HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
Des Moines Ghosts: The Iowa State Capitol, Argonne Armory, and Wooly's Resident Spirit
1007 E Grand Ave (outside the Iowa State Capitol), Des Moines, IA 50319
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
The Deadly Dirge of Des Moines Ghost Tour lists from $32, discounted to $24 per adult on GetYourGuide; the operator's own site does not publish per-ticket pricing directly.
Access
Wheelchair OK
About 1 mile of paved downtown Des Moines walking, starting outside the Iowa State Capitol.
Equipment
Photos OK
Iowa State Capitol (Des Moines government district) · Argonne Armory (former National Guard building)
US Ghost Adventures runs its Des Moines program under the brand Des Moines Ghosts, meeting nightly outside the Iowa State Capitol at 1007 E Grand Ave. The route covers the gold-domed Capitol building, the Argonne Armory (a former National Guard building), and Wooly's, a downtown concert venue.
Des Moines is Iowa's capital and largest city. The operator's Google Business Profile for this program, listed under the name 'Des Moines Drop Dead Ghost Tours & Haunted Pub Crawls' at 1605 E Grand Ave (the same phone number published on the operator's Des Moines tour page), carries roughly 40 Google reviews at a 4.6-star average, corroborating that the program actively operates in the city. This appears to be the corpus's first Des Moines tour-operator entry and the first US Ghost Adventures program built for Iowa.
Sources
The operator's route narrative centers on the Iowa State Capitol, where it ties reported ghostly children's cries in the Senate hall to a historic missing-paperboy case that it says spurred a community search and a children's-rights movement; HauntBound has not independently verified this specific claim. At the Argonne Armory, the operator describes reported phantom cavalry horses and a WWII-era soldier apparition. At Wooly's, the operator describes a mischievous resident spirit known for rearranging glasses.
The operator's broader narrative references a winged-cryptid legend near Van Meter, Iowa, plus additional reported hauntings at Dowling Catholic School, the Merle Hay Mall Tower, Owens Covered Bridge, and the Des Moines International Airport's Cloud Room. All of this is the tour operator's own marketing and narrative material, not documented history independently verified for this listing; it is included here as a description of what the tour covers, not as an endorsement of any specific claim.
A 1-hour, roughly 1-mile walking tour meeting outside the Iowa State Capitol at 1007 E Grand Ave. The route covers the Iowa State Capitol, the Argonne Armory, and Wooly's concert venue, pairing Iowa's capital-city history with reported hauntings. Runs nightly, all ages.
An extended version of the standard Des Moines ghost tour covering additional haunted locations around town; the operator markets it as a bonus add-on to the standard route. Ask the operator for current stops and availability.
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Meeting point and featured stop; operator's marketing ties the building to a reported historic missing-paperboy case and ghostly children's cries in the Senate hall.
Featured stop; operator's marketing describes reported WWII-era soldier apparitions and phantom cavalry horses tied to the former National Guard building.
Featured stop; operator's marketing describes a reported resident spirit at the concert venue.
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