About Beaverdale

Recognized locally for the distinctive appearance of its brick homes, the Beaverdale Neighborhood continues to attract families because of the very traits that appealed to early suburbanites who moved here; well-built traditional style homes, tree-lined streets, and its closeness to shopping, work, and parks. The activities and accomplishments of the neighbors themselves are a major factor that draws new residents to the area. The residents have a long tradition of community support through active neighborhood associations that have brought significant improvements to this part of the city. Once considered the rural, western edge of nineteenth century Des Moines, the region consisted of large land tracts devoted to fruit orchards and truck farms. Early traffic crossed the area on an unpaved stagecoach highway known, since before the Civil War, as the Fort Dodge Stage Road. The road was renamed, Beaver Avenue, in 1903 and was later improved in 1917 with brick paving. The entire northwest section of Des Moines was commonly known as Urbandale until 1917 when the name was formally adopted by an adjacent suburban village. Soon afterwards City residents from the area met and selected Beaverdale as the name to identify their neighborhood.

Initial development of this section of Des Moines was encouraged by its first neighborhood association, the Urbandale Improvement League, begun in 1907. The goals of the original Improvement League were to bring churches, schools and better roads into the area. During this same period, the City of Des Moines platted a business district that eventually supported 16 different shops. The City also began routing horse-drawn streetcars (later exchanged for interurban railcars) on hourly schedules to meet the need and convenience of area commuters and shoppers.

Most of the subdivisions were developed in the period between 1920 and 1940, when cars were becoming an essential part of every household. A major phase of construction occurred after the economic depression of the 1930s. Federal mortgage financing was created to encourage home buying. The local developers followed a variety of traditional home designs and they incorporated the latest trends in electrical conveniences into their plans. It was during this time, in 1938, that the fashionable Beaverdale Brick homes, built by local contractor E.T. McMurray, appeared. For the most part, the subdivisions were laid out in basic grid patterns, a convenient standard throughout Midwestern urban development. Two exceptions, Maryland Park and Ashby Manor, are notable for their winding drives and their early attention to design elements that create distinctive and attractive home settings.