West Des Moines Historical Society

West Des Moines Historical Society The mission of the Society is to educate, to preserve, and to promote the heritage and history of West Des Moines.

The West Des Moines Historical Society owns and maintains two historic properties in West Des Moines, the Jordan House and Bennett School. The idea of establishing a historical society for the City of West Des Moines was conceived in 1968 as plans were made for the city’s Diamond Jubilee. Two years later, in 1970, the West Des Moines Historical Society was formed. To this end, the Society purchas

ed the Jordan House in 1978. Through the efforts of the Society, the business community and the volunteer organizations of West Des Moines, the dream of transforming Jordan house into a museum became a reality. The major initial restoration was completed in 1993, the centennial year of West Des Moines. Since that time the West Des Moines Historical Society has also acquired and restored the Bennett School, the last one room school houses built and used in West Des Moines. These two facilities together with the growing collections of memoribilia and historical information form the core of the West Des Moines Historical Society’s collection. If you have knowledge of significant events in West Des Moines, pictures from the past, or historical items relating to West Des Moines we would love to hear from you. If you have only time, we are always looking for volunteers and can help you with that too – and you’ll get a lot of enjoyment out of it. In either event please contact us using the information below.

Don't let the heat wave fool you, fall is coming! Our thanks to Ronelle and her mom for decorating the Jordan House balc...
08/31/2026

Don't let the heat wave fool you, fall is coming! Our thanks to Ronelle and her mom for decorating the Jordan House balconies!

08/28/2026

Do you have a flair for the dramatic!? Can you convince people you were born in the 1800s and want to share the story of your life (and death!)?

Then we'd love to talk to you about portraying one of the early West Des Moines residents at the Jordan Cemetery for our annual Historic Cemetery Tour Saturday, October 10. Call 515.225.1286 or email [email protected] for details.

08/28/2026

Your moment of Zen on an early Friday evening.

Happy first week of school! Our is the Valley Junction High School Class of 1907. The class motto: "Not to the top, bu...
08/28/2026

Happy first week of school! Our is the Valley Junction High School Class of 1907. The class motto: "Not to the top, but climbing."
First row, left to right:
Edna Fulton (Abild), Clarence Bigelow, Nellie Luther (Principal), Blanch Beim, W.O. Reid (Superintendent) Josephine Morrison (Andrews), Allie Cameron (Thompson).
Second row, left to right:
Kitty Friday, Anna O'Connell (Gillespie), Nellie Person (Phenix), Earl DeFord, Hazel McAvoy (Rost), Arnold Krull, Jeanette Fairgrave (McAvoy)Minnie McLees (Rice), Elizabeth Heenan (?) (Sear (?))

*All names are handwritten on the back, so we acknowledge there could be misspelling or incorrect information. If you have any information that would clarify the names, please let us know!

and welcome to the 2026/27 Jordan Scholars! Here's to another year of learning about leadership and making community c...
08/27/2026

and welcome to the 2026/27 Jordan Scholars! Here's to another year of learning about leadership and making community connections!

08/27/2026

Teenage Whistlepig going on an adventure at the

Since you were all so good at guessing last week, I had to make today's a little more difficult!
08/26/2026

Since you were all so good at guessing last week, I had to make today's a little more difficult!

Address

2001 Fuller Road
West Des Moines, IA
50265

Telephone

+15152251286

Website

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