The History of 22 9th Street
West End Architectural Salvage began in 1916 as Grocers Wholesale Company, a co-op of various grocers and food distributors.
It later became Sears Farm Equipment Store, and had a few other various owners and tenants over the years.
The most notable ownership change, in our opinion, happened in 2006 when Don Short purchased the building at 22 9th Street to create not just a fulfillment of his own dream, but an experience unlike any other that has remained for 20 years.
That's the short version of our building history. Not just the Don Short version.
Historical Timeline of West End
Polk County records show our building as constructed in 1906, but architectural records and other historic references show 1916 as the actual build date.
Calvin Graves held original patent for the land, and it was sold in 1869, and again in 1870, 1885, and 1916.
1916: Grocers Wholesale Warehouse Company
1933: Paul Schulze Biscuit Company
1935: Miller Distributing Company
1937: Sears Farm Equipment Store
1961: Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company
1963-1967: VACANT
SOLD
1968: National Handcraft, Inc
SOLD
1969: Lumbard Investment Company
SOLD
2006: West End Architectural Salvage
2008: Added to National Register of Historic Places
2013: Two seasons of West End Salvage were aired on HGTV
Grocers Wholesale Warehouse Company constructed our building on the southwest comer of West Ninth and Cherry streets, completed in 1916. The newspapers announced that a long-term lease had been negotiated with the property owner H. H. Coggeshall for the lot that measured 66 on its eastern Ninth Street frontage, with a depth of 132 feet along Cherry Street. The $85,000 building would consist of three stories and a full basement, with a built-in allowance for the addition of three more stories as the space was needed {Register and Leader, February 12, 1916).
The company operated as a grocery cooperative for many years, with our building listed as vacant in 1932. A few tenants occupied the building for various uses until 1937, when Sears & Roebuck leased the space for a farm equipment store. They operated in the building until 1959.
The building sat vacant from 1963 - 1967 and was sold two more times before Don Short purchased it in 2006.
22 9th Street was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
West End Architectural Salvage is one-of-a-kind, with rich history and deep roots in Des Moines, Iowa.
We hope you love it as much as we do.
Figure 20, while damaged, nicely documents the original setting for the building. Railroad tracks and a coal yard are visible in the foreground, while Lincoln School and the Herring Motor Company and the Hotel Fort Des Moines are all visible to the north and northwest. The latter taller buildings and West 10* Street, which ran north/south between the Herring and Hotel Fort Des Moines, marked the west end ofthe downtown area at the time. The Central Fire Station would later replace Lincoln School. The school was taken down in 1929 but the Depression would delay the building ofthe long-planned fire station {Capital, February 27, 1921; 7?egiVer, February 13, 1929).
Contact
Call us or stop by anytime! We are open 7 days a week and located on the corner of 9th & Cherry in downtown Des Moines, IA.
515-243-4405