Catholic missionaries arrived in Des Moines in&nbsp;the early 1850s. The first mass took place in a log hut in Fort Des Moines in 1851. Then in 1856, the first church building, a small 40 by 24-foot wooden structure, was erected. The second church, a stone building, was built in 1865. As the congregation grew in the coming decades, the need for a larger building became apparent. The current structure was built in 1891 and was later declared a cathedral when the Diocese of Des Moines was founded in 1911.

Website

St. Ambrose Cathedral is a historic Catholic church built in 1891. It is a fine example of Romanesque Revival architecture and features a tower that stands 120 feet tall. Designed by architect James Egan, the church is the third building for the St. Ambrose congregation, which was the first Catholic congregation in the city. The building also features stained glass windows depicting the arrival of Catholicism in Iowa and in the U.S.; this is unusual for Catholic Church as stained glass windows typically portray biblical themes. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. 

St. Ambrose Cathedral 

Starting at the first street west of the river at a renovated warehouse, this loop through downtown Des Moines includes museums, churches, hotels, and several historic buildings such as the Savory Hotel, St. Ambrose Cathedral, and the Polk County Courthouse. 

Des Moines Historic Walking Tour - West of the River

Wilson R. Warfield, John W. Howell, and William J. Pratt used to operate their wholesale grocery business from a three-story brick building on the corner of W. Court Avenue and Water Street. They had this six-story brick warehouse built next door by 1901, five bays wide and fronting on W. Court Avenue. They had the three-story building removed so that the warehouse could be expanded to its present size by 1909, fronting both W. Court Avenue and Water Street. The architectural firm Proudfoot and Bird designed the addition and possible also the original warehouse. Much of the first floor space was occupied by office space. The Des Moines office of the company employed sixty-five people in 1909 and the company had spread to Missouri, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, and Minnesota. Two of the company's brands were "Northwestern" and "Dandelion." An ice machine with a capacity of 18 tons was located in the basement by 1920. Fairly simple in design, the building lacks the typical ornamental stone of commercial buildings of the late nineteenth century, with plain stone lintels. Richardsonian brick arches link the brick piers on the sixth level, and the building has a corbelled brick frieze and lintels with a parapet wall on three sides. The building used to have a huge water tank on its roof. The company name used to be painted on the building's east and west sides. Later tenants included Western Grocery Company in 1935, C.C. Taft Company in 1938, Luthe Hardware Company in 1940, and L.H. Kurtz Company. An auger-shaped sliding chute descended from the top of the building to the first floor. Two original rooftop penthouses had metal exteriors and were slated to be removed in the 1980s. Levy, Malone and Company bought the building in 1978 and were planning to renovate it around the late 1980s. The exterior window lights are new but the rest of the building's design was preserved. The building lies at the east edge of the historic warehouse and shipping district, just west of the river, in the original commercial center of town. The Warfield, Howell and Pratt Warehouse was listed in the National Register in 1985 with significance in architecture, as a good example of turn of the twentieth century warehouse construction. The renovated interiors now hold office space in the building now known as 100 Court Avenue. The building features a common area lobby and restrooms in a garden level. Exposed brick and timber columns are part of some of the office space for lease. If you have a hankering for Cajun food after peering at the photo below showing Buzzard Billy's bar and grill on the street level, you need to go elsewhere for gator burgers - they have moved from the warehouse building to elsewhere (615 3rd St.) in town.

The Warfield, Pratt and Howell Company Warehouse occupied this location on Court and Water streets in 1884, They had this warehouse built in 1900-1901 for their wholesale grocery company. The Warfield and Pratt partners had moved the business to Iowa in 1880; Pratt became a partner in 1897. The six-story brick building reaches about 80 feet in height. A matching addition was added to the structure about six years after completion, resulting in two public facades, with the new façade on Water Street. After 1935, other businesses were housed in the building. It was listed in the National Register in 1985 and is now leased for office space. 

Warfield, Pratt and Howell Company Warehouse

Jacob Rubelmann&nbsp;was in the&nbsp;saddlery and harness products business. The thirteen railways and two rivers in Des Moines attracted him to the city in the late 1870s. He&nbsp;founded his company in 1878 and later built the Saddlery building in 1881, which underwent three additional phases of construction in the coming decades. Jacobsen's company also made various leather products such as horse clothing and whips. The building was later home to a shoemaker, a rubber company, a stove manufacturer, a glove company, and other businesses. A flood in 1993 filled the entire ground floor and the building&nbsp;remained vacant until 1996, when the brewing company moved in.

