USA > Iowa > Black Hawk County > History of Black Hawk County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 29
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50
The fine three-story city hall was ordered built by the city council in June. The cost was to be $9,000.
Contract for the paving of West Third Street, from Commercial to Allen, let to John McGorrisk.
Heavy wind storm visited the county on July 24th.
1897
In this year there was a substantial increase in the general business of the city-wholesale, retail and manufacturing. There was a total of 49,294 square feet of cement walk. The sales of the manufacturing establishments in this year amounted to $1,608,000. The retail trade of the city for this year was $2.179,000. There were 125 homes built during the year. Financially, Waterloo was at high tide.
1898
At the beginning of this year there had been located in this city twenty new factories and plants, all of high value.
During this year the Y. M. C. A. Building was completed. Improvements in residences and business buildings in this year amounted to the sum of $431,232.
The Russell-Lamson Block and the Masonic Temple were completed during this year.
1899
The wholesale trade of Waterloo was larger than any previous year by the sum of $1,544,247. The total trade was $10,809,731.
In improvements there was the sum of $243.265 expended.
237
HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
The total number of new buildings and improvements was 363. The additions to the scope of the city were all of excellent character, built to last and to improve the quality of the city as a whole.
1900
This year ran through at an even pace with former years. A good many buildings and handsome residences were put up and the wholesale business and shipping increased correspondingly to former years.
1901
The year 1901, however, was one of remarkable expansion and development, not only from a trade point of view, but in opening of new additions and in the energy displayed by the Board of Trade and Chamber of Commerce, also private individuals, in securing important manufacturing interests and new enterprises. The material improvements did not come until later, but in 1901 the seed was sown which was to bear fruit later. City improvements amounted to $1,610,943.
The Union Mill Company erected a new mill at the cost of $30,000 and the Waterworks Company enlarged their plant and made many new improvements to the amount of $48,000. The Sias & Cole Company opened a new wholesale fruit house and erected a $12,000 building. J. E. Sedgwick invested $14,000 in a business block. The new building of the Herrick Refrigerator Plant cost $10,000; a school building on Washington Street cost $40,000. The new court- house was built at a cost of $97,000. Matt Parrott's Sons new office cost $25,000. The Casket Company's plant, a new factory, cost $15,000; the Canning Company's plant, a new one, $25,000 ; and the Illinois Central improvements ran up to the sum of $246,000. These items note a few of the larger improvements made during the year.
The east side depot of the Chicago Great Western was burned on the morning of March 4th.
Wangler Brothers began the erection of a block early in the year.
The First National Bank of Cedar Falls failed in June.
J. T. Knapp & Company, Cedar Falls bankers, failed August 24th and the bank's doors were closed.
1902
Building improvements amounted to $1,208,520. Most of this money went into business blocks. The largest improvements of the year were the following :
The Lafayette Block, five stories, for offices.
The Waterloo Fruit & Commission Company's Block, $25,000.
Powers Manufacturing Company, $10,000.
Casket Company, brick block, $10,000.
A. Holzer, remodeling store, $7,500.
First Brethren Church, $6,000.
Henry Weis residence, $16,000.
Waterloo Carriage Company, building, $25,000.
238
HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
Palmer-Hubbard Creamery Company, $14,000.
In all there were 386 buildings erected.
I90.4
This was a year of continued growth for Waterloo. The total amount spent in improvements in this year was the sum of $1,287,145. Perhaps the most auspicious of the improvements was the Federal Building erected in this year.
On February 9th, Andrew Carnegie gave $40,000 for two libraries to be located on the cast and west sides of the river. It was in this year, also, that the water supply of Waterloo was first claimed to be impure. In this year the Beck Block, including the Elk's Hall, was destroyed by fire, entailing a loss of about thirty-one thousand dollars. During the last of December the new Waterloo & Cedar Falls Gas & Electric Company was organized with a capital stock of $595,000.
