West Des Moines, Iowa

The I.O.O.F. Valley Junction Lodge Hall No. 604 is a historic building located in West Des Moines, Iowa, United States. C.S. Yeaton had the two-story brick commercial building constructed from 1897 to 1898. Des Moines architect C.C. Cross was responsible for the design of the Italianate structure. The International Order of Odd Fellows took possession of the building in 1907. A single-story addition was added behind 218 Fifth Street sometime before 1920, and the current storefronts were in place before 1968. The commercial space on the main floor housed a grocer, various hardware stores, and a dry cleaners over the years. The fraternal organization occupied the second floor. The tripartite main facade features two mirror halves. The floor levels in the two storefronts are raised, which is an unusual feature in the surrounding commercial district. The building was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in November 2017. The month before it had been included as a contributing property in the Valley Junction Commercial Historic District.

The Valley Junction Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in West Des Moines, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 72 resources, which included 53 contributing buildings, 17 non-contributing buildings, and two non-contributing structures. What is now the city of West Des Moines was incorporated as Valley Junction in 1893. Its central business district, which is the subject of this historic district, developed near the depot of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. The railroad also had their shops (non-extant) to the southwest of the district in an angle formed by the junction. The linear historic district is composed of most of three blocks of Fifth Street and parts of two cross streets. The buildings are largely one and two stories in height, with one three-story structure. For the most part, the buildings are composed of brick with little to no pressed tin cornices or storefronts of ornamental cast ironwork. Decorative work here features corbelled brick cornices, ornamental blank recessed panels at the parapets, panel and pilaster facade combinations, and a limited but varied range of brick colors. The older buildings (1893-1901) tend to be on the south side of the district. Many of the newer buildings on the north have an inter-war feeling with structures in the Moderne and Art Deco styles. After World War II concrete block construction was more prevalent. The I.O.O.F. Valley Junction Lodge Hall No. 604 (1898) and the Valley Junction-West Des Moines City Hall and Engine House (1901) are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Valley Junction-West Des Moines City Hall and Engine House is a historic building located in West Des Moines, Iowa, United States. Valley Junction was incorporated in 1893, and it was named for the junction of three lines of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad where it was located. This two-story brick building was constructed to house the community's city hall and fire station, even though the fire department would not be established until 1905. The fire station was located on the first floor, and the city hall was located on the second floor. It was located a block north of the train depot. An interurban railway connected the town to Des Moines, and its proximity to the Iowa coal fields contributed to its growth. By 1911 the town grew to be the second largest community in Polk County, and its name was changed to West Des Moines by 1940. The building was used for city hall until 1952. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It was included as a contributing property in the Valley Junction Commercial Historic District in 2017.

Dowling Catholic High School is a Catholic secondary school in the central United States, in West Des Moines, Iowa, within the Diocese of Des Moines. As of the 2013-14 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,431 students and 94.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 15.1:1. The school's enrollment was 81.2% White, 4.1% Black, 10.2% Hispanic, 4.4% Asian and 0.1% American Indian / Alaska Native.

The Thomas I. Stoner House in Des Moines, Iowa, also known as The Highlands, was designed by Wetherell & Harrison and was built in 1931. It includes elements of Spanish Eclectic and Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals architecture. It overlooks the Waveland Golf Course and it has a ceramic tile roof.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. It was deemed significant for its architecture, as "an excellent, virtually unaltered example of the Spanish eclectic style."

The Des Moines Art Center is an art museum with an extensive collection of paintings, sculpture, modern art and mixed media. It was established in 1948 in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Drake Municipal Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Des Moines, Iowa. It is jointly operated by Drake University and the city of Des Moines, and is located within the Waveland Golf Course between the 17th green and the 18th tee (the highest point in Des Moines at the time of construction). The observatory presents public programs on Friday nights throughout the spring through autumn months and, weather permitting, attendees can observe celestial objects with a variety of telescopes. The main dome of the observatory houses an 8.25 inch refracting telescope, on a German equatorial mount. The ashes of the astronomer Daniel Walter Morehouse, and those of his wife Myrtle, are interred within the wall of the observatory rotunda.

The Jordan House is an historic building located in West Des Moines, Iowa, United States. It was built by abolitionist James C. Jordan and was a station on the Underground Railroad in Iowa. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973.

The Sylvan Theater Historic District, also known as Greenwood Park Outdoor Theater, is located in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1995.

Windsor Heights is a city in Polk County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,252 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The James Sansom Carpenter House was significant to Des Moines cultural history from 1906 to 1939. The 13 acre property named Oakwood estate by its owners J. S. Carpenter and his Spouse Florence L. Carpenter because of the old growth oak forestation. The Carpenters' collection was deemed by art critics as one of the finest collections of etchings and lithographs in America. The house held the Carpenter collection of 125 paintings and 350 etchings. J. S. Carpenter was also known as Sannie or Sandy after his oddly spelled middle name. J. S. Carpenter, a bridge building magnet, founded the Des Moines Association of Fine Arts in 1916. The Association members each contributed $100.00 annually for the purchase of paintings and sculptures. The members also received a 25% discount on art purchased at Association events. Carpenter was known as the Guru of fine arts by the Des Moines community. Visiting artists and dignitaries came to Des Moines to sell their art and often stayed with the Carpenter's at Oakwood. Carpenter was president of the Association from its inception until his death of heart disease in 1939. The Association transformed into the Edmundson Art Museum in 1940 under the auspices of Association Executive member, and Carpenter's close friend Jay N. (Ding) Darling. Darling as President of the Edmundson Art Foundation merged the original collection into the present day Des Moines Art Center.

The Linden Heights Historic District is located on the west side Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The district exemplifies the residential styles that were popular in Des Moines from 1912 to 1956. It was also significant in the development of the western part of the city south of Grand Avenue, which is a major east–west thoroughfare. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2003.