Home Mission Cookbook

This antique fundraising cookbook has quite a personality. Council Bluffs, Iowa served as a critical railroad hub that connected the Eastern US to the Western parts of the country.  The city served as a jumping-off point for a wide array of immigrants and emigrants who sought their fortunes during the California Gold Rush, oversaw the linking of the East to the Western US as the Eastern Terminus for the Transcontinental Railroad, and acted as a gateway to the Plains during the Homesteading movement. The original plot of land for the Broadway Methodist church was donated by a former gambler, Civil War entrepreneur, and veteran who, after having experienced a spiritual awakening, purchased the land under one of the many local saloons in town and donated it to the church in perpetuity.  The congregation quickly began building and expanding as their numbers grew.  In the early 1900s, the church found itself in significant debt related to building project delays. This cookbook was likely wr