Built by businessman Jacob Rubelmann in 1884, the Des Moines Saddlery Company Building is an historic building situated in the heart of downtown Des Moines, Iowa. It is the oldest and most intact example of commercial Italianate architecture in the city. It is now the home of the Court Avenue Restaurant & Brewing Company. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Des Moines Saddlery Company Building (Court Avenue Restaurant & Brewing Company)

The Hawkeye Insurance Company was founded in 1865 by a lawyer named Ebenzezer Jared Ingersoll. It provided fire insurance to clients in the city (another company called the State Insurance Company was established in 1865 as well). Eventually, Des Moines became one of the the largest centers for fire insurance in the country. Hawkeye Insurance was successful thanks to proper management practices. Early on, it claimed to have represented $35 million in capital. In 1888, it had $250,000 in assets. It appears that the original part of the building was a pre-existing one-story law office. Hawkeye Insurance remodeled this building completely in 1869 and then in the coming years erected the rest of the present structure in stages. The company vacated the building in 1913 when it was bought by outside interests. That same year it was converted into a hotel called the Hawkeye Hotel. The name was changed to the Roxie Hotel by 1957. In the 1960s the building was converted into apartments and in the 1980s it was converted back into offices. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

The Hawkeye Insurance Company was the first successful casualty insurance company in Des Moines. Founded in 1865, it was housed in this building from its original construction in 1869 until the early 1900s. Local architect William Foster designed it as well as many other buildings in the city, including the Youngerman Building across the street, and throughout Iowa. The Hawkeye Insurance building is a fine example of Italianate architecture. It features an elaborate bracketed cornice, tall and thin hooded windows, and decorative terra cotta and brickwork.

Hawkeye Insurance Company Building

<h3>Conrad Youngerman</h3>Conrad Youngerman was born in Wichdorf, German on December 15, 1833. His father and grandfather were contractors. He became a stonecutter and then was drafted into the German army. After completing his service he immigrated to the U.S. in 1854 and found a job in a brickyard in the state of New York. He eventually moved to Lorain County, Ohio, where he met and married his wife, Miene. They then arrived in Des Moines on September 28, 1856. Youngerman quickly made a name for himself as a skilled contractor. He established a brick business and managed large construction crews of a building company. At its height, his business employed 150-250 workers and made four million bricks each year. In 1861, he was awarded the contract for the stonework on the Polk County Courthouse.Youngerman was also innovative. He developed an artificial stone called "abestine" to replace natural stone, which was expensive in Iowa. The upper floors of the Youngerman Block's exterior is made of abestine. He was active in the community as well. He was a member of several fraternal organizations, was a stockholder in two local banks, and served three terms as alderman. At the time of his death in 1901 his estate was valued at $2 million. He and Miene had six sons.<h3>William Foster</h3>William Foster was born in 1842 and became a prolific architect in Iowa. His firm was among the first in the state to receive commissions for large-scale projects which had previously been awarded to out-of-state firms. Foster designed several buildings in Des Moines in addition to the Youngerman Block including the Hawkeye Insurance Building and St. Paul's Episcopal Church. He also invested in building construction and land speculation. He left the architecture field in his mid-fifties and became a theatrical manager.

The Youngerman Block building is significant for its unique architecture and association with its builder and namesake, Conrad Youngerman (1833-1901), and the architect who designed it, William Foster (1842-1909). Youngerman was a German immigrant who became a leading building contractor in the city in the 1800s. He built the Youngerman Block in 1876 and it is one of the earliest buildings he constructed that is still standing. Foster designed many buildings in Iowa including courthouses, churches, and commercial buildings. In terms of architecture, the Youngerman Block combines the Italianate and Art Deco styles. Italianate features include the tall, narrow windows, the decorative window surrounds with keystones, and the bracketed cornice. The Art Deco storefront was added in 1935. It features red, green, and Black ceramic tiles and chevron patterns. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

Youngerman Block

The Earle &amp; LeBosquet Block opened in 1896 and is an outstanding architectural design -- Chicago Commercial Style -- conducted by Charles E. Eastman, a noted late 19th and early 20th century Des Moines architect. The building served two wealthy lawyers and entrepreneurs seeking to invest in commercial real estate. The structure was constructed at a time when the nation was recovering from the Panic of 1893. Conversely, Des Moines enjoyed economic growth at the time, mainly tied to the expansion of the railways and the resultant construction related to that growth. The Earle &amp; LeBosquet Block functioned as a commercial building for its first owners, I. M. Earle and P. S. LeBosquet, lawyers who formed the firm of Bosquet &amp; Earle (and later with Solomon F. Prouty joined them). LeBosquet added to his wealth with a variety of real estate investments. Earle engaged in a wide range of business pursuits, including vice-president of the Des Moines Lumber Co (and Solomon F. Prouty served as treasurer). Lumber existed as one of the growing industries in Des Moines during the 1890s. Although the building opened at the tail end of a four-year national economic depression (stemming from the Panic of 1893), railroads grew substantially in Iowa during the 1890s, which led to abundant construction both directly and indirectly linked to the railway expansion.  The Earle &amp; LeBosquet Block stands on the site of an earlier, 3-story brick edifice constructed in 1876 for a local book and stationery business. A January 1896 fire substantially damaged the old building. When Earle and LeBosquet purchased the property, they debated razing the old structure or building something new; they picked the ladder. The four-story Earle &amp; LeBosquet Block housed two commercial rooms at street level with upper stories devoted to warehouse space. Evidence suggests the top floor, as well as a renovated facade, emerged between 1910 - 1915. A neon sign was added in 1953. Eastman designed the structure to sit flush with its neighbors; hence he concentrated all the stylistic expression to the building's facade. Eastman's use of terra cotta for architectural detailing and buff-colored brick for the building's front facade was a precursor to its more widespread use of those materials in Des Moines during the following several decades. Today, the block building is part of an apartment complex known as The Randolph, an adaptive reuse of three separate historic buildings: The Randolph hotel (circa 1912), the Youngerman Block (circa 1876), and the Earle &amp; Le Bosquet Block.

