A Short History of the Savery House Des Moines Iowa

 

Savery House (circa 1930s)

The Savery has been part of Des Moines since the 1870s, when the first Savery House opened downtown. It was a gas-lit affair where businessmen in stovepipe hats struck deals and ladies in bustled skirts watched from behind their fans. James C. Savery built it with his wife Annie, a suffragist and reformer.

The early Savery burned down, was rebuilt, and burned again—twice. Each time, Des Moines rebuilt it. Every city needs a place where strangers cross paths and stories linger, and the Savery refused to vanish.

In 1919, the current Savery rose eleven stories on Locust Street, a mix of brick and limestone. The Chicago firm H.L. Stevens & Co. gave it Georgian lines and symmetry that suggested order in a world still recovering from war. Each of its 233 rooms had a private bath, which was a small miracle at the time.

Harry Truman and Eleanor Roosevelt stayed there. Carol Channing demanded a window she could open before agreeing to spend the night. In the 1980s, Tiny Tim made the Savery his home, strolling the halls in his trademark tuxedo, humming to himself.

During World War II, the U.S. Army took over the building for the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. The Savery’s plush rooms turned into barracks and classrooms. The marble lobby echoed with marching boots instead of evening shoes. When the war ended, it went back to being a hotel.

Downtown changed, but the Savery didn’t quit. A penthouse was added in the fifties. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

People still whisper about ghosts—an unseen maid humming, footsteps in empty halls, a soldier who never checked out. Maybe it’s imagination. Maybe memory. The Savery has heard too much to stay quiet forever.

Today, the hotel glows again after careful restoration. It’s as much a part of Des Moines as the skyline around it—a survivor that watches over a city that keeps changing beneath its windows.