8 Fun Facts About Des Moines

There’s so much about Des Moines to be learned and explored. Here are eight facts about Des Moines that you’d never believe are true.

Between the years of 1942 and 2009, a city ordinance made dancing illegal between the hours of 2 and 6 a.m.

Flickr/Quinn Dombrowski

The Des Moines Blank Park Zoo became home to a third red panda, Razz, in 2012. It is estimated that there are only about 2,500 to 20,000 red pandas left in the wild.

Facebook/Blank Park Zoo

The Iowa State Capitol’s dome contains roughly 100 ounces of gold.

Flickr/Richard Smith

Ronald Reagan held one of his first entertainment jobs as an announcer of Chicago Cubs games for WHO radio in Des Moines.

Flickr/Gage Skidmore

In 2012, famed Iowa native Ashton Kutcher was part of a $5 million funding round for Dwolla, a Des Moines-based startup looking to provide an alternative to credit cards.

Flickr/TechCrunch

Opened in 1901, Des Moines’ Waveland Golf Course is the oldest municipal golf course in the country west of the Mississippi river.

Facebook/Waveland Golf Course

The guy who played Superman in “Superman Returns,” (Brandon Routh) was born in the Des Moines area.

Flickr/Linny Heng

Des Moines was originally named Fort Raccoon. It then became Fort Des Moines, and finally, in 1857, was shortened to Des Moines.

Flickr/Triker-Sticks

Do you know any other little known facts about Des Moines? Want to learn more about our great state? Here are 14 Incredible, Almost Unbelievable Facts About Iowa.