60 Fun Facts About Des Moines

The French name Des Moines is usually translated as 'River of the' what?

'Des Moines' is French for 'of the Monks', though the name probably adapted Moingona, an Illinois-language river name that French explorers recorded in the 1670s.

Which river merges with the Des Moines River at the spot where the city was founded?

The Raccoon River joins the Des Moines River in what is now downtown; Captain James Allen built Fort Des Moines at that confluence in 1843.

In which year was Des Moines incorporated as a city, still under the name Fort Des Moines?

Fort Des Moines was incorporated as a city in 1851, the same year a spring flood wiped out much of the young settlement.

Which town was the state capital before the seat of government moved to Des Moines in 1857?

Iowa City had been the capital since 1841; the legislature moved the seat of government to Des Moines in 1857, the year the city dropped 'Fort' from its name.

Fort Des Moines was built in 1843 to control which Native peoples, moved there from eastern Iowa?

Fort Des Moines was built in 1843 to oversee the Sauk and Meskwaki, who were removed from Iowa to Kansas by 1846; the fort closed that same year.

What was Des Moines' population at the 2020 census?

The 2020 census counted 214,133 people in Des Moines, Iowa's largest city; its six-county metro area passed 700,000 in the same count.

Fort Des Moines was designated the seat of which county in 1846?

Fort Des Moines became the Polk County seat in 1846; a sliver of the modern city south of County Line Road spills into Warren County.

Which Des Moines facility was submerged in the 1993 flood, cutting off taps for 250,000 people?

Floodwater swamped the Des Moines Water Works in July 1993, leaving about 250,000 people without tap water for 12 days and without drinkable water for nearly three weeks.

Which reservoir controls the Des Moines River upstream of the city?

Saylorville Lake, a Corps of Engineers reservoir just north of the city, holds back the Des Moines River; its emergency spillway overflowed anyway in 1993 and 2008.

Iowa's tallest building, 801 Grand in downtown Des Moines, has how many stories?

801 Grand rises 45 stories and about 630 feet; completed in 1991, it overtook the 36-story Ruan Center as the tallest building in Iowa.

Which Des Moines-based company developed and owns the 801 Grand tower?

Principal Financial Group, founded in Des Moines in 1879 as Bankers Life Association, developed the 801 Grand tower in 1991 and owns it.

What sits on top of the 801 Grand tower?

The tower is capped by an eight-sided copper pyramid; designers expected it to weather green, but the low-sulfur local air turned the copper a deep brown instead.

Des Moines has been nicknamed the 'Hartford of the West' because of which industry?

Insurance firms began clustering in Des Moines in the late 1800s, earning it the 'Hartford of the West' tag after Connecticut's insurance capital; Iowa's low premium tax helped keep them there.

Which magazine did Des Moines-based Meredith Corporation publish before merging with Dotdash?

Better Homes and Gardens, launched by Edwin Meredith in Des Moines in 1922, stayed Meredith's flagship title until the 2021 merger with Dotdash created Dotdash Meredith.

Which future US president worked as a sportscaster at Des Moines radio station WHO?

Ronald Reagan worked as a sportscaster at WHO in Des Moines from 1933 to 1937, recreating baseball games from telegraph reports before leaving for Hollywood.

Which masked heavy metal band was formed in Des Moines in 1995?

Slipknot formed in Des Moines in 1995 and titled their second album, released in 2001, simply Iowa.

Bill Bryson's memoir about growing up in 1950s Des Moines is The Life and Times of the what?

The mayor gave Bryson the key to the city in 2006 and declared October 21 'Bill Bryson, The Thunderbolt Kid, Day.'

Both of Bill Bryson's parents worked for which local institution?

His father was a sportswriter there for 50 years and his mother was the home furnishings editor.

Which Des Moines-born actress won an Oscar for The Last Picture Show and played Frau Blücher?

Cloris Leachman was born in Des Moines in 1926, attended Roosevelt High School and competed in the 1946 Miss America pageant as Miss Chicago.

Edna Griffin's 1948 sit-ins and landmark Iowa Supreme Court case targeted which Des Moines business?

Katz Drug Store refused to serve Griffin ice cream at its lunch counter in July 1948; the store's owner was convicted under Iowa's 1884 civil rights law and fined $50.

How many domes crown the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines?

The Iowa State Capitol has five domes, a large central dome surrounded by smaller corner domes, an arrangement boosters often call unique among US statehouses.

The Capitol's central dome is covered in what?

The central dome is sheathed in 23-karat gold leaf, regilded in the 1960s and again in the late 1990s; inside are a multi-storey law library and a scale model of the USS Iowa.

