Facts About NOG
North of Grand (NOG) Neighborhood’s total geographic population, based on the 1990 U.S. Census, is 4,417 residents. Our population size has remained fairly static. NOG residents consider a strength to be our population’s cultural and ethnic diversity, and include it as one of the reasons they choose to live in the area. There is a wide mixture of ages, with youth, families and elderly in our neighborhood. Statistics show this neighborhood also possesses one of the City’s highest concentrations of college graduates. In comparison to 26% for the City, 43% of NOG residents are college graduates. In 1990, NOG’s median income was 82% of the City’s median income.
Housing structures in NOG are generally in normal-to-excellent condition, with a low vacancy rate compared to the entire City. NOG has a unique mixture of housing styles and densities. The majority of the neighborhood structures is single-family dwellings, at 87%. The median year for housing construction in the neighborhood was 1943, with 60% of the units constructed before 1949.
NOG History
The North of Grand Neighborhood Association was organized in 1995 and has a current membership of over 120 families, individuals and businesses. It’s a young organization, and it is building on a wonderful history of the area.
Starting in 1879, the Iowa State Fair was held in the NOG neighborhood. The main Fairground entrance was on West Grand Ave., several blocks east of 42nd Street. Close to the Fairgrounds was a lake, located just north of Woodland Ave. and west of 39th Street. The lake was subsquently drained and developed for housing.
Back in 1881, the area between Center Street to the north, the Racoon River on the South and 42nd Street on the west was incorporated as the City of Greenwood Park. This suburban community was described in the 1889-1890 City Directory as, “One of the most beautiful of Des Moines’ suburban towns...a very popular place of residence where people vie with each other in the beauty and elegance of their homes.” The entire area was annexed by Des Moines in 1890.
The development and extension of the streetcar spurred growth in two very different areas. Around the turn of the century, Grand Avenue was a residential corridor with large mansions and beautiful homes. After 1910, apartments or flats were constructed along the streetcar line on Grand, and Ingersoll Avenue became a commercial area concentrated at street intersections, which gradually spread to fill out the length of the Ingersoll Corridor. This area retains much of that character today. After 1910, the area to the North was platted and developed with both large and modest houses, many in the historically significant style of bungalows and foursquare houses, which were easily affordable to construct after World War I.
Circa 1900-1915, our area had the Ingersoll Amusement Park, located south of Ingersoll and east of Polk Boulevard. Trolly cars came west on Ingersoll from downtown, bringing people to this attraction, which housed many rides, including a four-story wooden roller coaster (one of the tallest structures for miles) and the “Double Whirl” (looking like an early version of the modern “Tilt a Whirl”). There were lovely flower gardens, gazebos, and an outdoor theatre where top name actors performed.
Our area has one of Des Moines’ earliest organized neighborhoods that can be traced back to the 1920’s. The purpose of this organization, which came to be called the Center-Soll Club, comprised of residents living between Ingersoll Avenue and Center Street, 35th and 40th Streets, was to become better acquainted with each other and make the neighborhood a better place to live. These goals remain in the North of Grand Neighborhood.
Historic Landmark
A large plat area called “Middlesex”, developed in the 1910-20’s, located in the east section of NOG, in the area north of Woodland, west of 31st and east of 35th Streets, has been declared a National Historic Landmark area. The architecture in this area is primarily comprised of either bungalow or square-house construction. Just after World War I, these structures were affordable and this development contributed to the quick outward expansion of the City and the quick growth of the City. It was planned that a street had to show a diversity of structures - so you will not see a row of the same structures like you see in modern developments. The result is that each street in our neighborhood is unique and has its own flavor in both geography and architecture.
A Central Location
NOG located between 31st & 42nd Streets, and south of I-235 and north of Grand Ave., is a convenient location: you’re near to the unique shops and businesses on Ingersoll, to I-235, to downtown, to award-winning restaurants, suburbs, art and science centers, theaters, houses of worship, schools, Greenwood Park, the airport, and to MTA bus routes. There’s a feeling of easy access to anywhere you want to go.
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