Historic General Dodge House Museum — Attraction in Council Bluffs

You may think that if you've seen one Victorian mansion you've seen them all, but this one is truly magnificent. The curators here do an excellent job.

Council Bluffs is an interesting city. The western part, that closest to Omaha, lies in the ancient river floodplain--the land is flat, the streets are square, and the neighborhoods generally modest and uninspired. However, in the older, eastern part of the city, the land is suddenly hilly, the streets follow the terrain (i.e. they go every which way), and the old storefronts and Victorian architecture hearken back to the days when Council Bluffs was a thriving city and Omaha hadn't even been thought of yet. There are interesting neighborhoods near the Dodge House, and also further north near the Fairview cemetery. The cemetery itself is worth a look. Tourist information can be obtained at the...

Beautiful house! The architectural details are amazing - everything has some kind of decoration to it. There are actually two houses, and the tour begins at the first. Both were beautiful and the staff was great. We went on a super hot day, so both houses were warm. Not terrible, but if someone is super heat sensitive maybe wait until it is cooler. The public bathrooms are the actual bathrooms in the houses, so that was neat. Not very wheelchair accessible, but there's no way to make it be without ruining the historic structure. Price was pretty average, though for a large group it might add up fast. There is also a lot of history to see, along with the beautiful house, and of course it ties into the railroad and the...

This is one of the nicer historical residences we've seen. Big, beautiful, fancy, but not overdone. It was a house to cherish, and we felt it was lived in, not just a sterile museum. The fin you watch does a great lead up so you can understand General Dodge's contributions far more easily. I almost felt like I'd been in the house before, hard to explain... This is a very understandable piece of history. It led in very well to the idea of westwards expansion and immigration trends. When you leave a place feeling more educated, you know they got it right. Hat's off to Council Bluffs and anyone connected to the house museum. This was truly time...