Built in 1896, Earle & LeBosquet Block replaced a previous three-story structure that had been built two decades prior and was home to the offices of some of the city's leading firms. The DDes Moines structure was one of the city's first Chicago Commercial Style structures, and it was designed by the locally-renowned architect,  Charles E. Eastman. The building held office space and reflects a time when the nation was recovering from the Panic of 1893. At the turn-of-the-century, Des Moines enjoyed substantial economic growth related to its role as a regional hub for business and trade made possible by the expansion of the railways and the centrality of Iowa's farms and businesses to the larger economy. 

Earle & LeBosquet Block

The Polk County Courthouse was built in 1906 and is one of the most beautiful buildings in Des Moines. Designed by the prominent architecture firm Proudfoot & Bird, the courthouse is a notable example of the Beaux-Arts style. The building is the third courthouse to serve Polk County; it replaced the second one built in 1862. The courthouse features countless design elements including arches, Corinthian columns, pavilions, and an enormous tower that has clocks on all four sides. Inside, the building features a domed rotunda and several murals painted by Charles A. Cummings and Edwdard Simmons. The courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. 

Polk County Courthouse

The center provides several different spaces catering to artists of varying types. The Kum and Go Theater is a customizable space that can be used for the production of plays, dance showcases, music concerts, and more. The Viaduct Gallery is designed to showcase visual arts shows, and the Culinary Loft provides cooking classes. Works by local artists can be purchased in the center’s shop, and the center also contains a café that doubles as a comic bookstore. There is also a specialty Latin cuisine restaurant called Malo. This impressive center also features a recording studio, classrooms, a handball court, and more.

With its wide focus on varying art&nbsp;forms, the Des Moines Social Club is centered around one common theme—using creativity to foster unique community engagement. This idea of “community arts”, also called “dialogical art”, and “community-engaged” or “community-based art” started to become popular during the late-sixties.&nbsp; The term “community art” can be used to refer to public art based and created in the community, often with educational and social justice goals. In the art world itself, the term is a bit more specific and refers to art in which the community is involved in making. The public is often involved in community art in some respect, anyway, so this term is fluid. In English-speaking countries, community art is typically directly connected with a community arts center, which is indeed what the Des Moines Social Club could be considered.

&nbsp;This desire to promote social justice and charitable efforts in the community characteristic of many community-engaged arts centers is indeed present at the Des Moines Social Club. Just this past month, May 2015, the center hosted a concert to raise money for disaster relief following the earthquake in Nepal. This event was hosted along with Above and Beyond Cancer, a charity focused on taking cancer survivors on trips to places like the Everest Base Camp and Mt. Kilimanjaro in an effort to advocate for cancer prevention and healthy living. The ticket sales from this event went to AmeriCares, a charity dedicated to sending relief aid around the world and currently working in Nepal. Local Des Moines bands Foxholes, MAIDS, and Chris Fairbank played at the event.

The Des Moines Social Club is an arts and entertainment center designed to be a creative hub for the city of Des Moines. It provides space for artists of all types (musicians, visual artists, dancers, writers, etc.) to practice their craft and commune with one another and with the general community.

The Des Moines Social Club

Between the early 1900s and World War II, Des Moines was home to numerous automobile manufactures, assembly lines, and other industries associated with the automotive industry. By 1920, the section of Locust Street that stretched from 9th street to 15th street was known as "Auto Row."  Future Iowa Governor and US Senator Clyde L. Herring operated one of those automobile manufacturing companies, the Herring Motor Car Company, at this location. The building was constructed in 1912. Within three years, the building was expanded from four stories to six stories. Herring was fortunate to have become a close business associate of Henry Ford, acquiring an exclusive deal with the burgeoning industrialist. Herring's company sold and even assembled Ford vehicles at this location. By 1915, the Herring Motor Company was assembling as many as 30 cars per day. Herring attempted to enter politics during the 1920s before his successful campaign for the governorship of Iowa in 1932. 

