Revisiting the Sylvan Theater

Saturday morning, Linda and I got together to see some colorful leaves. So many trees in town were looking good that we stopped by the Sylvan Theater to admire the scenery. It made sense to me to pull out the photo I'd taken earlier this summer. Unfortunately, that shot was taken near noon and the bright sun washed out some of the color (it was mostly green anyway.) I still like the comparison.

Checking out the Glendale Mausoleum, Des Moines Landmark

After our loop around the lake, Linda and I felt like having breakfast at the Waveland. Parking is often a challenge at the Waveland. Seeing no place to park in our first pass, we rolled up on the block and paused so that I could get this shot of the Glendale Mausoleum. Personally, the Waveland Golf Course or Cafe would make more sense as a landmark along this stretch of University but I'm not the one with the offical seal.

Visiting Salisbury House, Des Moines Landmark

This American castle is another surprising find in this city on the plains. Salisbury House is another active participant in the Des Moines arts scene. Like the Sylvan Theater, Jazz in July makes a stop on these grounds. I've not been in the building yet but have heard that it's truly a treat. Built in the 1920s by the Weeks family, they went to great lengths to see that it reflected the King's House in Salisbury, England, in every way possible.

Visiting the Rose Garden at Greenwood Park, Des Moines Landmark

The blossoms may be waning but their color is still striking. The Clair and Miles Mills Rose Garden is just up the hill behind the stage of the Sylvan Theater. It's probably easier to get to from the Des Moines Art Center directly to the north but today, I was visiting the theater.

This handsome garden is often used as the site for any number of moderate to small events. When I was there, there were men setting up a tent for some sort of outdoor reception.

Visiting the Sylvan Theatre, Des Moines Landmark

Wikipedia gives the following description: "A sylvan theater is a type of outdoor theater situated in a wooded (sylvan) setting. Often adorned with classical motifs (columns, statues), a sylvan theater may substitute a simple green lawn for built seating and can include elaborate arrangements of shrubs, flowers and other greenery. These alfresco stages may be features of grand formal gardens or parks, or of more intimate settings, and may be intended for either public or private use."

There are no columns or statues but the setting is quite nice. Located just off the beaten path in Greenwood park, this Des Moines Landmark serves annually as a location for the annual Jazz In July series. When I was there, families would often take a breather and sit for a few minutes, probably imagining how their favorite performer might look on this stage.

Visiting the Old Central Des Moines Public Library, Des Moines Landmark

This great public building has served the city well and will continue for some time to come. When the city decided that the city had outgrown the capacity of the old library and started building the new branch, the next question was what to do with the old library. Fortunately, they found an excellent new role for this downtown Des Moines landmark serving not just the local community but the global community.

What will happen to the existing Central
Library?
The century-old Central Library located at 100
Locust Street will be the future home of The
World Food Prize Foundation Hall of Laureates.
A centerpiece of the Des Moines/Principal
Financial Riverwalk development project, the
Hall of Laureates will honor Iowa's heritage of
agricultural innovation and humanitarian outreach,
as well as the accomplishments of the
World Food Prize Laureates. The World Food
Prize was created in 1986 by Iowa native and
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Norman E.
Borlaug, and is funded by The John Ruan Trust.

Visit the World Food Prize website to take a look inside the main floor of this great old building.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Borlaug's Iowa connection and contribution to global food production.

Snapping a shot of the Colonial Bread Sign, Des Moines Landmark

Now THIS is a landmark! When I first came to Des Moines, I quickly learned where this sign was found. At the corner of Univerty and Second Avenue, this sign was hard to miss and certainly unique. At that time, if you drove by early enough, the smell of fresh baked bread was everywhere.

After The Earthgrains Co. sold its Colonial brand and moved out around the turn of the century, the bakery was renovated and repurposed.

School district renovating landmark Colonial Bakery: facility will prepare 40,000 meals a day and save the district an estimated $1 million per year.

