It all began when L.M. Mann bought 100 acres of land and created a destination. He opened the Des Moines Zoological Gardens on July 4, 1889. The park included an elephant, lions, panthers, kangaroos, monkeys, elk, numerous birds, and other animals.…

Riverview Amusement Park opened on Saturday, June 5, 1915, with an admission of five cents. The June 6th, 1915, Register and Leader reported live music by T. Fred Henry and his band, as well as The Four Lamys who performed “sensational aerial…

The Court Avenue Restaurant and Brewing Co. building has housed many businesses over the years and managed to stay standing through times when many older buildings were razed. It is the last remaining example of a cast iron façade in Des…

In 1846, soon after the establishment of the state of Iowa, it was decided that it needed to be moved from Iowa City to a more central location. It took 9 years of rivalries for the legislature, with approval of Governor Grimes, to determine that…

In April of 1873, two men from New York, along with their families, stepped off the Keokuk & Des Moines rail line (Rock Island Line) to start a business based on innovation that would change the spice industry. Jehiel had been working for a…

In the late 1800s, a notorious establishment stood at 212 Walnut Street: George Conradi’s Saloon. A saloon in a frontier town was not a novelty, but an establishment trying to sell liquor in a dry county or on dry days received attention. From…

According to a Des Moines Register article, Egidio Romano came to Des Moines from Italy by way of Omaha, Kansas City, and then St. Paul.  Romano started his fruit stand in Des Moines in 1891 and eventually became the Secretary-Treasurer of the…

A fashionable hotel known as the Demoine House once stood at First and Walnut Streets, which is now where the Polk County Office building resides. John Yost and Martin Tucker opened the Demoine House in April 1855, and it soon became the site of…

In the summer of 1869 the first fire engine arrived in Des Moines: It was named the General Crocker Steamer in honor of General Marcellus Crocker, beloved Des Moines lawyer who died at the end of the Civil War. The steamer was financed by the…

1854 - Teenagers Marcus, Lipman, and Samuel Younker move to the United States from Lipno, Poland.1856 – Lipman, Samuel, and Marcus Younker establish the first Younker & Brothers Dry Goods Store in Keokuk, Iowa.  1874 – A younger brother, Herman,…