The Des Moines Historical Museum

 

Tucked away on the second floor of this unimposing building at 730 S 225^th Street in downtown Des Moines, WA,  is a treasure trove of South King County History.

Historical Background

It is believed that the Duwamish and Muckleshoot Native American peoples came to the present location of Des Moines to dig clams and spear salmon for their winter food supply, but that they did not have permanent camps at this location.  Captain George Vancouver passed by on May 26, 1792.  The next recorded discovery was made by explorers for the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1824. [1]  The Wilkes Expedition charted the coastline in the vicinity of the present site of Des Moines May 18, 1841.[2]

The First Settlers

John Moore probably arrived in the present location of Des Moines late in 1863, however, he failed to file for his Homestead Patent five years later. By mid-1872, he had filed and received his Patent.  It is thought that he was born about 1831 in Ireland and probably came to America in 1850.  Through an unfortunate chain of circumstances, he lost the land and died in a state asylum for the insane in Steilacoom in 1899.  He was buried on the grounds with a numbered tombstone.  It was replaced by an appropriate gravestone in 2005 by the Des Moines Historical Society and the numbered headstone is stored in the Museum.[3] 

 

The Historical Society and Museum

The Des Moines Historical Society was formed in 1978 by the Zenith – Des Moines Improvement Club. The Society and Museum moved to its current home in the Odd Fellows Hall in 1985.  The rent and utilities are funded by the City of Des Moines; King County 4Culture provides continuing support, and grants have been received from various other sources.  There is no admission charge, but donations are gratefully accepted. The museum is staffed entirely by a small number of volunteers. Presently the museum is closed due to Covid 19 but is open for research by appointment. 

The artifacts on display represent life in the area from the 1850s to the present. My eye was first drawn to a large display case of Native American baskets, numbered, but waiting to be labeled.  The oldest artifact is a doll, probably from the 1840s or 1850s. Many of the artifacts on display are those you might see in any small-town museum; pianos, organs, tools, early business machines, hats, jewelry, photos. 

There are several displays of memorabilia from the Spanish Castle, a dance hall located at the intersection of Pacific Highway South and Kent-Des Moines Road. I danced the night away to live music there more than once in its waning days. 

Highline Spanish Castle circa 1940

 

The Records

I was privileged to spend two and a half hours with Kevin Hall, the Museum Curator whose knowledge of the records they hold is encyclopedic. They are tracked on spreadsheets, and some have been digitized and transferred to the University of Washington, however that number is small compared to their total holdings.  Records are stacked to the ceiling in archival boxes in several areas of the museum.  They hold the Des Moines News and the Des Moines Tribune from the 1940s to the 1990s.  There are family histories, church records, records of community groups, records of women’s business groups, a pictorial historical scrapbook prepared by the Historical Society, and school records.  There are large hand-drawn plat maps of the area.  One of the more unusual sets of records is those of the Des Moines United Methodist Church back to 1888. The marriage records back to 1947 have been cross-referenced by the women’s maiden names.  Whenever I asked Mr. Hall, “Have these records been digitized?”, he would just shake his head sadly. 

 

When you read that only a tiny percent of the records of interest and value to genealogists have been digitized, believe it. 

If you believe in the importance of preserving these records, I urge you to volunteer when the Museum reopens.

Special thanks to Carol Davis for arranging a private tour of the Museum and meeting with the Curator and to Eldon E. Davis for his assistance in fact-checking this post.

 

Barbara Mattoon               

                                                         

Additional Resources

     Atwood, Albert, Glimpses in Pioneer Life on Puget Sound, Seattle, Denny-Coryell, 1903.  Information on early Puget Sound settlers.  Available for in-library use in the Northwest Collection of the Burien Public Library.

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[1] Kennedy, Richard T. and Schmidt, Gretchen F. editors, One Hundred Years of the “Waterland Community” A History of Des Moines, Washington, City of Des Moines 1989, p. 11. 

[2] Ibid. p. 12.

[3] Davis, Eldon E.,. John Moore First Homesteader in Des Moines, WA, Des Moines. Washington, 2006.