12/19/2025
Some Des Moines history:
A DES MOINES ORIGINAL SUBURB
EASTON PLACE, IOWA
Polk County
What are the Des Moines suburbs? Clive and Windsor Heights, of course. Urbandale, Pleasant Hill, and West Des Moines as well. Most people would lump Ankeny, Altoona, Norwalk, Carlisle, and Johnston into the mix too. Some might even go so far as to include Bondurant and Waukee.
But what if I told you Des Moines had a completely different roster of suburbs in the late 19th century?
By 1890, Des Moines had seven incorporated suburbs: North Des Moines (incorporated 1880), Greenwood Park (1881), Gilbert, also known as Chesterfield (1882), University Place (1883), Capitol Park (1884), Grant Park (1888), and Easton Place (1889). Des Moines proper, however, was starting to feel boxed in. At the same time, an expanding streetcar network made it possible for people to travel farther and faster than ever before.
The city responded by moving to annex a substantial amount of surrounding land, much of which still falls within Des Moines city limits today. The annexation included ground that would later become familiar neighborhoods like Oak Park, Highland Park, Beaverdale, Waveland, Waterbury, Grandview Park, Fairmont Park, Sheridan Park, and Amend Place. To reach that land, though, Des Moines had to deal with the suburbs in between. A vote was held late in 1889 proposing that the seven communities be absorbed into the city of Des Moines. It passed, and in 1890 those seven suburbs officially became part of the capital city.
Easton Place was the last of the suburbs to incorporate and, as a result, had the shortest life before being absorbed just a year later. Sources differ on when it was formally platted. Some, including Leroy Pratt, place it in 1885. However, it appears on at least one 1883 map, suggesting it was already laid out by that time. Platted on Section 31 of Lee Township, Easton Boulevard formed the southern boundary, though the limits were expanded slightly at annexation to reach University Avenue.
The original east-west streets were laid out north to south as Jefferson, A, B, and Washington. The perpendicular streets were Tichenor, State, Searle, Montgomery, and Wilbur. Many of these streets still exist today. Washington remains Washington. B Street is now Jefferson Avenue. A Street became Thompson Avenue, and the former Jefferson Street is now Guthrie Avenue. Of the north-south streets, Searle Street remains, and a portion of Tichenor survives as well, now known as 22nd Street. The rest were renumbered to match Des Moines and Polk County’s street system.
Easton Place Methodist Church, pictured here, was not standing at the time of annexation. The congregation formed in 1914, and this is its second building. It sits at the corner of Easton Boulevard and Lay Street. Also in the Easton Park neighborhood are Des Moines Fire and Rescue Station No. 3 and my old elementary school, Phillips Elementary. Neither of those buildings existed in 1899 either. Fortunately, though things have changed, there is one place in the neighborhood to remind us that once upon a time this community was its own community.
