A neighborhood with a newer history
Southern Woods may not have the century-old brick storefronts of downtown Des Moines or the grand Victorian houses of Sherman Hill, but its history is no less meaningful. Its story is one of south-side growth: open land gradually becoming streets, wooded lots becoming homes, and a once-rural edge of the city taking its place within modern Des Moines.
Today, Southern Woods is associated with Southern Woods Drive, Wolcott Avenue, SW 38th Street, and nearby residential streets south of Park Avenue. The neighborhood sits in a part of the city shaped by the long movement of Des Moines toward the south. City planning documents describe Park Avenue as an important east-west route connecting neighborhoods, schools, commercial areas, and south-side destinations. At Southern Woods Drive, Park Avenue narrows into a more residential setting, giving the area a distinct transition from busy corridor to quiet neighborhood street.
Before Southern Woods: The rural south side
Long before Southern Woods was platted, the land south of central Des Moines was a mixture of farms, woodlots, creeks, and scattered homes. The city’s southern edge moved outward in stages as transportation improved and new infrastructure made residential development practical.
The broader south side began to take on a more urban character in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Des Moines annexed land south of Hartford Avenue in 1890, and the city’s boundary continued moving south over the decades. Park Avenue, Fleur Drive, SW Ninth Street, and Army Post Road became increasingly important routes as homes, schools, parks, and businesses followed. By the twentieth century, the area was no longer simply the countryside beyond town; it was becoming one of the city’s principal directions of growth.
Southern Woods emerged much later than the early south-side neighborhoods. Its development reflects the suburban building pattern that became especially common after World War II, when families sought larger lots, attached garages, quieter streets, and easy automobile access. The neighborhood’s homes are generally associated with late-twentieth-century construction. Property records and real-estate listings show many houses on Southern Woods Drive dating from roughly 1989 through the early 1990s, suggesting that the neighborhood’s main building period came during that era.
How Southern Woods got its name
The name Southern Woods appears to be descriptive rather than commemorative. There is no widely published record tying it to a particular founder, family, military figure, or civic leader. Instead, the name likely reflects two obvious qualities of the setting: its location on the southern side of Des Moines and the wooded character of the land before development.
That interpretation fits the neighborhood’s visual identity. Even where newer construction replaced fields or undeveloped parcels, mature trees, generous lots, and winding residential views helped preserve a sense of separation from the busier roads nearby. “Southern Woods” is the kind of name that tells residents what to expect: a neighborhood on the south side with more greenery and breathing room than a tightly packed urban district.
The neighboring names reinforce that landscape-oriented tradition. Southern Hills Drive, Southern Hills Circle, Wolcott Avenue, and nearby wooded residential streets all suggest the rolling terrain and open character that once defined this part of Des Moines.
The neighborhood takes shape
Southern Woods was built as a residential enclave rather than as a traditional streetcar suburb. Older Des Moines neighborhoods often grew around trolley lines, corner stores, churches, and schools. Southern Woods belongs to a different generation of development, one shaped by automobiles, cul-de-sacs, larger parcels, and access to major roads.
Its homes tend to sit back from the street, with driveways, lawns, mature landscaping, and detached or attached garages playing an important role in the streetscape. Southern Woods Drive forms the neighborhood’s most recognizable spine, while nearby streets such as Wolcott Avenue and SW 38th Street provide connections to surrounding subdivisions and the Park Avenue corridor.
The result is a neighborhood that feels settled without feeling old-fashioned. Many homes have now passed their thirtieth anniversary, and the landscape has changed accordingly. Young plantings from the 1980s and 1990s have grown into shade trees. Original owners have moved on, new families have arrived, and houses have been updated with new roofs, windows, landscaping, and interior renovations.
Landmarks beyond the front door
Southern Woods does not contain a famous historic courthouse or a nationally recognized historic district. Its landmarks are found in the institutions and destinations that give the surrounding south side its identity.
Park Avenue is the most important nearby organizing feature. It connects Southern Woods to schools, shopping, employment areas, and other residential neighborhoods. Planning studies have also focused on traffic speeds, pedestrian crossings, and the changing design of Park Avenue, reminders that even a quiet neighborhood is connected to larger transportation decisions.
A short drive away, Blank Park Zoo is one of the south side’s best-known attractions. The zoo began as a children’s zoo in the 1960s after a gift from Des Moines philanthropist Abraham Harry Blank. Over time, it grew into a major regional institution, giving generations of south-side families a nearby place to learn, gather, and make summer memories.
Fort Des Moines and the Fort Des Moines Museum and Education Center also connect the area to a deeper history. The fort’s story reaches back to the nineteenth century, while the later military installation became especially important during World War I, when it served as a training site for African American officers. That history gives the surrounding south side a significance that extends well beyond its postwar subdivisions.
Easter Lake and its surrounding recreation areas are another important part of the landscape. Parks, trails, and open water help explain why many residents have long viewed the southern side as a place where city living and outdoor space meet.
Southern Woods today
The neighborhood has evolved from a developing subdivision into an established residential community. Its streets are no longer new, but they retain the spacious feel that attracted early homeowners. Mature trees now frame many lots, and the homes show the personal touches of several decades of ownership.
What makes Southern Woods special is its balance. It is close to Park Avenue, Fleur Drive, schools, shopping, Blank Park Zoo, Easter Lake, and other south-side destinations, yet its interior streets remain comparatively calm. It offers the comfort of a neighborhood that has history without being defined by historic architecture.
For longtime residents, the appeal is often found in small details: the familiar turn onto Southern Woods Drive, the trees that seem larger every year, neighbors who remember when nearby lots were still open, and the feeling that the neighborhood has grown up alongside the families who live there.
Southern Woods is a modest but telling chapter in Des Moines history. It represents the city’s continuing southward expansion, the transformation of rural land into welcoming neighborhoods, and the way everyday places acquire meaning over time. Its heritage is not preserved in plaques or grand monuments. It lives in the trees, the streets, the homes, and the memories shared by the people who call this corner of Des Moines home.