James C. Savery was Des Moines' first great hotel man. Arriving in 1857, Mr. Savery purchased the Marvin House on 3rd Street and renamed it the Everett House which became the terminus of the stage…

One of the earliest breweries was established by Frank Spitz near River, Second and Elm, on the Raccoon River. He ran a successful business until when while crossing the ice on the Raccoon River,…

A history of the Rowat Cut Stone Company should begin many years back. In fact, in 1850 a boy was born into a large family in Kilmarnock, Scotland. This boy started to learn to be a stonecutter at the…

“Fear God, Tell the Truth, and Make Money.”

Iowans, has voting got you down? C’mon, cheer up and practice gratitude to the Aussies who 162 years ago invented something that forever changed how we vote in America: the Australian Secret…

*Original article published in The Annals of Iowa 20 (1936), State Historical Society of Iowa. Isaac Brandt and his family moved to Des Moines in the spring of 1858 and decided to locate on the east…

1901 Construction begins on the 400-acre base Fort Des Moines on Des Moines’ South Side.1903-1904 Two companies of the all-black U.S. Army 25th Infantry surprise Des Moines’ local citizens by arriving…

The story of Alfred Lawson's utopian, non-profit university is one of the stranger episodes in the history of the Midwest.

The 81 acre lot to the west of Des Moines that would become Greenwood Park had begun to be developed as a private park by the original owner, T.E. Brown – believing that the location and the landscape…

Everyone in America were riding bicycles in 1896, and the people of Des Moines were no exception.