[1] Additional documentation for the district was approved by the National Park Service on January 4, 2019.

Commercial development in the district began with the city's original plat in 1854 and continued through the opening of the Crossroads Mall in 1964.

[3] Buildings usage in the district varies widely and includes commercial, light industrial, residential, religious, governmental, social, and educational functions.

Two prominent Des Moines architectural firms, Liebbe, Nourse & Rasmussen and Proudfoot, Bird & Rawson, designed buildings in the district, as did several other architects.

This article about a property in Webster County, Iowa on the National Register of Historic Places is a stub.