 – 1905), microfilm: [ISHL]; (1900-1902), microfilm: [IGSL]
· Land homestead records, (1875 – 1934), microfilm: [ISHL]
· Land patent deed records, (1889 – 1908), microfilm: [ISHL]
Maps, atlases and
gazetteers
· Rockford Map Pub: Atlas and Directory of Lyon County, Iowa, (1972): [ISHL]
· Alden Pub Co.: Standard Atlas of Lyon County, Iowa, (1911): [ISHL]
· Lyon County maps for 1888, 1911, 1931, 1935, 1946, 1947-8, 1949-50, 1953, 1972, 1987, 1988, 1993-2: [RRPL]
· Rock Rapids directories for 1968 – 1995: [RRPL]
· Selected area maps and directories: [GPL]
Court records
· Court records, (from 1874): [LCCH]
· Administrators, Guardians, Executors records, (1911 - ), microfilm: [ISHL]
· Naturalization records, (1873 – 1934), microfilm: [ISHL]; index to naturalization records, (1873 – 1954), microfilm: [ISHL]
· Divorce records, (from 1899): [LCCH]
Cemetery
· Dale Cemetery in Lyon County, Iowa and other stories, n.d.: [ISHL], [IGSL]
· Area cemetery records: [RRPL], [GPL]
Funeral homes
· George
- Bolin Funeral Service
300 East Michigan, George, Iowa 51237
· Larchwood
- Roste Funeral Home
1004 Broadway, Larchwood, Iowa 51241
· Rock Rapids
- Palmer and Swank Funeral Home
528 Main Street, Rock Rapids, Iowa 51246
Church, Bible
· Hill: Holy Name Heritate: our Catholic Past in Rock Rapids, 1871 – 1975, (1975): [ISHL]
· Minor: All about Beloit: a history … and memories of the Beloit Lutheran Church, (1998): [ISHL]
Newspapers: (on microfilm for towns listed)
· Selected area newspapers: [GPL], [LRPL]
· Inwood Herald Newspaper, reprint (1905): [IGSL]
· Doon
- Door Press, (1991 – 1992): [ISHL]; (1903 – 1992): [RRPL]
· George
- The Lyon County News, (1915 – 1998): [ISHL]; (1910 – 1990): [RRPL]
· Inwood
- Inwood Herald, (1890 – 1974): [ISHL], [RRPL]
- The West Lyon Herald, (1976 – 1997): [ISHL], [RRPL]
· Larchwood
- The Larchwood Leader, (1888 – 1892, 1894 – 1932): [ISHL]; (1888 – 1932): [RRPL]
- The Leader, (1874): [ISHL]
· Little Rock
- Little Rock Free Press, (1900 – 1951): [RRPL]
· Rock Rapids
- Rock Rapids Journal, (1871 – 1872): [RRPL]
- Rock Rapids Review, (1876, 1880, 1883 – 1884): [ISHL]; (1873 – 1928): [RRPL]
- The Lyon County Reporter, (1885 – 1899, 1929 – 1944, 1956 – 1996): [ISHL]; (1881 – 1892): [RRPL]
- The Review, (1893 – 1916): [ISHL]
- The Reporter, (1899- 1910): [ISHL]
- Rock Rapids Reporter, (1910 – 1929): [ISHL]
- Lyon County Leader, (1932-1944): [RRPL]
- The Lyon County Reporter and the Lyon County Leader, (1944 – 1955): [ISHL]
Military
· Soldier’s discharge papers: [LCCH]
Educational, business and other:
· Kohrt: Nine months at $90., [school related], (1997): [ISHL]
Miscellaneous:
· Vande Berg: Northwest Iowa historical and genealogical resources by community, (1999): [ISHL]
County & Local Histories:
· Hyde: Historical Sketch of Lyon County, Iowa, (1872): [ISHL]; (reprint 1960): [IGSL], [RRPL]
· Ogle Co.: Compendium of History, Reminiscences and Biography of Lyon County, Iowa, (1904), reprint (1974): [ISHL], [RRPL]; microfilm: [IGSL]
· Monlux: Early History of Lyon County, (1909): [ISHL], [RRPL]
· Sullivan: Memories of Alvord, 1893 – 1968, (1968): [ISHL]
· Kock: Alvord, Iowa Centennial, 1893 – 1993, (1993): [ISHL]
· Lawrence: Bonnie Doon, our town … 1868 – 1992, (1992): [ISHL], [RRPL]
· Knoblock: Yesterday’s memories are today’s treasures [Lester, Iowa], 1889 – 1989, (1989): [ISHL], [RRPL]
· Smith: Buncombe to “Twenty-two”, (1975): [ISHL], [RRPL]
· Kruse: Those bygone years – the town of Little Rock, (1976): [ISHL], [RRPL]
· In and Around George, Iowa, 1871-1912, (1976): [IGSL], [RRPL]
· Getman: “Early Lyon” – Clippings from The Lyon County Reporter, (1932): [RRPL]
· Inwood Centennial Book Committee: Inwood’s First 100 Years, 1884 – 1984, (1984): [RRPL]
Publications
· Iowa Genealogical Society: Hawkeye Heritage articles through 1993, [IGSL] (Entries indicate year, issue number and page number.)
- Lyon County Cemetery List (1989), 3:154
- Lyon County Marriages, 1872 – 1880, (1991), 2:76
Section IV: Credits
We wish to acknowledge the contributions made by the Lyon County Courthouse, the Lyon County Historical Society, the Iowa State Historical Society and volunteers at the Iowa Genealogical Society in providing data contained in this research guide. Their efforts have been of immeasurable help in gathering this information.