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 age of 14 and just after he was 21 years old he…

At the turn of the 20th Century, many Des Moines residents sent their laundry out be laundered by others. White Star Laundry was one such company. It was owned by J.O. Anderson and operated out of the East Side of Des Moines. Anderson expanded his…

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…