[2] Prior to its opening for European settlement, the area around what is now Victor was home to the Sac and Fox Indians.

This trail generally followed the Bear Creek Valley in western Iowa County and passed about a mile south of what would later become Victor.

[4] In 1856 and 1857, Mormon Handcart Pioneers followed the Dragoon Trail south of Victor on their way from the end of the rail line in Iowa City to the Salt Lake Valley in Utah.

[5] The route was later referred to locally as the "State Road" and today is officially designated by the county as "A Diagonal".

[6] In April 1854, George W. Wilson, a native of Ohio, purchased from the federal government the land on which Victor now occupies.

In October 1861, Wilson permanently moved from Ohio to Iowa and soon began negotiations with Thomas C. Durant of New York City, a railroad officer.

The resulting agreement involved granting a right of way through Wilson's land, providing space for a switch yard and station, and building a depot.

Materials were sourced partly from Wilson's timber land near Victor, with additional supplies purchased from Davenport and Iowa City.

Samuel Howard, the foreman, led the construction with assistance from several workers who prepared and transported the timbers.

[8] A man named McEckley was the first to build a house, store and mill at what is now the site of Victor.

The early settlers, primarily of Irish and German descent, came from Ohio, Indiana, and Maryland.

The Cedar Rapids and Missouri River Railroad, under lease to the Chicago & North Western, however, was the first to actually reach Council Bluffs.

[12] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.49 square miles (1.27 km2), all land.

The yard game originated in Belgium (where it is known as krulbollen) and was brought over by Belgian immigrants to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century.

[19] It is still played today by many Victor residents as well as in the nearby towns of Belle Plaine, Clutier, Marengo, Ladora, and Blairstown.

From 2014 to 2016, about a dozen HLV students used black and white paints to replicate four photos, which they combined into a single image.