The Bock Stops Here
It’s the busiest time of the year at the CITYVIEW offices with our annual BEST OF DES MOINES winners being announced. I thought it would be fun to dive into [...]
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Posted January 31, 2024in Des Moines Forgotten
Posted January 03, 2024in Des Moines Forgotten
The KCCI Weather Beacon
When I first moved to Des Moines in 2007, I was rattled with lore and strange facts about the city. I had been gone from the state since June of [...]
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Posted December 06, 2023in Des Moines Forgotten
Chatsworth the talking reindeer, Toyland, caroling and luminaries
In the late 1980s, my parents would take me to the Village of East Davenport to walk around and look at window decorations. The Village of East Davenport had its [...]
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Posted November 01, 2023in Des Moines Forgotten
Remembering Hinky Dinky
November is a weird a month. We move from “spooky season” to “second mortgage season.” It’s that time of year for us to be with our families, overspend at the [...]
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Posted October 04, 2023in Des Moines Forgotten
What’s in the basement of the Hickman House?
Until a few years ago, I could not say that I had ever been in a haunted house. My house was built in 1916, and there is no doubt that [...]
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Posted September 06, 2023in Des Moines Forgotten
What lies beneath?
I have written about coal mining in the metro previously with the Shuler Mines in Waukee. It’s surreal to think that Des Moines is littered with abandoned mines under the [...]
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Posted August 02, 2023in Des Moines Forgotten
A nude portrait and a family tradition
It’s the time of year when Des Moines becomes a three-ring circus. Yes, part of that is because the Iowa State Fair is near, but we are also in the [...]
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Posted July 05, 2023in Des Moines Forgotten
Hotel Randolph
Gentrification is a mixed bag. In one sense, you have people we assume come with good intentions and invest in parts of our city that have been long ignored. The [...]
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Posted May 31, 2023in Des Moines Forgotten
The 1961 plane crash on Country Club Boulevard
This story developed because I received a speeding ticket in Nebraska this past March. It was one of those deals when I was going 10 mph over the speed limit, [...]
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Posted May 03, 2023in Des Moines Forgotten
The Blank family’s roots in Des Moines theater
I write a lot about movies, including my experiences making them or my experiences watching them. Des Moines’ film history fascinates me, from the insane Evangelical Apocalypse films of Russell [...]
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