All About Des Moines, WA
- by Jodie Vinson
Des Moines is known as the "Waterland City" for a good reason. Its six miles of Puget Sound shoreline sparkle with well-developed parks and overlooks, beaches, preserved natural habitat, and an impressive marina. The community is located between the larger towns of Seattle and Tacoma, and is not to be missed for its water-related recreation.
The area was once populated with the Duwamish and Muckleshoot tribes who farmed the landscape for fish and clams. These tribes burnt forest brush to hunt out deer, causing Captain Vancouver's first sighting of its bluffs in 1792 to be obscured by smoke. American settlers arrived in the late 1860s, some of them homesteading from Iowa, bringing the name of their midwest town with them. Lumber mills kept the town in business, while the Mosquito Fleet provided transport to Seattle, Tacoma and Vashon Island. Unlike other nearby towns Des Moines was not overrun by industry but preserved its waterfront into the prime condition visitors appreciate today.
Community Links:
City of Des Moines, WA
Des Moines Historical Society
Des Moines Highline Times Community Newspaper
Des Moines Blog