The Iowa State Fair has been held at its current Des Moines fairgrounds since which year?

The fair moved onto its permanent Des Moines grounds in 1886 after wandering between towns such as Muscatine, Oskaloosa, Dubuque and Keokuk.

The very first Iowa State Fair, in 1854, was held in which town?

Fairfield in Jefferson County hosted the first Iowa State Fair in October 1854; it ran three days on a budget of $323 and drew up to 10,000 people.

Which animal is the Iowa State Fair's famous life-size butter sculpture?

The Butter Cow, a life-size dairy cow sculpted from roughly 600 pounds of butter, has been an Iowa State Fair fixture since its debut in 1911.

Which act drew the biggest grandstand crowd in Iowa State Fair history, 26,200 people?

Sonny and Cher drew 26,200 fans to the Iowa State Fair grandstand in 1973, the largest crowd for a grandstand show in the fair's history.

In which year did the Iowa State Fair draw a then-record 1,182,682 visitors?

The 2024 fair drew 1,182,682 people over its 11 days, beating the 2019 mark; Saturday, August 10, 2024 alone brought 128,732 through the gates.

Which Triple-A baseball team plays at Principal Park near the confluence of the two rivers?

The Iowa Cubs, the Chicago Cubs' Triple-A affiliate since 1981, play at Principal Park, where the State Capitol dome rises beyond the outfield wall.

Future Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner played arena football in the 1990s for which Des Moines team?

Kurt Warner quarterbacked the Iowa Barnstormers from 1995 to 1997; the original franchise played in the Arena Football League from 1995 to 2000 before moving to New York as the Dragons.

The Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League took that name in 2017 after being bought by which NBA franchise?

The Minnesota Timberwolves bought the Iowa Energy, who had played in Des Moines since 2007, and rebranded them the Iowa Wolves in 2017.

The Drake Relays, 'America's Athletic Classic', were first held in which year?

The first Drake Relays were run in April 1910, drawing 82 athletes from Des Moines-area schools and about 100 spectators on a snowy day.

Which dog breed is Drake University's mascot, celebrated in the Relays' 'Beautiful' contest?

Drake's mascot is the Bulldog, and the Beautiful Bulldog Contest during Relays week crowns a bulldog as the meet's honorary mascot; the week also features the Grand Blue Mile road race downtown.

Which Midwest grocer became presenting sponsor of the Drake Relays in 2013?

Hy-Vee, the West Des Moines-based supermarket chain, became presenting sponsor of the Drake Relays in 2013, putting up prize money for the meet's elite running and field events.

Which architect designed one of the wings of the Des Moines Art Center?

I. M. Pei designed the 1968 sculpture wing of the Des Moines Art Center, joining Eliel Saarinen's 1948 original building and Richard Meier's 1985 addition.

Des Moines' central library, opened in 2006, was designed by which English architect?

David Chipperfield Architects designed the glass-and-metal-mesh central library, which opened in 2006 beside the Pappajohn Sculpture Park in Western Gateway Park.

Salisbury House, the 1920s mansion of Carl Weeks, was paid for by his fortune in what business?

Carl Weeks made his fortune in cosmetics with the Armand Company's face powder; his Salisbury House, modeled on the King's House in Salisbury, England, used salvaged 16th-century English oak.

Terrace Hill, built in 1869 by Benjamin F. Allen, was the home of Iowa's first what?

Benjamin F. Allen, called Iowa's first millionaire, built Terrace Hill in 1869; the Hubbell family bought it in 1884 for $60,000 and gave it to the state in 1971.

Which governor became the first to live at Terrace Hill when he moved in during 1976?

Robert D. Ray, governor from 1969 to 1983, moved into Terrace Hill in 1976; the Robert D. Ray Asian Gardens downtown honor his resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees.

Des Moines' enclosed downtown skywalk system stretches roughly how many miles?

The Des Moines skywalk threads roughly four miles of enclosed second-storey walkways through downtown, one of the most extensive systems in the US, and has been blamed for draining street-level retail.

The World Food Prize, awarded at the Iowa State Capitol, was conceived by which Nobel Peace laureate?

Norman Borlaug, the Nobel Peace laureate behind the Green Revolution, conceived the prize after the Nobel Foundation declined to add a food category; it was established in 1986 with General Foods as sponsor.

The World Food Prize Hall of Laureates occupies which restored Des Moines building?

The Hall of Laureates occupies the former Des Moines Public Library, a 1903 Beaux Arts riverfront building from the 'City Beautiful' era, restored and reopened in 2011.