Fortunately, the sign has been preserved as well.

Finding the Wallace House, Des Moines Landmark

The one-time home of Henry A. Wallace, one of Iowa's influential, controversial sons is found at the top of Sherman Hill. Restored to match photos from over one hundred years ago, this museum now houses exhibits on the life of Wallace and the four Secretaries of Agriculture with Iowa roots. I'm sure that when current Secretary Mike Johanns, born in Atlantic, Iowa, completes his tenure, his contributions will be added as well.

From the Wallace House Foundation website:

The mission of the Wallace House Foundation is to build community through conversation about contemporary issues.

The Wallace House Foundation commemorates the remarkable influences of the Wallace family on Iowa, the nation, and the world. The Foundation is a neutral, non-partisan facilitator of dialogue that builds community and solves problems. The Foundation sponsors and staffs citizen dialogue projects, supports civic investment in Iowa communities, and provides consulting services to citizens, organizations, and government to facilitate communication, build consensus, and develop collaborative partnerships for effective action. The Foundation also preserves the Wallace House as a historical center and meeting facility.

About the museum:

“Uncle Henry” and Nancy C. Wallace moved to Des Moines from Winterset in 1892 when Henry became editor of the Iowa Homestead. They selected a home at the corner of 16th & Center Streets, one of the oldest properties in the Sherman Hill neighborhood. The Italianate Victorian-style house was built in 1882. The Classical style wrap-around porch features Ionic Roman columns. The stacked bay windows and a second story balcony are typical of the style.


Around 1895, the Wallaces altered the third floor for more space, adding two bedrooms, a hybrid mansard/hip roof and dormer windows. After Nancy’s death in 1909 and Henry’s death in 1916, daughter Josephine continued to live in the house until 1923. The house remained in the Wallace family until 1940. By the 1950s, the house was portioned into 11 apartments. The house was last inhabited in the 1960s.


The Wallace House Foundation purchased the home in 1988. The interior was gutted, and period photos taken around 1910 by Josephine Wallace guided the restoration work. The family donated many pieces of period furniture. Henry and Nancy's great-granddaughter Ann Wallace Fleming maintains the beautiful heirloom garden.

Locating the Lexington Apartments, Des Moines Landmark

Located in the middle of the Sherman Hill District, this apartment building is another interesting choice for landmark. While I'm sure there is history to the structure, it's not readily found on the web... sort of like the building itself. Without the address in hand, I don't think I'd have recognized it as a significant structure among all the other historic buildings in the area. It is somewhat recognizable and I think that I've seen it featured on the cover of local publications and in some photography of Des Moines but, if I'd not known it was "famous," I doubt I'd have taken this photo. I guess I'm contributing to its celebrity status. Please respect its privacy and not all rush up there all at the same time. ; )

Visiting Hoyt Sherman Place, Des Moines Landmark

While I've never been inside, I actually knew where this place was! This venerated cultural anchor at the downtown corner of the Sherman Hills district has had a long history of providing some of the finest artistic expressions in the city. A few days before I took this rather limited photo of the southern face of the building, the large lawn was covered with tents appearing to offer paintings and prints; it's an active member of the community.

I visited the Hoyt Sherman website and found

A grand manor home built in 1877 by prominent businessman Hoyt Sherman; the structure is now a museum and performing arts center. The original house and gallery display an impressive collection of 19th and 20th century paintings and elaborately carved 17th century furniture as well as many rare, ancient artifacts. The newly renovated historic theater built in 1923, hosts an impressive array of world renowned musicians, theatrical productions, and local performing arts events.

Visting the Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines Landmark

Located just beyond the historic Sherman Hill District, headstones in this cemetery have the same names as a lot of streets and parks in Des Moines. Many of the founding and early influential families have relatives buried here.

Actually seeing the Butler Mansion, Des Moines Landmark

Anyone who's travelled Fleur Drive south of downtown has almost certainly passed the driveway to the "landmark" Butler Mansion. While I've certainly passed by more than one hundred times, I'd never actually seen the mansion... until last Friday.

