Street Names

[Steve Wilke-Shapiro]

Des Moines history buffs, and anyone who has tried to look up building histories will know that many of our current street names were not always so... In 1908, an ordinance was passed renaming (or naming for the first time) many of the City streets.  Now there is a comprehensive index to those street names online, thanks to the Des Moines Public Library!

http://desmoinespubliclibrary.pbworks.com/w/page/47565819/isno_1908

The original ordinance (scanned) is available at

http://www.archive.org/stream/IndexToStreetNamingOrdinancePassedByTheCityCouncilOfDesMoines/ISNOComplete#page/n0/mode/1up

Another fabulous resource coming from the DMPL soon is online access to historic City Directories.  There will still be no substitute to paging through them at the Central Branch, but for those of us who send time researching historic buildings, online access makes things a lot easier.  For now, I've heard that the link I have may not be permanent, so I'm not going to post it to the group.  If you wat to check it out, email me privately.

Happy renovating,
Steve Wilke-Shapiro

[Charles Lyddon]

I would also say that it is not complete. I live on 5th Ave in Highland Park and those streets in the area were formally named for colleges and universities, like 5th was Yale. Just FYI.

Sorry,
Charles

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to "RenovateDSM" - the official e-mail discussion group for the Des Moines Rehabbers Club.
* To post a message to the group, email to renov...@googlegroups.com
* To unsubscribe, send a blank email to renovatedsm...@googlegroups.com
* Read the group rules at http://groups.google.com/group/renovatedsm/web/group-rules
 
Visit the DSMRC online at http://RenovateDSM.com

[Steve Wilke-Shapiro]

Excellent point, Charles - this is not a comprehensive index to all city streets that have been renamed, just the ones that were renamed as a function of the 1908 ordinance.  Wasn't most of what is now the Highland Park neighborhood platted and built out post-1908?

Steve

[Charles Lyddon]

Not built out, it has gone through numerous phases as it started out as a "garden" suburb where people built big Victorians on numerous lots or even full blocks and basically had small farms, then in the craftsman era it become more built up as those lots were filled in. Not exactly sure when the city annexed the area, think it was about the same time the city annexed North Des Moines, but when platted all the north/south streets were named after colleges and universities. Hence Oxford,Cambridge,ect. Didn't mean any disrespect, just a heads up is all it was intended as.

Respectfully,
Charles

[Jennifer James]

The 1890 annexation of the Victorian suburbs ringing DM triggered street renaming and numbering. 

Jen James

515/250-7196

[marlon]

http://www.dlawlesshardware.com/anglpu.html

 

I bought a lot of stuff from this company years ago. The quality was good and price acceptable. Hope this helps someone.

[marlon]

I have been unable to find a good price on preformed coppery valley material on the internet. Shipping is so high for the 10 foot lengths. Does anyone know a good source in central Iowa for this kind of material? What price for a running foot should I expect for 24 inche pre formed valley in 16 ounce copper?

 

Thanks. Marlon