Which convenience-store chain took naming rights to the downtown Des Moines arena in 2023?

Casey's, the Ankeny-based convenience chain, bought the naming rights in 2023, and the 2005 arena at the Iowa Events Center became Casey's Center.

Living History Farms, with its 1700 Ioway village and 1875 frontier town, is in which Des Moines suburb?

Living History Farms spans 500 acres in Urbandale, northwest of Des Moines, where costumed interpreters run sites from a 1700 Ioway village to a horse-powered 1900 farm.

Adventureland and the Prairie Meadows racetrack-casino are both in which town northeast of Des Moines?

Altoona, just northeast of Des Moines, is home to both the Adventureland amusement park, opened in 1974, and the Prairie Meadows racetrack, which added casino slots in 1995.

The 1850 Jordan House in West Des Moines, said to be haunted, was a stop on what?

The 1850 home of James C. Jordan was a stop on the Underground Railroad; abolitionist John Brown stopped there in 1859 while escorting freedom seekers east.

Des Moines' oldest sister-city tie, dating from 1958, is with a city in which country?

Kōfu, capital of Japan's Yamanashi Prefecture, became Des Moines' first sister city in 1958; later partners include Saint-Étienne, Shijiazhuang and Kuala Terengganu.

Which country opened a consulate in downtown Des Moines in 2015?

Kosovo opened a consulate in downtown Des Moines in 2015, reflecting the Iowa National Guard's State Partnership Program ties with the young Balkan republic since 2011.

Des Moines has no passenger rail; the nearest Amtrak stop, on the California Zephyr, is in which town?

Osceola, the Clarke County seat roughly 45 miles south of Des Moines, is the nearest Amtrak station, served by the Chicago–San Francisco Bay California Zephyr.

Iowa first held the nation's opening Democratic presidential caucus in which year?

Iowa Democrats held the opening caucus of the 1972 cycle in January 1972, and Republicans joined in 1976, making Des Moines a quadrennial campaign headquarters town.

The commission-style city government adopted here in 1907, and copied by other cities, was known as what?

The Des Moines Plan put a mayor and a small board of at-large commissioners in charge of city departments; copied nationwide, it was replaced by council-manager government after World War II.

Hoyt Sherman Place, built in 1877, was Des Moines' first public what?

The Des Moines Women's Club took over Hoyt Sherman's 1877 mansion and in 1907 added the city's first public art gallery; a 1,250-seat theater followed in 1923.

The Iowa Primate Learning Sanctuary in Des Moines was set up to study the communication of which apes?

Founded as the Great Ape Trust of Iowa in the early 2000s, the sanctuary housed bonobos including Kanzi and orangutans including Azy for noninvasive studies of ape language and cognition.

Which company was Des Moines' largest non-government employer in 2021, with about 13,500 workers?

Wells Fargo, whose home-mortgage operations are centered in the Des Moines area, topped the 2021 list with roughly 13,500 local employees, far ahead of UnityPoint Health.

Which Chicago architect designed Terrace Hill for Benjamin F. Allen in the 1860s?

William W. Boyington, the Chicago architect behind the Chicago Water Tower, designed Terrace Hill; the mansion cost about $250,000 with its furnishings and had running water and an elevator.

The 'Palace', a prehistoric site found in southeast Des Moines in 2010, is roughly how old?

The Palace site dates back about 7,000 years to the Middle Archaic period; it turned up in 2010 during work on a wastewater plant and yielded thousands of artefacts, house remains and burials.

In which year did Des Moines record a population of 208,982, its 20th-century peak?

The 1960 census counted 208,982 people, the city's 20th-century high; freeway building then drew residents to new suburbs, and the city did not pass that figure again until the 2020 census.

Which two interstate highways meet in the Des Moines metro area?

Interstates 35 and 80 run together along the north and west edges of Des Moines; I-235 loops through downtown between their two junctions.

Which Des Moines district between the river and the Capitol is known for boutiques and restaurants?

The East Village, the historic blocks between the Des Moines River and the Capitol, was revived from the late 1990s into a district of boutiques, bars and restaurants.

Which picture magazine did Des Moines publisher Gardner Cowles Jr. launch in 1937?

Look, the photo-heavy biweekly rival to Life, was launched by Gardner Cowles Jr. in Des Moines in 1937 and published until 1971.

In which year did the last passenger train serve Des Moines?

Rock Island passenger service ended in 1970 with an unnamed Des Moines–Council Bluffs run, the remnant of the Corn Belt Rocket that had linked the city to Chicago and Omaha.