Herring Motor Car Company

Renovations began because the hotel was in a serious state deterioration (for example, elevators were not working nor were phones in hotel rooms) that was hurting its reputation. As a result, the hotel has been receiving a complete overhaul from top-to-bottom, including the restoration of the two-story lobby, which was turned into one story in 1962 to create more meeting space.

Hotel Fort Des Moines has been a Des Moines landmark since it was built in 1919. Local architect firm Proudfoot, Bird & Rawson designed it and its construction was financed by a number of notable businessmen. The hotel is eleven stories tall, reaching a height of 140 feet, and is in the shape of an "H". At the time of its completion, the hotel was the largest in Iowa. It temporarily closed in 2015 so that an extensive $50 million dollar renovation project could begin. As of April 2019, it is unclear when work will be completed. Several presidents and celebrities have stayed at the hotel including Harry Truman, George H.W. Bush, Charles Lindbergh, Elvis Presley, and even Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev. The large ballrooms were used for caucuses and political rallies. The hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Hotel Fort Des Moines

A service held on October 15, 1854 in Fort Des Moines marked the establishment of the congregation. A few years later, a brick church was built; up until that point services took place in the old Polk County Courthouse. The growing congregation eventually needed a larger building. The property was purchased in 1870 but it took until 1885 for the church to be erected. Since then, additions and renovations have taken place, including a new steel and stone steeple (a storm destroyed the wooden steeple that was there) in the 1930s and a chapel in the 1990s. The church became a cathedral for the diocese in 1992.&nbsp;

Also known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul, St. Paul's Episcopal Church was built in 1885. The church, which is a fine example of Gothic Revival architecture, is the last of seven original churches located in the immediate area. Together, they were known as "Piety Hill" and included Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, Christian, churches; there was also a Jewish temple.  

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

The Flynn–Griffin Building also goes by many other names, including the Flynn Block, Peoples' Savings Bank Building, and the Edna M. Griffin Building. The building enjoys significance for its long connection to commerce in Des Moines and its association with a significant Civil Rights event in 1948. Edna Griffin, an outspoken African American woman, and her friends, definitely entered the whites-only Katz Drug Store on the building's first floor to buy ice cream and sodas.The erection of the structure occurred in two stages, with the first three floors finished by 1885 and the top three floors completed in 1906. The first portion of the Flynn-Griffin building name is tied to Martin Flynn, a successful entrepreneur who gained wealth in the cattle and railroad industries before getting into banking. He worked as part of a group that created Peoples' Savings Bank, and its success led to the creation of the historic six-story building. The bank occupied the northwest corner of the building through 1905 when its success, coupled with the city's growth and prosperity resulted in the expansion and remodeling of the building in 1906. The Peoples' Savings Bank assumed a much larger space in the newly renovated building, and the exterior and interior spaces were modified to reflect the bank's rising status. The "Flynn Block" as it was known during the nineteenth century because of its city-block-sized width stood at the edge of the quickly growing commercial district of Des Moines. Stores that occupied the first floor included dry goods and clothing stores, as well as several department stores. Des Moines also served as an influential marketplace for the insurance industry by the heart of the Industrial Revolution. Numerous insurance companies maintained offices on the upper floors, such as Prudential, Aetna, National Life Insurance Co., Mutual Fire Insurance Co., and Equitable Life Insurance Co.In 1930, after the bank departed, the Katz Drug Store moved into the first floor, and it would later serve as the home to one of the states, if not the nation's most notorious civil rights movement incidents. Despite laws against racial segregation in Iowa, it existed in practice. In 1948 Edna Griffin, with her infant daughter Phyllis, John Bibbs, and Leonard Hudson sat at the whites-only lunch counter at Katz's and ordered ice cream. The store refused to serve them, stating that they were "not equipped" to serve Negros. The authorities charged Katz of violating the state's civil rights law. The store appealed their conviction but the Iowa Supreme Court upheld the decision in 1949. The decision was significant as other businesses in Des Moines ended their sometimes unstated policy of only serving white customers in response. Griffen continued to be an activist into her senior years as demonstrated by her arrest at an army base near Omaha, Nebraska, where, as a 75-year old grandmother, Griffin sat in the middle of the highway to stop nuclear warheads from being shipped to the base. Among her many awards and honors, Griffin was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 1985 and into the Iowa African Americans' Hall of Fame in 1998, honors representative of her significance in the history of Iowa.

Construction of the first three stories of Des Moines' Flynn-Griffin Building was completed in 1885, and the top three stories were added in 1906. The building was the site of a significant civil rights protest and is also significant for its association with entrepreneur Martin Flynn. Flynn's wealth came through finance, and his bank served as the building's main occupant for decades. As a result, the structure became known as "Flynn's Block," and its combination of office spaces and retail outlets on the first floor proved highly influential in the development of Des Moines' commercial success. In 1930,  the bank left, and Katz Drug Store moved into the first floor. Although the state of Iowa passed civil rights laws in the late 19th century, they were largely ignored. In 1948, civil rights activist Edna Griffin and her friends sat down at the white-only Katz counter and requested service. They were denied, and Griffin sued the company for violating the law. The incident eventually resulted in Katz ending their policy of racial discrimination after the authorities and courts continually ruled to uphold the state civil rights law thanks to the perseverance of Edna Griffin and other African Americans. The building today functions as an apartment complex, and a new drug store is planning to occupy the lower level of the building. 

