1869 Second Empire mansion of Union General and Transcontinental Railroad chief engineer Grenville M. Dodge, a National Historic Landmark in Council Bluffs
605 3rd Street, Council Bluffs, IA 51503
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Ticketed museum admission; check site for current pricing
Access
Limited Access
Three-story historic mansion; upper floors accessible only by stairs.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1869 · National Historic Landmark (1961) · Home of Union General and Transcontinental Railroad chief engineer Grenville M. Dodge · W.W. Boyington Second Empire design
Grenville Mellen Dodge (1831–1916) served as a Union major general during the Civil War, including command at the Battle of Atlanta, and afterward became chief engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad during construction of the eastern half of the Transcontinental Railroad. He also served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives and held later positions in railroad development, banking, and as a member of the Dodge Commission investigating the U.S. military response in the Spanish-American War.
The Dodge mansion was completed in 1869 at a cost of $35,000, designed in the Second Empire style by Chicago architect William W. Boyington — best known for the Chicago Water Tower. The house features original black-walnut woodwork, parquet floors, and bronze hardware with silver-plated trim. The Dodges lived in the home until Grenville's death in 1916; the family retained ownership until 1950.
The City of Council Bluffs purchased the house in 1963 and partnered with the Council Bluffs Historical Society to restore the interior to its 1869–1916 appearance. The adjacent Beresheim House was added to the museum complex in 1975 and now serves as a visitor center. The Dodge House was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961.
Sources
Local tradition collected by Council Bluffs residents and area paranormal writers describes several reported phenomena at and near the Dodge House. Inside the mansion, docents and visitors have reported the sound of a rocking chair in the upstairs study, brief glimpses of a man in nineteenth-century dress in interior doorways, and the faint smell of pipe tobacco in the front parlor.
A separate piece of folklore concerns Ruth Anne Dodge, Grenville's wife. The Black Angel — a bronze statue by Daniel Chester French installed in 1916 at Fairview Cemetery to mark Ruth Anne's grave — depicts the figure of an angel said by Ruth Anne in her dying days to have appeared to her in a vision. Council Bluffs residents have long incorporated the Black Angel into local folklore, with claims that the statue's eyes follow visitors and that misfortune follows those who touch it. The figure is several blocks from the Dodge House; the two locations are often discussed together.
The Dodge House staff have not endorsed or marketed the reports.
Notable Entities
Approximately one-hour docent tour of the 1869 Dodge mansion and the adjacent Beresheim House. Tours cover the Dodge family, the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, and the original black-walnut interior. The house museum operates as a partner of the Council Bluffs Historical Society.
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