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1956 Map of Des Moines SW

Name: 1956 Topographic Map of Des Moines SW
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1972
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1972

About this map

The Raccoon River and Des Moines River converge in this mid-century look at the Iowa capital’s southwestern reaches. The map documents a period of significant urban transformation, captured in 1956 and updated with photorevisions through the early 1970s. This transition is most evident in the expanding residential grids of Windsor Heights, Clive, and Urbandale, where dozens of neighborhood schools like Franklin Jr High Sch and Windsor Sch appear alongside established institutions like Drake University.

Industrial and transit footprints are heavily marked by the confluence of rail lines, including the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific and the Des Moines Western. To the south, the Des Moines Municipal Airport dominates the landscape near Hoak Sch, while the western edge retains its rural character with the Gravel Pits along the river and the quiet, isolated Plainview Sch (Abandoned). Land use varies from the manicured grounds of the Des Moines Country Club to the wooded expanse of Walnut Woods State Park.