Flynn-Griffin Building and 1948 Civil Rights Protest at Katz Department Store

The Younkers Department Store building is a high-rise of seven stories at the corner of 7th and Walnut streets. At 138 feet tall, the building was towering when built in 1899, but is nowhere near the tallest one in Des Moines now (that would be the building at 801 Grand, at 630 feet). The architectural firm was a local one, Liebbe, Nourse &amp; Rasmussen. Herman Younker opened the first Des Moines Younkers store in 1874, nearly twenty years after their founding in Keokuk, Iowa by his three half-brothers. The original part of the Younkers building is the eastern half. In 1924, the company expanded into a building to the west, the Wilkins Department Store, built in 1909. The building was renovated in the 1980s, with new windows placed at the surface of the exterior masonry, enclosing the old. The building closed in 2005 when Younkers left, after more than 100 years in that location. A $37 million renovation project was underway in 2014. The retail space and apartments to be called The Flagship were slated to be ready in 2014. The cause of a fire that nearly collapsed the entire upper portion of the building in the overnight hours of March 29, 2014 has not been determined, but arson has been ruled out. Firefighters arrived in the early hours of a Saturday, and the fire was quickly upgraded to three-alarm. Debris from collapsing walls fell to the street and onto one of the skywalks connecting the building to others across the streets. Since the building was under renovation, many rooms were open, allowing the fire to spread quickly. Sprinkler and fire alarm systems had not yet been completed. As firemen scrambled to escape after a floor collapsed, it became clear that most of the building would be lost. Locals reminisced about the pre-fire department store days of Younkers. The elevator operators used to announce what could be found on each floor of the building. The scaled-back plans to redevelop just the west side of the building called for exposing the red brick in the 60 new apartments and retail space. The new developer, David Vos, intended to retain the building's original Gothic style. The resulting building was re-christened the Wilkins Building. A version of the historic Tea Room opened on the ground floor. The east side of the building was acquired by a neighboring business that suffered smoke and water damage during the fire, EMC Insurance. The firm intends to expand their renovated building into the former Younkers space; as of early 2020, the redesigned skywalk skirts a whole in the ground with the remaining foundation of the former 1899 store. Younkers was bought out by The Bon-Ton in 2006; the company filed for bankruptcy in February 2018. The Bon-Ton closed all of the 17 remaining Younkers stores in Iowa in August 2018.

The Younkers Brothers Department Store building was built by the company in 1899. The firm began in Keokuk, Iowa in 1856. The building featured a Tea Room after 1913, which was replaced in 1927. The "electric stairs" installed in 1939 was the first escalator in Iowa. The company left the structure in 2005. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. The building was being renovated in 2014 into retail space and 120 apartments when a fire almost destroyed the structure. The eastern part of the structure (the 1899 portion) was demolished, but the western portion along Walnut St. (1909) has been rebuilt into commercial space on the ground floor, including the Tea Room. The 60 new apartments above are now known as the Wilkins Building.

Younkers Brothers Department Store

At 174 feet tall, the Fleming building anchors the corner of Walnut and 6th, with 21 windows on the upper nine floors facing 6th Ave and 12 facing Walnut St. The structure covers a footprint of 123 by 68 feet. The famous architect, Daniel Burnham, who designed the "Fleming Brothers Building" also was the architect for the infamous Flatiron Building in New York City. The Sixth Street entrance is considered the main entryway, with the Walnut Avenue entrance being secondary. The building's steel structural frame and brick walls are covered by a polished brown granite veneer on the first and second stories; this was done in 1939 when the ground-floor windows were replaced. The lower two stories are also distinguished from the upper nine floors visually by a terra cotta cornice and by window size and style. The brown hydraulic pressed brick walls are visible on the upper floors. The eleventh story has shorter and more numerous windows than the third through tenth floors. The tripartite style of window grouping is one characteristic of the Chicago style of architecture. Most of the original oak window frames have been replaced with aluminum frames. A prominent overhanging terra cotta cornice tops the building, jutting out from its flat roof. When entering into the main lobby toward the three elevators, the walls were finished in marble. The original eight spaces for retail on the ground floor had been combined into three by 2001. The second story originally contained a bank with its own lobby, offices, and teller partitions. Office space on the upper stories contained up to 27 spaces per floor. By 2001, many of the smaller offices had been combined, featuring three or four suites on each level. Original wrought iron Deco railings and Tennessee gray marble stair treads survived into the 2000s, as did white carrera marble clad walls of the central corridor. Even the original doorknobs in the building were custom, with "FB" lettering; many remained in place, plus many of the oak doors. The Cutler mail system chute servicing all floors also survived. Being just one block away from the Polk County Courthouse, completed in 1906, one year earlier than the Fleming Building, the building has been a popular location for law offices. Another popular feature was the building's claim of being fire-proof. The building's upper levels have been converted into apartments. One of the ground floor tenants is Evolve Juicery and Kitchen. The Fleming Building was listed in the National Register in 2002 for its significance in architecture. It is an example of the early twentieth century version of skyscrapers, popular in Chicago, and marks the shift from a reliance on Beaux Arts classical architecture to the new "Chicago style" of architecture. The Fleming Building is said to be one of only two Burnham-designed structures left in Iowa.

