Welcome to Fort Des Moines ...

Fort Des Moines is located in Polk County<1>.

The location of Fort Des Moines has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Fort Des Moines, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1851.

A typical abbreviation for Fort Des Moines: Ft. Des Moines

Fort Des Moines is 930 feet [283 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Fort Des Moines lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Communities near Fort Des Moines ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Fort Des Moines.

• Des Moines
  (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Des Moines
  • Des Moines is located in Polk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 212,312 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Des Moines <4>
• Ankeny
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ankeny have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ankeny
  • Ankeny is located in Polk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 70,068 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ankeny <4>
• West Des Moines
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Des Moines have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Des Moines
  • West Des Moines is located in Polk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 69,057 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Des Moines <4>
• Urbandale
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Urbandale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urbandale
  • Urbandale is located in Polk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 44,650 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Urbandale <4>
• Waukee
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waukee
  • Waukee is located in Dallas County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,166 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waukee <4>
• Johnston
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Johnston have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnston
  • Johnston is located in Polk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,092 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Johnston <4>
• Altoona
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Altoona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altoona
  • Altoona is located in Polk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,503 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Altoona <4>
• Clive
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clive have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clive
  • Clive is located in Polk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,444 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clive <4>
• Indianola
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indianola
  • Indianola is located in Warren County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,072 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Indianola <4>
• Grimes
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grimes
  • Grimes is located in Polk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,831 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grimes <4>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Fort Des Moines. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Fort Des Moines.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Fort Des Moines. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Fort Des Moines.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Fort Des Moines. See our Newspapers Page for Fort Des Moines.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Fort Des Moines ...

Looking for more information about Fort Des Moines? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Fort Des Moines, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Fort Des Moines.

Adding Fort Des Moines to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Fort Des Moines in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Fort Des Moines was in the book titled Table of U.S. Post Offices in the United States (Jan. 1851).

We also found Fort Des Moines on a map titled Rand McNally Map of Iowa (1911).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Fort Des Moines.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Fort Des Moines. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Polk County: www.co.polk.ia.us/

The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/