An Architectural and Historical Survey of the Drake Neighborhood

Final Report

An incredible amount of work went into creating this report - it documents the historic contexts under which the neighborhood developed as well as the architectural significance of the buildings throughout the neighborhood. Note that some chapters are extremely large files and may take quite some time to download.

• Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview [20MB]
• Chapter 2: Plats Within the Survey Area [9MB]
• Chapter 3 (part 1): Drake University as A Historically Significant Educational Institution [31MB]
• Chapter 3 (part 2): Drake University as A Historically Significant Educational Institution [25MB]
• Chapter 4: Transportation in University Place, 1881-1961 [17MB]
• Chapter 5: Sewer Service in University Place, 1881-1961 [1MB]
• Chapter 6: Retail and Commercial Service in University Place, 1881-1961 [10MB]
• Chapter 7: Apartment Buildings in University Place, 1881-1961 [2MB]
• Chapter 8: Churches in University Place, 1881-1961 [1MB]
• Chapter 9: Former Farm Houses in University Place, 1881-1961 [1MB]
• Chapter 10: Architects and Builders in University Place, 1881-1961 [7MB]
• Chapter 11 (part 1): House Styles and Vernacular Architecture in University Place, 1881-1961 [18MB]
• Chapter 11 (part 2): House Styles and Vernacular Architecture in University Place, 1881-1961 [16MB]
• Bibliography

The activity that is the subject of this reconnaissance survey report has been financed in part with Federal funds from the National Park Service, U. S. Department of the Interior. However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the view or policies of the Department of the Interior, nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Department of the Interior.

This program received Federal funds from the National Park Service. Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as
amended, the U. S. Department of the Interior strictly prohibits unlawful discrimination in Federally Assisted Programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, age or handicap. Any person who believes he or she has been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility operated by a recipient of Federal assistance should write to: Director, Equal Opportunity Program, U. S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, P. O. Box 37127, Washington, D. C. 20013-7127.

Special Thanks:

This project was a joint effort on the part of the Drake Neighborhood Association and the City of Des Moines. The matched effort was made possible by a federal funding grant under the Certified Local
Governments Program, and through the State Historical Society of Iowa.

Steven Wilke-Shapiro designed a most excellent on-line historical database for the project and coordinated volunteer efforts to input visual and textual data into the database. It is intended that the database will continue to be developed long after the completion of this project.

Jennifer James served as the Drake Neighborhood Association project manager. She coordinated the project volunteers and provided much appreciated historical neighborhood expertise to the project.

John Patrick Zeller worked as a sub-contracted researcher and he contrubuted a broad range of historical information regarding municipal and Drake University history.

The completion of this project is due in large part to its City of Des Moines project manager, Kyle Larson. Kyle made municipal records (notably building permits, master property lists) available and actively
aided the report development by developing summary maps. His active and very beneficial participation and support made all the difference.