The Fleming Building towers over 6th Avenue and Walnut Street in the Central Business District at 11 stories tall. Designed by the Chicago architectural firm of the well-known Daniel Burnham, the building was completed in 1909. The Fleming Building is an example of the Commercial style of architecture, with some Beaux Arts elements. It is notable as one of the earliest steel framed structures in all of Iowa. The Fleming building has been converted into studio, 1- and 2-bedroom apartments.  The first two floors are reserved for restaurant, retail, and office space. The structure was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

Fleming Building

The Hippee Building was completed in 1913 by George B. Hippee, who developed the first interurban railway in the city, which connected Des Moines to other central Iowa communities. His father, George M. Hippee, was also an integral figure in Des Moines' business history. The twelve-story, 172-foot structure was Iowa's tallest skyscraper at the time of its completion in 1913. George B. Hippee's father, George M. Hippee, was one of Des Moines' first merchants and earliest pioneers. The elder Hippee worked as an Ohio drug merchant before moving to Des Moines in December 1855. He went on to build the city's first three-story brick commercial building, George B. was born in 1860 and spent his childhood hanging out with his father's business associates in the parlors and counting rooms. Two notable influences included lauded Des Moines businessman, Frederick M. Hubbell, and his law partner Jefferson Polk, whose daughter George B. married in 1887. Polk focused on running Des Moines' city streetcar franchise, expanding it to include interurban railroads to Ames and other nearby towns beginning in 1874. In contrast, George M concentrated on banking. George B. worked for Polk (then his father-in-law), where he replaced horse-power with electricity; the work helped him become Des Moines Railway Company President in 1898. A few years later, in 1906, an alderman accused George B. Hippee and an associate of bribery, claiming they offered hundreds of dollars in exchange for a vote that would benefit the Des Moines Railway Company. The Grand Jury failed to indict; prosecutors dropped the case two years later. After the elder Hippee died in 1911, George B. Hippee left the railroad business to focus on one of his father's banks. In 1912, George B. Hippee announced plans to build the twelve-story Hippee Building; George B. Hippee served as president of the Iowa Loan &amp; Trust Co., which owned and occupied what became known as the Hippee Building from 1914 to 1926; the bank proved to be the building's signature tenant. The Hippee Building (also known as the Southern Surety Building, the Savings and Loan Building, and the Midland Building in later years) emerged during a small period of a skyscraper-building-boom for Des Moines. The Hippee opened in 1913 along with the six-story Flynn Building (1906), eleven-story Fleming Building (1907), and the ten-story Hubbell Building (1913). The Hippee Building functioned as an office building until Chicago's Aparium Hotel Group of Chicago acquired the building in 2017 and converted it to a 138-room hotel.

The Hippee Building emerged in 1913 at a time when Des Moines experienced as modest building boom in the city's downtown region, including a few skyscraper construction projects. The Hippee Building derives its name from George B. Hippee, a prominent banker and railroad entrepreneur. His father also enjoys fame as one of the city's pioneers and first successful business people in Des Moines.  

Hippee Building (Surety Hotel)

The Iowa-Des Moines Bank stands as one of a small number of Art-Deco designed commercial buildings in downtown Des Moines built during the late 1920s and 1930s. The banking rooms occupied the second floor while the first floor allowed for stores, a design feature that did not come into fashion until after the Great Depression arrived. A bank had occupied the site on the south-east corner of Walnut and Sixth since 1882 when the Des Moines National Bank was located there. The present building resulted from the merger of the Des Moines National Bank with the Iowa National Bank and the Des Moines Savings Bank and Trust Company in 1929. The 1929 merger came with a dream for a large bank that would grow substantially. The bank's original plan involved a stepped-style skyscraper rising at least twenty-one stories with shops and the bank occupying the bottom five floors and rental spaces in the remaining upper floors. However, the Great Depression's ushered in a new reality and a decision to build a much smaller building that supported only the stores and banking offices. The decision to place the bank on the second floor, possibly the first bank in the nation to do this, proved to be a successful idea. Allowing for shops to occupy the lower level supported more significant foot traffic and, thus, more potential bank customers. The idea grew more popular after 1930, when banks endured much harder times than during the Roaring '20s, making the concept a rather innovative one when it arose before the Wall Street crash of 1929. The second-floor innovation certainly proved valuable because the bank did not open until 1932. Although its grand plans for a skyscraper never materialized, the bank did not fold during the Great Depression. The reduced budget allowed the bank to spend money on ornate details of the Art Deco structure. The interior included plenty of polished granite, bronze and marble features, elevators, sophisticated lighting, and an elegant, decorative safe in the cellar. The Iowa-Des Moines Bank occupied the building until 1974 when it moved to a new office space in Des Moines. Valley National Bank purchased the building in 1977 and renovated and updated the structure before moving into the building in 1979. Today, the building functions as the main branch for US Bank in Des Moines.