1905
The total amount spent for improvements in this year was $1,016,816.49. This amount is slightly in decrease of last year, but the difference lay in the quality of improvements. In 1905 the new buildings and residences were less in number, but a little better in quality. Asphalt paving was laid on both sides of the river, this work costing $115,975.39. Brick paving was laid and cost $20,679.75. Cement walks costing $25,747.50 were put down also in this year. There were 6,187 feet of sewerage laid in the city, of all sized tile, ranging from 8-inch to 18-inch.
The Illinois Central did very little improving this year, but the Rock Island built a number of industry tracks for the different manufacturers. Fire losses amount to over forty-two thousand dollars in the city.
1906
In this year it was stated that the actual value of Waterloo property amounted to $14,935,175. Improvements this year were in value $1,388,943. There were 4,478 men employed in the different factories; the public school enrollment was 3,934; there were 458 new houses erected; bank deposits totaled $5.000,000 ; the fire loss during the year was $63.499.17.
Until this time this year had been the banner year in the history of Waterloo. The improvements had made a big gain ; among the important additions to the city the Majestic Theater, Cedar River Park Amphitheater and Cottage. Fullerton ' Place, St. Mary's School and the Ellis Hotel.
On October 9th fire on west side, starting in Klinefelter's livery across from Courier office, destroyed $50,000 worth of property.
The old mill building back of the Y. M. C. A. was destroyed in the summer of this year. It had been constructed by James Eggers in 1854.
1907
In Waterloo during this year there was a corresponding increase in improve- ments, in business and in many other lines of civic activity. There were. for
-
--
FEDERAL BUILDING AND POSTOFFICE, WATERLOO
1
x
IDATIONE
239
HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
instance, 325 new buildings erected, 276 new residences and seven new factories added to the list in the city. The principal improvements, the amount spent, were as follows: Westminster Presbyterian Church, $20,000; Congregational Church. $55,000 ; First Lutheran, $17,000; Artificial Ice Company, $45,000; S. P. Wadley Produce House, $7,000; William Galloway Company, $8,000; Iowa Dairy Sep- arator Company, $25,000; G. B. Miller Foundry, $3,000: Connoly Carriage Factory, $4,000. There were 4.28 miles of asphalt paving laid in the city ; there were 8.56 miles of curbing ; 3.76 miles of cement walks; 1.5 miles of cewerage ; and two-tenths miles of brick paving.
The condition of Waterloo in this year in every way was excellent. The city had become larger and larger as a shopping center of this and surrounding counties, also the shipping had increased to a great extent.
1908
Notwithstanding the financial flurry at the beginning of this year the improve- ments in Waterloo for the season eclipsed all former records, reaching the grand total of $2,075,140.46. The bulk of this went into new bridges, pavement and sewers. The business of the city increased in proportion to the improvements.
1909
In this year, on November 8th, James Virden died at Rowan, Iowa.
1910
The year 1910 began disastrously, for on January 9th the east side business section was visited by a large fire, inflicting a property loss of $71,000. The chief sufferers in this fire were W. C. Kohl's shoe store, the James Black Dry Goods Company, Taylor's music house and the Palace clothing store. Some of the tenants of the buildings barely escaped with their lives.
Notwithstanding this destructive fire the year turned out to be the best one in the history of the city up until that time. The improvements amounted to $2,979,472.86 ; there were 660 new houses erected in the residential districts and there were fifty-five factories and business blocks constructed. The finest busi- ness block to be built during this year was the First National Bank Building, costing the sum of $250,000. The Seraphic Heights Hospital, costing $150,000, was completed also. Over three miles of pavement was put down, sewers were extended in every direction, and many feet of cement walks laid. The electrolier lights on the Fifth Street Bridge were installed during the summer.
The railroads and interurban companies made many improvements of their property in this year, in order to meet the increasing demand upon their services.
In the schools of Waterloo there were 5,505 pupils and 182 teachers, showing much increase on the preceding year.
I9II
The improvements in 191I amounted to $2,260,318. This was several thousand dollars less than 1910, owing to the lack of business block construction. There
240
HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
were 322 new residences added to the city, thirty business blocks, two factories, one new hospital, two new churches and one new school building.
