Event List

2025 marks the 160th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War. The State of Iowa erected the 135 ft. tall Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, funded partially by refunded war taxes, to commemorate Iowans who fought during the Civil War.

Poor farms were residential institutions, often operated by counties, that provided basic social services and housing for the poor, disabled, and elderly during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

This joint library-Historical Society event is free and open to the public thanks to the support of West Des Moines Historical Society Members and the West Des Moines Library Friends Foundation. 

Ako Abdul-Samad has served the community in numerous capacities as an elected official, mediator, and community organizer.  He has witnessed first-hand the challenges facing low income minority communities.

The Monuments Men (& Women) had a seemingly impossible job- save some of the worlds’ most precious cultural artifacts and art from the Nazis, who treated Europe as their private looting grounds.At the same time Adolf Hitler was attempting to t

Underneath the ground lies Colfax’s best kept secret, the mineral water! In the 1870s, underground mineral water, which was a cure-all health craze at the time, was discovered in Colfax.

On the morning of June 10, 1912, the peaceful town of Villisca, Iowa awoke to horror.