Constructed at the start of the Great Depression, this historic Des Moines bank building is a landmark of Art Deco architectural design. the building served as the headquarters of the Iowa-Des Moines National Bank from the 1930s through the early 1970s. Plans for the construction of this building began in 1929 following the merger of Des Moines National Bank with the Iowa National Bank and the Des Moines Savings Bank and Trust Company. The original plans called for the construction of a twenty-one story skyscraper. The banking collapse and the Great Depression led to a scaling bank of these plans. The building was completed in 1932 and was five stories high owing to a recognition that there would no longer be the same opportunity to receive reliable monthly revenue by leasing floor space to various companies as was common in other office towers owned by banks. This bank building was unique in that it rented space to retailers on the lowest floor and placed the bank offices on higher floors. The building is now home to the main Des Moines branch of US Bank.

Iowa-Des Moines National Bank Building

This hotel is the third hotel to bear the Savery name in Des Moines. The original Savery Hotel opened in 1878. It was replaced by an ornate six-story&nbsp;building in 1888 that featured electirc lighting. In addition to the hotel, the building was also the home of the city's chamber of commerce.

Completed in 1919, the Savery Hotel was the tallest of Des Moines' downtown hotels for a time and characterized the growth of the city in the early 1900s. The Army used the building as an induction center, classrooms, and barracks for over seventy thousand members of the Women's Army Corps who trained here during World War II.The hotel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 and thoroughly renovated in the following two years. It is now part of the Mariott chain.

Savery Hotel

At a time when the nation grew increasingly urban and focused on manufacturing, farmers transitioned from mixed commodity and subsistence farming to focusing almost exclusively on mass production of commodities like wheat and corn for sale in distant markets. Agricultural journalism helped forge a community among farmers, as well as give them information, advice, and news directly related to the farming lifestyle.The Homestead Building was completed in 1893 by James M. Pierce to permanently house his publishing operations, many of which were agriculture-focused, including the Iowa Homestead, a pioneer of modern agricultural journalism. The Des Moines paper published material for seventy years and was one of the leading voices of Iowa and the Midwestern political and farming scene. On a broader scale, the publication resembled the farming community's evolving nature when urbanization outpaced rural development, and farms grew more industrial and commodity-driven. Agricultural journalism helped shape farming communities and rural communities offering information about economics and politics as well as creating a sense of community for readers.  Smith &amp; Gage, the prominent Iowa architectural firm, designed this structure and numerous other buildings in Des Moines such as the Des Moines Public Library, the Iowa Historical and Library Building, the Drake Conservatory of Music, the Centerville and Albia Courthouses, Mercy Hospital (Des Moines) and numerous churches, residences, apartments, and industrial buildings. The Construction of the Homestead Building occurred in two phases: the eastern one-third in 1893 and the western two-thirds in 1905. The building exemplifies the commercial architectural styles common to the late nineteenth-century, of which few remain in Des Moines' central business district.The Iowa Homestead is associated with numerous significant Iowans, including James M. Pierce and Henry Wallace. James_M. Pierce was the publisher of the Iowa Homestead for thirty-five years, from 1885 until he died in 1920. He also published from within the historic building the Wisconsin Farmer, Farmer and Stockman, Farm Gazette, and the Homemaker. In addition to operating the largest job printing plant in Iowa. Henry Wallace, the grandfather of U.S. Vice President Henry A. Wallace, served as editor of the Iowa Homestead for ten years.Wallace's importance was his role as a crusading editor who devoted his journalistic talents to promoting the welfare of farmers. Through Pierce and Wallace's efforts, the Iowa Homestead became known for its promotion of crop rotation, the need to care for the soil and resource conservation, and the advantages of high-quality seed and top-grade livestock. This grew more important as farms evolved from the typical family multi-crop farms to large operations that sought to utilize each acre every year. The paper routinely remarked on the importance of maintaining one's home and valuing a "respectable" home life (as defined by the Homestead and cultural norms of the day). As well, the Iowa Homestead often noted the importance of farmers banding together to protect common interests during a time when the nation grew more urban and increasingly relied more on manufacturing than farm production.