The Young Women's Christian Association was established in Waterloo the first of the year, having a pledged membership of 2,700. In this year, also, the new armory for Company B, Fifty-third Iowa National Guard was completed. There were 132 boulevard lamps put up, adding great beauty to the business section of the city. In this year the Citizens Gas & Electric Company began to install underground wires, in order to eliminate the unsightly poles along the main streets.
The Waterloo Gun Club was organized in the fall with fifty-five charter members. Trap grounds were installed in Prospect Park. In this connection it may be said that the first gun club was formed in Waterloo in 1880 and since that time there have been seven different organizations, all abandoned as the city crowded them out.
1912
The year 1912 in Waterloo was a goodly year, fraught with unusual pros- perity. The record of private improvements ran very high. The total amount of improvements was $3,002,669, of which sum $2.176,225 was spent privately. There were 11,362 square yards of pavement laid ; 1.9 miles of sanitary sewerage ; 6.5 miles of cement walks ; thirty-six cluster boulevard lights ; 611 new residences ; forty-three new business blocks ; two churches ; and two schoolhouses. The Wash- ington Irving Schoolhouse and the Citizens Gas & Electric Company's office build- ing were among the most notable improvements of the year; the former build- ing cost $45,000 and the latter $85,000. The Waterloo, Cedar Falls & Northern Interurban Company extended their line this year to La Porte City.
In the factories of Waterloo there were from four thousand to five thousand workers employed during the year, the principal works being the Galloway Com- pany and the Iowa Dairy Separator Company and the Gasoline Engine Works. These three companies employed respectively 800, 700 and 2,629 men. There were 138 other factories in the city having a pay roll of from ten to forty men.
There were many new concerns incorporated during this year. The freight traffic was enormous, fully 100,000 cars going in and out of Waterloo during the year. The bank clearings amounted to over seventy million dollars. In con- nection with a previous statement it might be said that the total receipts of rail- roads for shipping out Waterloo goods was $2,500,000.
The city expense for the year was $182,154. During the year there were 175 fire calls, the largest fire being on January 9th, when the Peerless Separator Factory at corner of Sycamore and Second streets was destroyed with $100,000 loss. On January 30th the Drop Forge Plant at Cedar Falls was burned, entailing a loss of $40,000.
The postal receipts this year were $216,490.46.
The new armory for Company B, Fifty-third Iowa National Guard, was con- structed this year on Sixth, between Sycamore and Lafayette streets.
The Lafayette School was erected this year at the corner of Colorado and Lafayette streets.
St. Mark's Episcopal Church started this year. Cost, $35,000.
East side.
West side.
South Street. VIEWS OF RESIDENTIAL WATERLOO
241
HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
1913
This was a feature year for the city. The two notable improvements made were the James Black Building and the magnificent Russell-Lamson Hotel, de- scriptions of which may be found in another part of this book. The sum of improvements for the year exceeded that of 1912 by over a million dollars. A total of $4,088,724 was spent.
Some of the achievements of the year were as follows: The postoffice receipts for the year were $238,363, a gain of over $20,000 on the preceding year; the bank clearings amounted to $81,991,887 ; the Illinois Central paid a total sum of. $1,129,704 in wages in the city alone; a total of 23,933 feet of water mains was laid at a cost of about $29,066; thirty-four conventions with a total of 6,000 dele- gates were held in the city during the year; ten miles of underground telephone conduits containing 1,910 miles of copper wire were laid; 494 miles of copper telephone wire were placed in aerial cables and. 1,000 lines were added to the switchboard ; 61/2 miles of sewerage were built at a cost of $57,282; over twelve miles of cement walks were laid, costing $31,400; 9 plats of new additions to Waterloo, containing 2,339 lots, were filed; a total of 360 families moved to the city during the year ; there were 6,614 pupils in the city school ; nearly seven miles of asphalt paving was laid at a cost of $200,833 and the curbing and gutters cost an additional sum of $24,570 ; 374 residences were built, thirty-six business blocks, one new church, and seven factory buildings. The church was the Plymouth Congregational.
