Des Moines tourist information

Des Moines was founded in May 1843 when Captain James Allen built a garrison (fort) on the site where the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers merge. Allen wanted to use the name Fort Raccoon, but the American War Department told him to name it Fort Des Moines. The original origin of the name Des Moines is uncertain. It could have referred to the river of the Moingonas, named after an Indian tribe that resided in the area and built burial mounds. Others see it as referring to Trappist monks, some of whom lived in huts at the mouth of the river, or connected to the phrase de moyen in French, meaning middle, because of its location between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.

Who Dropped the Fort?
Settlers came and lived near the fort, and on May 25, 1846, Fort Des Moines became the seat of Polk County. On September 22, 1851, it was incorporated as a city, and its town charter was approved in a vote on October 18. In 1857, the name Fort Des Moines was shortened to Des Moines alone and it was made the capital of Iowa. (The capital was in Iowa City before that.) By 1900, Des Moines was Iowa's largest city with a population of 62,139.

The Des Moines Plan
In 1907, the city adopted a city commission government known as the "Des Moines Plan," consisting of an elected mayor and four commissioners who were responsible for public works, public property, public safety, and finance. This form of government was scrapped in 1950 in favor of a council-manager government, and tweaked in 1967 so that four of the six city council members were elected by ward rather than at-large.

Suburbia
Like many cities, Des Moines began losing people to its suburbs after reaching a peak population of 208,982 in 1960. Construction of the Interstate Highway System during the late 1950s and 1960s, capped off with the completion of Interstate 235 in 1968, made access to the suburbs easier.

Reaching for the Sky
The skyline of downtown Des Moines changed during the 1970s and 1980s as several new skyscrapers were built. Until then the 19-story Equitable Building, dating back to 1924, was the tallest building in the city. That changed as the 25-story Financial Center was completed in 1972 and the 36-story Ruan Center was completed in 1974. They were later joined by the 30-story Marriott hotel (1981), the 18-story Hub Tower (1985), and Iowa's tallest building, Principal Financial Group's 44-story tower at 801 Grand (1990). This time period also saw the opening of the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines (1979), the Des Moines Botanical Center (1979), the Polk County Convention Complex (1985), and the State of Iowa Historical Building (1987). The Des Moines skywalk system also began to take shape during the 1980s. By the beginning of 2006, the skywalk system was over three miles (5 km) long and connected most major downtown buildings.

Water, Water Everywhere, Not a Drop to Spare!
Des Moines made national headlines during the Great Flood of 1993. Heavy rains throughout June and early July caused the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers to rise above flood stage levels. The Des Moines Water Works was submerged by floodwaters during the early morning hours of July 11, 1993, leaving an estimated 250,000 people without running water for 12 days and without drinking water for 20 days.

Trendy Downtown
The extensive redevelopment of the downtown area has continued in recent years. The new Science Center of Iowa and the Iowa Events Center opened in 2005, while the new central branch of the Des Moines Public Library, designed by David Chipperfield, opened on April 8, 2006. The World Food Prize Foundation, which is headquartered in Des Moines, announced in 2001 that it will restore the former Des Moines Public Library building as the Dr. Norman Borlaug/World Food Prize Hall of Laureates. In 2002 the Principal Financial Group and the city of Des Moines announced plans for the Principal Riverwalk, which will run along both sides of the Des Moines and feature new trails, pedestrian bridges across the river, a fountain and skating plaza, and a "civic garden" in front of the Des Moines City Hall. Several existing downtown buildings have either been converted or are being converted to loft apartments and condominiums in an effort to attract more residents to the downtown area. This trend is highlighted by the success of the "East Village" district of shops, studios, and housing between the capitol district and the Des Moines River.

Booming Des Moines
The Des Moines metro area is also experiencing a boom, in particular the western suburbs. West Des Moines, in particular, now has over 50,000 people and is home to the Jordan Creek Town Center, the largest shopping center in Iowa, as well as several Wells Fargo office complexes, including a new corporate campus and which holds the title for second largest construction project in the country, passed only by Donald Trump's Chicago project. Nearby Dallas County is one of the nations fastest growing counties according to the U.S. census bureau.