About the Historic Survey

Originally conceived as part of the comprehensive planning process, a "reconnaissance level" survey by James Jacobson of History Pays! documented the Drake Neighborhood's physical and contextual history. Through the City of Des Moines, the neighborhood received two grants to fund this professional historic survey research. Special thanks goes to the City of Des Moines, the State Historical Society of Iowa, the Department of the Interior's National Park Service, James Jacobson, and of course all the volunteers who put in countless hours!

Professional survey work on the reconnaissance level survey was completed in mid 2011 and provides a well-documented understanding of the neighborhood’s specific historical resources and patterns of development.

This web site was established as a living, growing document. It will serve as a tool for historical research, genealogical discovery, and documentation of the neighborhood's story. It is a groundbreaking endeavor to link photos, oral histories, building documentation, and historical contexts together in a web of information.