In the year more paving was put down in the City of Waterloo than in any other twelve months in the history of the city, with the single exception of 1907. In the latter year the city paid the cost of improving street intersections while in 1913 the expense was borne by the property owners.
There were 184 fires this year, with loss of $31,341.64.
"The Lincoln School on Parker Street and the Thomas A. Edison School in Galloway Addition were built this year.
A RESUME OF 1914
In the year 1914 there was spent in Waterloo for improvements the sum of $2,000,609, divided as follows: Public, $363,534; private, $1.391,075; utilities, $246,000. There were 92,592.1I square yards of paving constructed, also 47,611.38 feet of curb and gutters, 33,547 feet of water mains, 30,196.91 feet of cement sidewalks, 23,764 feet of sewers, 22 boulevard light posts.
There were 1,398 arrests made during the year, a slight increase over the previous year. The Waterloo Radio Association was formed during the year, for the purpose of studying wireless telegraphy and erecting stations in the city. New business concerns, operated for financial profit, were incorporated in the past year with an aggregate authorized capital stock of $11,482,700. The postal receipts for the last year amounted to $206,634.53. The amount of loss in the city by fire was $403,322.14. There were 398 deaths in the city during the' year. Vol. 1-16
242
HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
ONE YEAR'S STATISTICS
The year 1913 in Waterloo was, of course, better than any preceding year. Space will not allow the presentation of figures showing the growth of the city for every year, but 1913 may be taken as a representative year, to be detracted from for preceding years and added to for subsequent years.
The total of all private improvements in the city in 1913 amounted to $3,019,- 483 ; public utility corporation amounted to $606,650; total of all public improve- ments was $462.591 ; making a grand total of $4,088.724. Note the figures, year by year. from 1903. In the latter year the total improvements amounted to $1,030.364; in 1904, $1,287.145 ; in 1905, $1,076,876; in 1906, $1,388,743; in 1907, $1.567,168; in 1908, $2,075,140.46; in 1909, $2.979,472.86; in 1910, $3.691.026; in 1911, $2,260,318; in 1912, $3,022,669 ; in 1913, $4,088,724 ; and in 1914, $2,000,- 609. The decrease is caused by the financial depression felt all over the United States in the last year.
THE PRESENT WATERLOO
The slogan of the city is "Waterloo Way Wins." This expresses the character and disposition of the city better than anything else. It is undoubtedly the fastest growing city in the Middle West and a city with no superior in record of achieve- ment and progress. Located in the center of a rich agricultural region and with the great dairy interests centering here the city has become the mecca of manu- facturers of implements for farming and dairying.
The banks, the business establishments, the schools, the churches, the factories, the organizations of all kinds, the amusements, the newspapers and the different public utilities are true indexes of the condition of the city. The standard is placed high and maintained.
The city limits of Waterloo are practically four miles square, or sixteen square miles, 71/2 of which were platted into city blocks in 1910. In 1910 there were 298 streets, whereas there are now 330, with an average length of eleven blocks. Since the year 1912 the city has erected 1,736 houses, flats and buildings that carry a street number. This does not include the apartment and office buildings above the first floor.
There are at present in Waterloo 10 miles of brick paving, 40 miles of asphalt paving, I mile of concrete paving, 69 miles of sanitary sewers, 11/2 miles of storm sewers, 135 miles of permanent sidewalk, 192 acres in city parks, 141 street arc lights, 94 incandescent lamps, 536 Welsbach gas lamps, 215 5-light boulevard lamp posts. 55 miles of water mains, 504 fire hydrants, 4,400 water meters.
INCORPORATION AND ROLL OF CITY OFFICERS
The first steps toward incorporating the City of Waterloo were taken in 1854. At the November term in that year of the County Court a petition was presented asking the court to order an election for a vote upon the question of incorporation. At the December term of the same year it is certified in the records that at the election a majority of votes cast were for incorporation and another election was ordered on January 13. 1855, for the purpose of choosing three
--
VIEW IN HIGHLAND, WATERLOO
VIEW OF FOURTH STREET, WEST, WATERLOO
243
HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
persons to draft articles of incorporation, but it was subsequently ascertained that part of the proceedings had been irregular and the matter was dropped.
