The early history of the neighborhood known now as Sherman Hill goes back to 1850 when much of the land in the area was in the estate of Hugh Pursley. When the estate went to public sale, the Postmaster of Des Moines, Hoyt Sherman, purchased a five-acre parcel located at what is now the corner of 15th Street and Woodland Avenue for $105. This was to become the location of his home and is today Hoyt Sherman Place, home of the Des Moines Women's Club.
Between the 1850s and 1880s, the City of Des Moines
experienced substantial growth and prosperity which can be
attributed in part to being a staging area for a large part
of America's pioneers as they headed west. In 1857, when it
was named as the capital of Iowa, Des Moines had expanded
to nearly 30,000 people and had grown westward to the
bluffs that are today the Sherman Hill Neighborhood. Most
of the land was platted between 1877 and 1882 and developed
into a stylish Victorian suburb. Ornately decorated houses,
mostly wood frame with a few brick intermixed, were built
on spacious lots with carriage houses and storage sheds
along the alleys. These first houses -varied in size from
small cottages to large mansions, but nearly all possessed
unifying architectural elements such as porches, verandahs,
and projecting bays, that were popular in the Victorian
architecture of the time.
During these Victorian years, the neighborhood became home to many of the City's most prominent businessmen and community leaders. Among them were banker George Maish; Lafayette Young, publisher of the Des Moines Capital and U.S. Senator from 1910-11; T. Fred Henry, bandleader and musician; and "Uncle" Henry Wallace, founder of Wallace's Farm and Dairyman which is known today nationally as Wallace's Farmer. During this same time, the neighborhood became a home to Des Moines' growing Jewish Community. This community included Meyer Rosenfield, co-founder of the Frankel clothing store; and Aaron and Marcus Younker, whose department stores can be found in many Iowa communities today. Other notable Jewish families who have lived in the neighborhood are the Tone, Leon, Schloss, Strauss, Samish, & William McHenry families.
After 1900, the pressures of a growing urban city changed the character of the neighborhood with the debut of multi-family buildings. These units, unlike earlier construction, were nearly all brick and took the form of double houses and apartment buildings. By the 1920s these duplexes and apartment buildings were scattered throughout the neighborhood changing its character from that of a lower density, single family development to a distinctively urban neighborhood.
After World War I, Des Moines experienced an influx of people both from other cities and from rural areas. The central location of the neighborhood and streetcar access made it an ideal location for the new arrivals and equally undesirable to the current residents. By the end of World War II, residences were being divided into duplexes, apartments, and rooming houses and many of the neighborhood's early residents had moved to the City's growing western neighborhoods. This process encouraged absentee landlords, vandalism, and neglect among the once stately residences. The 1960's brought a new problem as numerous modern apartment buildings were introduced into the neighborhood. These new buildings were out of scale with the existing architectural and social fabric and contributed to the decline that the neighborhood experienced in the 1960's and 1970's.
Through the years, the neighborhood has undergone many
changes. The earliest homes on the Hill were grand in scale
and design, built by business and civic leaders of the
area. Sherman Hill's historic buildings represent many
different architectural styles. These
homes were later joined by simpler frame homes and at the
turn of the century, by spacious brick apartment buildings.
After a generation of deterioration and neglect, people
interested in restoring the neighborhood and homes to their
earlier charm has rediscovered Sherman Hill. The
restoration pioneering residents of the neighborhood
founded the Sherman Hill Association as a
non-profit whose purpose is to promote the restoration of
the district, enhance the social environment, and encourage
civic pride and commitment to the neighborhood.
There are numerous factors that continue to draw people to Sherman Hill and have helped fuel the renaissance of the neighborhood. Sherman Hill is an "urban" neighborhood that offers a rare concentration of rich architecture and history that can be found few places in the Des Moines metropolitan area. The proximity of Sherman Hill to downtown, the Ingersoll and Cottage Grove Business Districts, and Iowa Methodist Medical Center all contribute to Sherman Hill's desirability. These factors all work together to help the neighborhood overcome negative forces, including absentee landlords, deteriorating housing, negative perceptions of the area, and the changing role of Martin Luther King Jr., Parkway in the City's transportation network.
In recent years the Sherman Hill Association has succeeded in its efforts to enhance more aspects of quality of life in the neighborhood. That dedication has resulted in many improvements to the area. Among their more notable accomplishments are the addition of historic street lighting, the success of the annual Walking Tour (which had over 2500 participants during its 22nd anniversary in 1998), the preservation of historic homes slated for demolition in other parts of the city, and reduction in crime, increased property values and numerous rehabilitation projects spearheaded by the residents and the association.
Sherman Hill became one of the City's first recognized neighborhood associations in 1993. After the association made application during the summer of 1997, Sherman Hill was selected for designation by the City of Des Moines and Polk County to address needs in the areas of infrastructure, crime, housing, and commercial development, see City Plan.