The Iowa Homestead served as one of the most significant agricultural newspapers in the Midwest, serving farmers in Iowa and surrounding states for more than seventy years. The building served as the paper's headquarters and was constructed in two phases in 1893 and 1905. The building offers a window into understanding the history of Des Moines as a center of agriculture as it housed the Iowa Homestead and several other rural-targeted publications. The local firm of Smith & Gage designed the Homestead Building using many features of the Richardson Romanesque style of architecture. 

Homestead Building

History of the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates
The location of the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates in the old Des Moines Public Library building dates back to the City Beautiful Movement in the late 1890s and early 1900s. As part of the City Beautiful Movement, citizens and public officials sought to beautify the Des Moines Principal Riverwalk along the river, and one building that stood out for its Beaux-Arts style was the Des Moines Public Library.&nbsp;This building opened in 1903, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The Library continued in the building until 2006, when it moved to a larger and more modern space. The Norman E. Borlaug World Food Prize Hall of Laureates moved in shortly afterwards.&nbsp;At the time the World Food Prize took the building, it was in dire need of restoration, and the World Food Prize took on a nearly $29.8 million capital project to restore it.&nbsp;Within the building, visitors can discover a stunning Beaux-Arts style that is both classy and engaging, and the museum and exhibit surroundings celebrate a spirit of giving. Thus, with the help of the World Food Prize, this historic Iowa building has been fully restored and preserved.1
Since the World Food Prize began in 1987, some of the honoree’s achievements have included the founding of Operation Flood, the development of “miracle rice,” development of Africa's first sorghum hybrids that are resistant to drought and witchweed, implementation of micro-irrigation in arid and dry land regions, and many others.2
Touring the Building
One of the most attractive aspects of the Hall of Laureates is the world-class museum that showcases a variety of exhibits focused on agriculture and hunger. The Ruan Laureate Room tells the story of the World Food Prize as well as the history of agriculture. The Agricultural Leader Squinches in this room feature some of the greatest agricultural leaders throughout human history, while the stained glass globe illustrates the 12 locations around the world where food production and agriculture originated.3&nbsp;On the Mezzanine level of the building, the Iowa Gallery relates the story of Iowa’s own extensive agricultural and humanitarian heritage. After a day of exploring the various rooms in the museum as part of a free guided or self-guided tour, visitors are encouraged to take a stroll through the gardens. These gardens were designed by the nationally recognized landscape architect Doug Hoerr, and they offer a serene refuge along the Des Moines river.4&nbsp;

Iowa carries the proud role of being one of the greatest food suppliers and innovators in the United States and abroad, and in 1986, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Normal Borlaug conceived the idea of the World Food Prize to emphasize the importance of innovation and creation in the fields of agriculture and food supply. 

Professor M. S. Swaminathan from India was the first World Food Prize laureate in 1987 for his creation of high-yielding wheat and rice varieties that led to India’s Green Revolution. Since then, many acclaimed individuals have received recognition for their world-changing work, and visitors looking to explore the World Food Prize and the state of agriculture in the world can travel to the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates in downtown Des Moines. 

Located on the Des Moines River in the century-old Des Moines Public Library building, the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates serves as a world-class museum recognizing achievements in agriculture and fighting hunger as well as an education facility that features interactive displays on food security and hunger.

World Food Prize Hall of Laureates

In 1870, the federal government built a large, four-story courthouse at Fifth and Court Avenues that also housed the post office. Between 1902 and 1906, Congress appropriated funds for a new post office building. It was designed by staff of the United States Treasury Department, which was headed by Supervising Architect James Knox Taylor. The post office was the second building constructed of the Civic Center district. It was also the first building in Des Moines of the City Beautiful Movement, which was a national trend in the 1890s and early 1900s that promoted the idea of beautifying cities for aesthetic reasons but to also foster civic pride, improve health and safety, and promote economic growth.Construction of the building began in 1909 and was completed the next year. More space was needed by the mid-1920s but the large addition designed by a local firm in the 1930s was never built due to lack of funding. However, a small addition was built in 1934. Another small addition was built sometime in the coming years as well but it was demolished in the 1970s. After the post office moved to a new facility in 1971, the building remained unused until the late 1970s when the county acquired it. It now houses county administrative offices.

The Polk County Administration Building was one of several buildings erected by the federal government in Des Moines in the early 1900s. It was originally home to the U.S. Post Office which vacated it in 1971. An excellent example of Romanesque architecture, it features Corinthian columns and pilasters, pedimented doorways, arched windows, and decorative stonework. It also represents the authority of the federal government in Des Moines. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. It is also a contributing property of the Civic Center Historic District, which is listed on the National Register as well. The building also houses the Polk County Heritage Gallery, which displays art and historical exhibits.

Des Moines Historic Walking Tour - West of the River

St. Ambrose Cathedral

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information