About Des Moines Iowa
Des Moines is the Capital city of the state of Iowa, and serves as well as the county seat of Polk County. It was incorporated as a city in the mid 19th century as Fort Des Moines, but the name was later on shortened to Des Moines. This city was named after the Des Moines River on whose shores it is situated. Des Moines happens to be a key hub for the United State’s insurance industry, and also possesses significant financial services and publishing industries. This Iowa capital is as well home to a wide range of nationally renowned business establishments. Some of the most notable of which are Principal Group, Ruan Transportation, ACE Limited, Meredith Corporation, EMC Insurance, Wallmark Blue Cross, Blue Shield to mention just but a few.
Other prominent companies that have a sizeable presence in Des Moines include Wells Fargo, Dupont Pioneer, Munsanlo, Voya Financial to name but a few. Also, Microsoft, HP and Facebook all have data processing and logistical installations in this Iowa capital city. In 2010 and 2013, Forbes named Des Moines as the best place for business in the country. While in 2014, NBC ranked it as the wealthiest city in the United States. Des Moines is as well a crucial center for US presidential politics. As the capital city of the state of Iowa, it hosts the 1st caucuses of the presidential primaries’ cycle. In fact, most presidential aspirants are well noted for setting up their campaign headquarters in this Iowa city.
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Top attractions
Des Moines is the cultural and art hub of the state of Iowa, and boasts of a good number of leading performing arts companies and art museums. To begin with, there is the Des Moines Performing Arts, which is a performing arts venue that routinely hosts traveling Broadway shows as well as other live professional theatre productions. There is the Des Moines Metro Opera too, which provides award winning educational and outreach programs. While the Des Moines Metro Opera has the distinction of been one of the biggest performing arts groups in the state of Iowa. There is as well the Ballet Des Moines, which is noted for performing 3 productions on an annual basis. While the Des Moines Symphony performs regularly at different performing arts venues in the city.
Des Moines is also home to the Simon Estes Riverfront Amphitheater that is essentially an outdoor musical concerts venue, and hosts a variety of popular musical events in the city including the Alive Concert Series. There is the Des Moines Art Center too, which showcases works of arts exhibits and has put in place notable educational programs too. The Des Moines Art Center is highly acclaimed for housing a globally renowned collection of art works that date from the 19th century to the present. Des Moines is also home to the Pappajohn Sculpture Park, which is famous for putting to show a collection of 28 world class sculptures that are valued at over $40 million. These works of sculpture were donated to the park by John and Mary Pappajohn, a couple that was renowned for its philanthropy. This Des Moines sculpture garden is sprawled on a 4.4 acre green space in the downtown area.
Yet another key attraction of this Iowa capital city is the Salisbury House and Garden. Generally speaking, this is a 42 room historic house museum. The Salisbury House and Garden is situated on a 10 acre woodland, and was constructed in the early 20th century by cosmetic business magnate Carl Weeks. It is widely renowned for showcasing original 16th century English oak and rafters that trace their origins to the heydays of the famous British playwright William Shakespeare. The Salisbury House and Garden also houses an international renowned collection of original works of art, tapestries, musical instruments, furniture, decorative art pieces, rare books and even documents. This leading Des Moines attraction is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Des Moines is as well home to the Hoyt Sherman Place that has the distinction of been the very first public art gallery in this Iowan city. The Hoyt Sherman Place puts to show both 19th century and 20th century works of art. Another very popular attraction of this Iowan capital city is, without doubt, the Iowa State Capitol that features a 23 karat gold leaf dome. The Iowa State Capitol houses the state’s governor’s office, the legislature and the old Supreme Court chambers. The grounds of the state capitol include a 2nd Great War memorial that comes complete with a range of sculpture and a wall of memories.
There is also the State of Iowa Historical Museum, which is situated at the foot of the state capitol, and showcases both permanent and temporary exhibits. These given exhibits focus on the various persons, places and even events that marked the state’s historical heritage. Some of the most fascinating exhibits of the State of Iowa Historical Museum include Amerindian artifacts, pioneer artifacts along with political and military objects. Des Moines is as well home to the Science Center of Iowa, which occupies a 110,000 square feet space, and presents 7 different interactive learning experiences. Not to mention hands-on science themed experiences for visitors of all ages. The City of Des Moines also boasts of the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden that is an indoor conservatory, which boasts of a collection of more than 15,000 exotic plants. The Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden is also home to one of the biggest collections of tropical, subtropical and desert plant life in the entire Midwest region of the United States.
Iowa State Capitol
The Iowa State Capitol is, without question, one of the most spectacular landmarks in the City of Des Moines. It is as well lauded as one of the finest state capitol buildings in the whole country. The Iowa State Capitol was built in a renaissance architectural design, with a dome that is built of iron and brick and encrusted with a 23 karat gold leaf. This leading Des Moines attraction offers guided tours, which let visitors access more information on its role in the day to day life of the city and state.
Hoyt Sherman Place
This was the primary residence of Hoyt Sherman who is noted for being the brother of the American Civil War hero General William Sherman. The mansion currently stands as a lasting memorial to Hoyt Sherman and the role he played in the development and eventual growth of Des Moines. The Hoyt Sherman Place is also of the city’s very best theatre and musical concerts venues.
Iowa State Fair
The Iowa State Fair has the distinction of been one of the biggest of its kind in the whole United States, and is one of Des Moine’s most popular cultural events. The fair is hosted in a 450 acre piece of land, and puts to show a wide variety of attractions. This includes livestock contests, amusement park rides, cultural tents and food trucks. This event is renowned as well for its over 200 food stands, where visitors can get to sample the culinary delights of the state of Iowa.
Pappajohn Sculpture Park
This Des Moines sculpture garden is located at the very heart of the city’s downtown area. It offers 28 world class sculptures that are sprawled on a 4.4 acre, pedestrian friendly urban green space.
Kavanaugh Art Gallery
The Kavanaugh Art Gallery showcases a world class collection of works of art from all over the globe. It boasts of more than 4,000 pieces of a quality that one would expect from a bigger US city. This includes fine paintings, sculpture and numerous limited edition prints. The founders of this Des Moines art gallery, Dan and Carol Kavanaugh; have been collecting artworks ever since the late 1980s.