Trails
to the Past of Iowa is accepting any
donations of genealogy materials that you may
have such as marriage announcements, news
articles, old obituaries, births, (you do not
need the birth certificate) just the
information, and biographies. If you have
any of these items please contact
me Marie
Miller the Iowa
State Administrator.
Linn County was created as
a named but unorganized area on December 21,
1837, as a part of Wisconsin Territory. It
became part of Iowa Territory on July 4, 1838
when the territory was organized. Linn County
was organized by the first legislative assembly
of the Iowa Territory on January 15, 1839. A
site was selected for its first county seat
along Indian Creek, and was named Marion, after
the Revolutionary War general Francis Marion. As
early as 1855, there were debates over moving
the county seat to the fast-growing Cedar
Rapids, southwest of Marion, but it was not
until November 6, 1919, that there were enough
votes in favor of the move (9,960 to 4,823). The
first rail line was built through Cedar Rapids
in 1859, and made the town (and the county) a
major commercial hub in eastern Iowa.
