Des Moines
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Des Moines. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city, capital of the , and county-seat of Polk State of Iowa co.; at the junction of the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers, and on the Rock Island, the Northwestern, the Burlington Route, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, and several other railroads. It is built on a plateau from 15 to 20 feet above the tidewater and is intersected by both rivers, which are spanned by eight bridges. The business portion lies near the rivers, and the residences higher grounds beyond. are on the Public Parks and Buildings. The city has an extensive park system. Among the notable buildings are the Capitol, erected at a cost of $3,000,000; the United States Building, containing the Postoffice and Federal Courts; the State Library; the State Historical Building, and Auditorium; Hospitals; Court House; the Grand Opera House; City Hall; State Arsenal; and about 75 churches. Business Interests. - The city is located in the center of a rich coal mining district. The principal industries, industries, besides coal - mining, include pork - packing and the manufacture of starch, glass, pipe, brick and tile, foundry and machine shop products, engines, boilers, is 500 miles in length and stove pipe, cements, furniture and brass goods. In 1919 there were 3 National banks. Education. The school system is maintained at a high standard. The annual expenditure for education is over $1,000,000. For higher instruction there were 5 public high schools, a private one, Des Moines College, Drake University, Highland Park College and Grand View College. History. Des Moines was first surveyed in 1846; incorporated as a town in 1853; and chartered as a city in 1857. In the last year it was made the State capital. Pop. (1910) 86,368; (1920) 126,468.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the capital city of Iowa. It is situated near the center of the state, on both banks of the Des Moines River. Eight bridges cross the stream. The more prominent public buildings are the State Capitol, costing $3,000,000, and the City Library, erected at a cost of $500,000. Des Moines is the center of an extensive network of railways. Soft coal mined in the vicinity affords fuel and stimulates manufacturing. Scales, engines, readymade clothing, cigars, wagons, starch, flour, typewriting machines, and electrical appliances are among the products. The site of the city was occupied in 1846. The population in 1900 was 75,626. The census of 1910 is expected to show a large increase in population. Des Moines has attracted no little attention by installing the commission system of city government. Though in an experimental stage, the plan gives promise of economy and efficiency.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's noted in 1910 that Des Moines had "attracted no little attention by installing the commission system of city government" and that the plan, "though in an experimental stage," promised economy; the Des Moines Plan was indeed copied by hundreds of American cities, but Des Moines itself dropped it for a council-manager government in 1950. The coal that both accounts treat as the city's fuel and the spur to its factories is gone: the mines around Des Moines played out and closed during the twentieth century, and the economy today rests on insurance and finance, with Principal Financial Group headquartered there and the city long nicknamed the insurance capital of the Midwest. Population has grown more slowly than the 1920 figure of 126,468 might suggest, reaching about 214,000 in the 2020 census, though the surrounding metropolitan area holds well over 700,000. Since 1972 the city has also become a fixture of national politics as the hub of the Iowa presidential caucuses.
Written for this edition, 2026.