One or two petitions were presented to the court afterwards, asking for votes on the question of incorporation, but no election was ordered until 1868. On May 26th of that year a petition, numerously signed, was presented to D. W. Foote, then county judge, setting forth that the petitioners desired to have Water- loo incorporated as a city of the second class, describing the territory to be in- cluded in the corporation, and asking the court to take the necessary steps to order a vote. Accordingly, Samuel D. Shaw, P. J. Siberling, W. J. Burbee, Andrew Thompson and Robert Robinson were appointed by the court as commissioners to call an election of the qualified voters to decide the question.
On May 29th the commissioners issued the notice for an election on Monday, June 22d, at the Central House. Six hundred and seventy-nine votes were cast at this election, 372 in favor of incorporation and 305 against. On June 23d, after certifying the returns, it was ordered and decreed by the court that, as a majority of the votes had been cast in favor of incorporation and the provisions of the law having been complied with, the city was incorporated in the second class.
On June 29th the commissioners issued a notice for an election of officers for the city, to be held at the Commercial Hotel on Monday, July 20th, at which time the first officers of the new City of Waterloo were elected.
The first meeting of the city council held after the incorporation was on July 24, 1868. The first ordinance passed by the council was one fixing the rates for licenses for circuses and menageries.
The following is the summary of the city officers of Waterloo from 1868 to 1914:
MAYORS
R. A. Whitaker, 1868-73; Lewis Lichty, 1873-77; Matt Parrott, 1877-80; J. H. Kuhns, 1880-82; Lewis Lichty, 1882-85 ; J. H. Kuhns, 1885-89; S. J. Hoot, 1889-93 ; J. M. Groat, 1893-99; J. W. Krapfel, 1899-1901 ; P. J. Martin, 1901-06; J. R. Rector, 1906-08 ; R. A. Doty, 1908-10; J. R. Rector, 1910-12; R. C. Thomp- son, 1912-14.
CLERKS
J. S. George. 1868-69; Lewis Lichty, 1869-73; William Galloway, 1873-74; J. H. Kuhns, 1874-80; D. R. Weaver, 1880-81; M. T. Owens, 1881-82; D. R. Weaver, 1882-85; W. F. Parrott, 1885-86; J. W. Richards, 1886-87; F. L. Gil- bert, 1887-92 ; H. C. Schultz, 1892-1904; L. H. Stevens, 1904-06; R. C. Thompson, 1906-12; Russell L. Degon, 1912-14.
TREASURERS
C. A. Farwell, 1868-70; J. H. Leavitt, 1870-72; H. Nauman. 1872-74; C. A. Farwell, 1874-77; John W. Krapfel, 1877-78; A. C. Bunnell, 1878-79; J. W. Krapfel, 1879-85; F. L. Gilbert, 1885-87; J. W. Krapfel, 1887-89; William Thompson, 1889-91 ; W. W. Miller, 1891-93; F. J. Eighmey, 1893-95; W. W. Miller, 1895-97 ; F. J. Eighmey, 1897-98; W. W. Miller, 1898-1901 ; F. J. Eighmey,
244
HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
1901-04; W. W. Miller, 1904-06; F. J. Eighmey, 1906-08; W. W. Miller, 1908-10; C. W. Stilson, 1910-12: C. L. McDermott, 1912-14.
MARSHALS
S. M. Hoff. 1868-69; J. P. Evans, 1869-73; James Ellis, 1873-74 ; J. P. Evans, 1874-76; H. H. Saunders, 1876-78; H. W. Jenney, 1878-81; Charles Mantle, 1881-82; D. E. Hume. 1882-83; W. C. Munger, 1883-86; M. W. Gipe, 1886-88; S. M. Hoff, 1888-93; J. F. Klingaman, 1893-1901 ; O. H. Simmerling, 1901-06; J. N. Sweitzer. 1906-08: E. A. Leighton, 1908-10; W. T. Dineen, 1910-12; E. A. Leighton, 1912-14.
