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Walnut Street, Looking West from Fourth Ave.
Automobiles, trolley cars, and horse drawn carriages all shared the road on Walnut Street in downtown Des Moines. On the left is the original Kirkwood Hotel, replaced in 1930 by the current building. On the right is a variety of clothing, and dry…
Polk County Courthouse
The Polk County Courthouse was erected in 1900 and dedicated on Oct. 31, 1906. The architectural design is Modified Renaissance style. The cost of construction was $750,000. The Polk County Courthouse is listed on National Register of Historic…
Locust Street Looking West from 5th Street
This view of Locust Street was taken from just beyond the 5th Avenue intersection. On the right is the Marquardt Block, home of the Commercial Savings Bank and Franklin Hotel. Across the street is the Crocker Building, home to a variety of offices…
Locust Street Looking West from 5th Street
This view of Locust Street was taken from just beyond the 5th Avenue intersection. On the right is the Marquardt Block, home of the Commercial Savings Bank and Franklin Hotel. Across the street is the Crocker Building, home to a variety of offices…
4th Street, Looking North
This view looks north up 4th street, from just above Court Avenue. The Kirkwood Hotel is on the left. It was replaced with the current building in 1930, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Observatory Building was built…
012_West High School
In 1859 the Des Moines school district, previously one entity, fractioned off into wards. West High School was in the Fourth Ward. On July 1, 1864 the board voted to open the high school. West was the largest high school in Iowa. It moved to the…
Locust Street, Looking East from 5th Avenue
Looking east down Locust street we see the Clapp Block (with the Iowa Mutual Tornado sign) and the Observatory Building both on the right side of the street. Capital Center is what currently occupies that side of the street. The left side of street,…
Sixth Avenue Looking South
This view looks south down Sixth Avenue from Locust Street. Automobiles, trolley cars and horse drawn carriages all crowd the road. On the right are housed Higgin’s Pharmacy, the State Insurance Company and Boston Market. Beyond that is Utica…
Des Moines River, 6th Avenue Bridge
View looking southeast across the Des Moines River at the 6th Avenue Bridge.
7th and Locust Street, Chamberlain Hotel
Originally planned at four stories, the Chamberlain Hotel grew to six stories before its completion in 1903. D.S. Chamberlain hired W.L. Brown, former manager of the Savery hotel, to oversee construction of the building. Current site of the Ruan Two…