A Brief History of Des Moines Iowa

Des Moines was founded in May 1843, when Captain James Allen arrived at the site where the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers merge with a company of dragoons and built a fort. He wanted to name the garrison Fort Raccoon, but was told to name it Fort Des Moines by the American War Department. This name could have originated from a number of possible places. In French, “Des Moines” means “Of The Monks.” The name either comes from the river itself, from a reference to the French Trappist monks from the mouth of the river, from the Moingonas tribe that resided in that area, or from the French phrase de moyen, which means “middle” and refers to the fort’s position between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.

Settlers began to live in the area around the fort, and Fort Des Moines became incorporated on September 22, 1851. In 1857, Fort Des Moines was shortened to Des Moines, and was later designated the state capitol of Iowa. The first City Hall was built in 1870, and was replaced in 1909-1910.

Many unique events make up Des Moines history, such as the first training center of the Women’s Army Corps that was established in Fort Des Moines in 1903. To help the war effort in World War I, Camp Dodge was established in 1917 and more than 100 000 Iowans were trained there. Des Moines, along with many other American cities, suffered growing unemployment and failed business with the stock market crash of 1929. With the post-war climate after World War II, Des Moines began to flourish as a major insurance center with a healthy economy, a trend that has continued to today.