Genealogy Collection
The library has an extensive collection of genealogical materials for in-library use. Our collection includes local family histories, cemetery records, and other items of interest. There is also computer which has many genealogical sites bookmarked as well as access to specific local genealogical files, including the index for the Ft. Madison Democraft microfilm. A paper index book is available for obituaries of the West Point Bee 1916 - 1979.
The genealogical collection housed and owned by the West Point Public Library was organized in 2004, when the library moved into it's current location.
The collection includes microfilm of the local area newspapers, The West Point Bee and The Daily Democrat. We house books of local family histories, cemetery records, histories of West Point and surrounding towns, plat books, atlases, school yearbooks, church histories, and a multitude of other articles from the West Point and Lee County areas.
The collection also includes the Glass Plate Negative Collection which began in the summer of 2020 and was finished three years later in the summer of 2023. This project was completed through support from voluneeters, including Ted Zumlicka who transported the glass plates from South Dakota and Fritz Goeckner who scanned the glass plates as well as monetary donations from Terri Olson, The Margaret Schierbrock Estate, and the West Point Pubic Library Memorial Fund. The collection includes approximately 320 portraits of local citizens, from an unknown photographer, circa early to mid-1930’s. The physical glass plates are housed in the genealogy room along with a photo album and spreadsheet. To access them online at the Iowa Heritage Digital Collections please click on the following link: https://www.iowaheritage.org/items/browse?collection=296&sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle
Due to the nature of the items in the genealogical collection, we do not circulate these items, however, anyone is welcome to visit the library during open hours to view the collection and library staff are always happy to help make copies of information contained in the genealogical collection.
Quick Links
ProQuest has partnered with Ancestry.com to create Ancestry® Library Edition, one of the most important genealogical collections available today. It has unparalleled coverage of the United States and the United Kingdom, including census, vital, church, court, and immigration records, as well as record collections from Canada, Europe, Australia and other areas of the world! This can be only accessed from within the library.
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IAGenWeb is part of the IAGenWeb Project, a group of volunteers working together to provide Internet websites for genealogical research in every county and every state of the United States. The Project is non-commercial and fully committed to free access for everyone. , a group of volunteers working together to provide Internet websites for genealogical research in every county and every state of the United States. The Project is non-commercial and fully committed to free access for everyone. USGenWeb Project
Iowa Heritage Digital Collections is a resource for students, educators, historians, genealogists, and anyone else interested in the people, places, and institutions of Iowa. The site provides free access to digital collections from a variety of Iowa cultural institutions.
For direct access to the West Point Public Library Glass Negative Collection click on the following link: https://www.iowaheritage.org/items/browse?collection=296&sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle
Reprints of the 1879 History of Lee County Iowa book are available for purchase. Please contact the library or fill out the order form if interested. The price is $70.00 plus $5.00 shipping, if needed. Make checks payable to and return form to:
West Point Historical Society
317 5th St.
PO Box 236
West Point, IA 52656