ASSESSORS
A. C. Bunnell. 1869-70; A. J. Warren, 1870-73; H. P. Herring. 1873-74; T. E. Churchill, 1874-75; H. W. Sill, 1875-78; P. J. Siberling, 1878-80; W. J. Burr, 1880-81 ; P. J. Siberling, 1881-83; C. C. Sedgwick, 1883-87 ; D. R. Weaver, 1887-89: J. P. Kieffer, 1889-93: J. H1. Kuhns, 1893-1912: J. Sid Anderson, 1912- 14: B. H. Kasht, 1914.
SOLICITORS
Lewis Lichty, 1868-71 ; J. L. IIusted, 1871-77 ; O. C. Miller, 1877-79; Horace Boies, 1879-81 ; George Ordway, 1881-83 : Samuel Hayes, 1883-84; C. W. Mullan, 1884-87; Heber Hoff, 1887-89: H. H. Bezold, 1889-97; J. E. Williams, 1897- 1906; B. F. Swisher, 1906-10; M. H. Kelly, 1910-14; A. W. Mullan, 1914.
The first board of trustees of the city consisted of : H. B. Allen, G. Conger, W. A. Crowther, J. Hilferty. Sullivan Day, F. E. Cutler, R. D. Titcomb and A. Spencer. They served in the year 1868.
FRANCHISES
The different franchises issued by the City of Waterloo follow :
Waterloo Gas and Electric Company, February 25, 1901. This was a twenty- year franchise, in duplicate, one for the gas and one for the electricity.
Lamson's Electric Francise, August 6, 1900.
Western Union Franchise, June 3, 1895.
lowa Telephone Company, August 23. 1897.
Waterloo Street Railway, construction, July 31. 1885.
Waterloo Street Railway, operation. April 29, 1896, May 26. 1896, June 3, 1898.
Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska Railway, March 24, 1884, May 21, 1884.
Chicago, St. Paul and Kansas City Railway, June 9, 1886.
Illinois Central Railway. August 27, 1886.
Dubuque and Sioux City Railway, November 14, 1887, October 13, 1890, August 12, 1805.
Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota Railway. May 8, 1876, March 21, 1884, May 21. 1884.
Waterloo Water Works, December 10. 1885.
245
HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
WATERLOO WATER WORKS
The present Waterloo Water Works was begun in February, 1886, by the laying of a water main across the river. The time until April was used in dis- tributing pipe along the proposed route; owing to the frozen ground no digging could be done. The laying of the mains was completed in July, 1886, twelve miles of pipe having been put into the ground.
The firm of Dennison and Cowell were the first owners of the plant and were bonded for $85,000. N. W. Harris Company bought the bonds and guaranteed them. Dennison and Cowell defaulted and then N. W. Harris Company held the bonds until they were transferred to the City of Waterloo in 1910.
A full description of the wells sunk by this company may be found in the chapter on geology.
There are now fifty-five miles of water mains in the city, 504 fire hydrants, 4,400 water meters, 4,600 water consumers. The Waterloo Water Works plant is now worth $500,000. There are bonds outstanding at the present time to the sum of $525,000.
THE CITIZENS GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY
In the year 1879 a small water power electric plant was installed in the City of Waterloo by C. W. Harvey. This small plant was located alongside the west side flouring mills. On the east side of the river, where the Illinois Central Depot now stands, J. D. Patton, of Independence, erected and operated an equally small gas plant. In 1905, O. C. Miller and Mart Wyant, the owners of these two plants, established originally by Harvey and Patton, found a strong demand for an extension of their services, but the necessary expense to be entailed in im- proving their holdings was too much for them and they sold their gas and electric property to Rufus C. Dawes and I. C. Elston, Jr., also several other Chicago associates. The new owners enlarged these plants and largely increased their capacity. These same gentlemen who had taken over the Waterloo plants also held similar plants in Keokuk and Ottumwa. Finally they disposed of all three city systems. The Waterloo plants passed into the hands of Morris W. Stroud and associates of Philadelphia. This is the present ownership of the plant known as the Citizens Gas and Electric Company.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.