Now the home of The Integer Group, an Advertising/Agencies, Communications/Public Relations, Internet/Web Site Design business, the mansion took part in the 10th Annual Holly & Ivy Holiday Tour last December. They earned "special thanks to The Integer Group for its “Twelve Days of Christmas” theme throughout the seven-story Butler Mansion." Seven stories?!

The mansion apparently also has some permanent guests. The following story is taken from the Des Moines Business Record:

The first ghost sighting at the Butler Mansion occurred in early 1990, just months after Liz Newell and Jack Kragie bought the building to house their advertising and public relations agency, Kragie Newell Inc.

Newell remembers being told that a creative director for the firm was working late. She was alone in the building. She walked up the home's central ramp to Newell's office, which was located in the late Earl Butler's bedroom. As she was dropping off some materials on Newell's desk, she saw a hazy figure in the office's bathroom.

It appeared to be a woman, dressed in a bathrobe with a towel wrapped around her head as though she had just stepped from the shower. Thinking that it was Newell, the creative director quickly left the room. Newell wasn't anywhere near the office that night.

"She thought it was me, just getting out of the shower -- that's how real it was," Newell said. "That was the first one."

Several months later, a woman was dropping off her son at the mansion, which is located on Fleur Drive just south of Gray's Lake. He was an intern at Kragie Newell.

As he walked into the building, the mother noticed that a woman, again dressed in a bathrobe with a towel around her head, was looking at her through the window in the building's kitchen, which was located beneath Newell's office. The mother, who didn't work at the agency, had never heard the story about the first sighting....

Finding Esther Hall, another Des Moines Landmark

"A highlight of the structure is the fact that it is important in development of educational institutions for women and for its place in the development of charitable and social services." - Meeting minutes City of Des Moines Landmark Review Board, April 06, 2004

While it may have an important history, this building isn't all that easy to find and, contrary to my idea of a landmark, nobody I spoke with knew where it would be found.

I am glad steps have been taken to maintain it and that it will continue to exist in our community.

Visiting the Gold Star Monument

Another Des Moines landmark, this one I knew. Located on the east side of the river at 700 East University, it's hard to not notice it sometime. Built in 1925, this monument commemorates one hundred sixty five Polk County men who were lost.

ERECTED IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THE MEN FROM POLK COUNTY IOWA WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE IN THE WORLD WAR THAT GOVERNMENT BY THE PEOPLE SHALL BE MAINTAINED AND THAT LIBERTY SHALL NOT PERISH FROM THE EARTH

Unfortunately, in researching a little about the monument, I ran across a disappointing story on the WHO website dated April 18, 2007.

Gerald LaBlanc is trying to save a piece of history. "Right after the Great War the wives and mothers of 165 boys all killed in battle had a donation drive and with those funds erected this Gold Star Monument. However, by the 1950's the wives and mothers had all passed on. And they left no endowment. The monument is absolutely abandoned."

The monument is showing its age and could use some maintenance. Fortunately, the Iowa Lutheran Hospital next door is cutting the grass or this story might have been even sadder.

Looking for the Southeast Water Trough

Recently, I was looking around on the web and found a Des Moines city site that listed the "landmarks" of the town. Sounds like a photo opportunity to me... and a chance to learn where these landmark locations are found. After taking my Friday photo, I had some time to kill before meeting Linda so I headed for the Southeast Water Trough. I don't think I'd ever seen this landmark and, having seen the location on Google Earth, was curious what I'd find when I got there. It was certainly easy to recognize when I saw it; that's a good thing in a landmark.

Located at the corner of Southeast Eleventh and Scott, this watering hole is located within a mile of the Iowa State Capitol. Located in an area that was once a rail center, I can easily imagine this being a place to pause and refresh working horses. It's nice to see it preserved.