Scan 2
1909 Des Moines and Polk County, Iowa, City Directory, 1909
31 lines. Read by computer on 17 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1INTRODUCTORY
3The eighteenth edition of R. L. Polk & Co's Des Moines City and Valley Junction Directory is herewith presented.
5CONTENTS.
7Those not familiar with the scope of the information given in the Directory are referred to the General Index and Index to miscellaneous information on page 36.
9POPULATION.
11The Directory contains 47,983 names. After deducting the names of firms, corporations, institutions, etc., and multiplying by 2 1/2 to allow for names of women and children not represented in its columns—we estimate the population as 107,962, an increase over the last edition of 3,247.
13This year, as heretofore, the canvass for information for the Directory has not been confined to the city limits, but embraces the adjacent territory which to all intents and purposes is as much a part of the city as though included in the corporate limits.
15FACTS ABOUT DES MOINES.
17Des Moines is the capital of Iowa. The state has here a Capitol Building costing $4,000,000; Historical Building costing $500,000; State Fair Grounds representing $2,500,000 invested; all Departments of the State Government and Headquarters of all the State Institutions are here.
19Area—54 square miles.
20Assessed Valuation—$80,000,000.
21Bonded Debt—$916,000.
22Tax Rate—39 mills on one-fourth actual valuation.
23Total cash in City Treasury April 1, 1909, $333,414.43; receipts from licenses year ending April 1, 1909, $74,718.46; total receipts for year ending April 1, 1909, $1,332,290.20; cost of maintaining City Government, $998,875.77.
24Miles of Street—775.
25Miles of Paving—72.01.
26Miles of Public Sewers—153.
27Parks—Number 19; acres 688; value $767,000.
28Police Department—80 men; 1 station; value of building and lot, $30,000.
29Health Department—8 men.
30Fire Department—106 men; 15 station houses; 51 horses; 7 extension ladder trucks; 5 hose and chemical wagons; 6 hook and ladder trucks; 10 hose carts; 3 chemical wagons; value of apparatus $38,942; value of buildings and lots, $200,890; cost of maintenance (1908), $130,585.
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