The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 55

Thursday, August 31 2006 Page 1 1 'KMT Commerce Commerce residents uphold area's history, community pride West Des Moines, Clive and Waukee Register II i ii -f )r. Mq I r-w 'a i i1? 1 i i I I I i I i Area Shown By MICHOLYN FAJEN REGISTER CORRESPONDENT There is still a place in West Des Moines where the pavement ends and a passing car kicks up gravel dust that lingers behind like a ghost. But those dust trails fade like the history behind the three streets that once made up a bustling, unincorporated village of Commerce. Tucked just south of Grand Avenue at South 35th Street is the gateway to Commerce. It begins at Commerce Drive, a main road that nearly 100 years ago drew people to Commerce Mill, one of the main, water-powered mills in the area.

The mill gave birth to the town's first name, Commerce Mills. CONRAD SCHMIDTREGISTER PHOTOS Thomas Hulme Stull and wife Danielle Clair Stull are fourth generation family owners of their house in 1 I "It was a neat place to live, our kids played on the river, went sledding down the hills in the winter. It was a very close community where people helped one another." Helen Oster, 89 'I This photo shows the Commerce Community Church in 1964 when it was a Methodist church. People are friendly in' Commerce but also value I 7 Grand Ave. Rtwctxm River Commerce CROSSROADS: Along Commerce Drive and High Street, West Des Moines HISTORY: Commerce had its own post office from 1870 to 1944.

At one time it had a depot, mill, stockyards and several stores. The north and south roads were named West, East, Bridge, Anderson and Vannerstrom avenues. East-west streets were School, Pleasant (now High Street) and Railroad (now Commerce Drive). A ferry across the Raccoon River operated in Commerce before a bridge was built there in 1889. That bridge washed away in a 1965 flood.

Some historical information from "Perspectives of Polk County History," by Robert R. Denny, LeRoy G. Pratt, Bill M. Clark, 1988. "THE IOWA STATE ATLAS," IOWA PUBLISHING DAVENPORT, 1904 COURTESY OF THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA, DES MOINES went sledding down the hills in the winter.

It was a very close community where people helped one another." Oster taught at the one-room schoolhouse on High Street during the 1950s. It wasn't easy to keep 20 children in order, she said. When the superintendent would stop by for a visit he'd bring his dog and the classroom would erupt in excitement. Many residents said the life and vitality of the village died when a spring flood in 1965 jammed the river's ice, toppling the Commerce Bridge. But the annexation of Commerce in 1960 by the city of West Des Moines was the beginning of its decline.

But the Stulls are working to change that. While additions and renovations over the years changed the shape of their home, it still bears the historical beginnings Hulme once fashioned. The two have preserved the doctor's medical artifacts and their home will be featured on Home and Garden Television's "If These Walls Could Talk" show later this year. But more importantly they look to bring back a sense of community. Recent planning and zoning talks have caused a stir among Commerce residents who lobbied against a proposed bridge linking annexed land near Walnut Woods to the western side of the river.

The talks spurred Tom Stull to unite the neighborhood and form a 14 mile THE REGISTER Thomas Hulme Stull has many items that his great-great uncle, Dr. Thomas Davenport Stull, used in his medical practice. This was an early form of electroshock Settled in 1860, the town attracted immigrants, mostly from England. Grocery stores, two general stores, a post office, two saloons, a coal mine, a stockyard, a one-room schoolhouse and two churches were the life of the town. But it was best known as a railroad community, running six trains daily as a main line for the Rock Island Railroad.

One of the early settlers was Dr. Thomas Hulme, who built a homesteading cabin and began coal mining on the western portion of his 191 acres. Until a shaft collapsed, killing a miner, the business was prosperous. But the tragedy forced Hulme to shut down his operation and to operate in the true sense of the word. In England, Hulme was educated as a physician and veterinarian and it was a natural transition to open his practice in his home, now known as The Elms.

The homesteading structure burned in 1880 and Hulme built a finer, two-story Queen Anne in the same year to house his medical practice and a hospital. The home still stands at 3530 Commerce Drive and is home to fourth-generation descendents of Hulme, Tom and Danielle Stull. Hulme, Stull's great-great uncle, was known for helping build the church that still stands on the upper portion of the neighborhood called High Street. The flow of the river didn't stop travelers from crossing to visit. Initially a ferry boat brought passengers safely back and forth until the Commerce Bridge was built in 1889 to connect communities to the neighborhood just across the water, now the site of Walnut Woods State Park.

For 40 years Robert Shaw, 4300 Commerce Drive, has called Commerce home and many of his relatives grew up in the town. Sharing stories handed down through generations, Shaw said the bridge was an important connection that helped Commerce prosper, bringing farmers to the mill and business to the community. But, he adds, it was equally important during Prohibition. "Commerce was home to bootleggers. As people passed through the town on their way to Walnut Woods they stopped in to buy their booze," Shaw said.

He recalled one moment in 1955 when Des Moines Register editorial editor Lauren Soth invited Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev to visit Iowa. President Dwight Eisenhower escorted Khrushchev to Iowa's Garst Farm and the two traveled across the Commerce Bridge, through the neighborhood. "We all sat in our lawn chairs waving as they drove by shouting, 'Hi Ike'," Shaw said with a laugh. The sense of neighborhood is what Helen Oster, 89, of West Des Moines said she'll remember best about her time in Commerce. "It was a neat place to live, our kids plaved on the river.

.1 r1 Thomas Hulme Stull's great-great uncle, Dr. Thomas Davenport Hulme, used the home shown above from 1869-1909 as a small hospital. CROSSROADS CHANGING COMMUNITIES Crossroads Communities THE SERIES: This is the last week for Crossroads features. Register reporters and photographers spent the summer traveling back roads and city streets to visit 32 tiny villages and vanishing settlements in the Des Moines area. Stories and photos of the places they visited and the people they met appeared Thursdays in the Community Publications sections.

ONLINE: All community profiles were posted at DesMoinesRegister.com crossroads as they ran in the newspaper. Register editors plan to keep the Crossroads home page active to allow readers to catch up on features they've missed and provide information to residents interested in genealogy or local history. The Crossroads series profiles available online are: ANDREWS: west bank of Saylorville Lake, near the Mile Long Bridge BERWICK: along Northeast Berwick Drive, between Ankeny, Altoona and Des Moines. CAMPBELL: Northwest 128th Street along Walnut Creek, Clive CAPITOL HEIGHTS: directly northeast of Des Moines, north of Northeast 38th Avenue CARNEY: along Northeast 70th Avenue, south of Ankeny CHESTERFIELD: Along Maury Street, southeast Des Moines COMMERCE: South edge of West Des Moines, along the Raccoon River C0RYD0N: south of Polk City, along SaorviHe Lake CROCKER, off Northwest 118th Avenue, three miles east of Polk City EAST0N PLACE: Around Easton Boulevard, northeast side of Des Moines their solitude. ENTERPRISE: off Northeast 94th Avenue, east of Ankeny GRAND FORKS: south of Waukee GREENWOOD: along Four Mile Creek east of Ankeny HERROLD: Now part of Camp Dodge, Johnston HOPKINS GROVE: Along Northwest Madrid Drive, northwest of Polk City KELSEY: Off Iowa Highway 17, just west of Jester Park LEVY: Along Southeast 45th Street, southeast side of Des Moines L0VINGT0N: Between Des Moines and Johnston MAPLE GROVE: along Ashworth Drive between West Des Moines and Waukee MARQUISVILLE: Saylor Township, just north of Interstate Highway 3580 MCDIVITT'S GROVE: Meredith Drive and 70th Street, Urbandale N0RW00DVILLE: Just southeast of the east mixmaster, along Northeast 46th Avenue ORT0NVILLE: between Waukee and Adel RIDGEDALE: along Northwest Beaver Drive, Johnston RIDER: north of Meredith Drive, Urbandale SAYLORVILLE: between Ankeny and the north side of Des Moines SEVASTOPOL: along Southeast Sixth Street, southeast Des Moines SNUSVILLE: near Grand View Colleae in Des Moines UNIVERSITY PLACE: area around Drake University in Des Moines WAHKONSA: west part of Polk City WESTOVERapartofthe west side of Des Moines, near Urbandale WHITE OAK.

north of Elkhart MORE STORIES. Readers have asked for profiles on Booneviile, Ashawa and Orilla, all of which are part of or near West Des Momes. Since features on these communiVes had already run in print editions in the past few years, ttiey weten't profiled again. But watch the Crossroads srie for those past articles to be posted there. I MV 1 Railroad tracks still run through Commerce near what was considered downtown.

sense of community. My hope is that we can do that more often," Stull said. "I'd like to see it remain quiet, friendly and peaceful like it has been for the lust 100 years." neighborhood association. "Initially we gathered to discuss the city matters. After our first meeting people stayed and talked about the history, shared stones and there was.