{"id":10,"date":"2013-06-09T19:41:20","date_gmt":"2013-06-09T19:41:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/?page_id=10"},"modified":"2026-01-17T03:02:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T03:02:34","slug":"our-mission-about-the-thoreau-center","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to the Thoreau Center"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: inherit;\">The Thoreau Center is a charming and unique community event space for small gatherings. Our remodeling work was completed in 2025 and the Center may be rented for small gatherings<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: inherit;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Located in Des Moines&#8217; historic Drake Neighborhood at 3500 Kingman Boulevard, you may rent the Thoreau Center for your important events and celebrations, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Office Meetings and Retreats<\/li>\n<li>Luncheons<\/li>\n<li>Graduation Receptions<\/li>\n<li>Celebrations of Life<\/li>\n<li>Book Clubs<\/li>\n<li>Anniversaries<\/li>\n<li>Fundraising Events<\/li>\n<li>Political Events<\/li>\n<li>Baby and Wedding Showers<\/li>\n<li>Birthday Parties<\/li>\n<li>Retirement Events<\/li>\n<li>Educational Meetings<\/li>\n<li>Musical Events<\/li>\n<li>Customer Appreciation Meetings<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To reserve a date for your event, contact the Thoreau <br \/>Center at 515-279-7312, or <strong><a href=\"mailto:info@thethoreaucenter.com\">info@thethoreaucenter.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Be true to your work, your word and your friend.&#8221; &#8211; Henry David Thoreau<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" data-id=\"286\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/IMG_4568.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-286\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/IMG_4568.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/IMG_4568-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/IMG_4568-624x468.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Nonprofits often use The Thoreau Center for retreats and fundraisers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" data-id=\"289\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Cory-Booker-four-rotated.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-289\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Cory-Booker-four-rotated.jpg 480w, http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Cory-Booker-four-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Many political events are held at The Thoreau Center, including this meet-and-greet with presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" data-id=\"245\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Pandemic-wedding-Q2-2020-rotated.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-245\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Pandemic-wedding-Q2-2020-rotated.jpg 480w, http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Pandemic-wedding-Q2-2020-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Thoreau Center hosts many special events, including this wedding during the COVID 19 pandemic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" data-id=\"450\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Hartsook-enjoying-a-party-rotated.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-450\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Hartsook-enjoying-a-party-rotated.jpg 480w, http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Hartsook-enjoying-a-party-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Hartsook-enjoying-a-party-230x307.jpg 230w, http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Hartsook-enjoying-a-party-350x467.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Friends gather at The Throeau Center for a variety of events.  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" data-id=\"287\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/IMG_0234.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-287\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/IMG_0234.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/IMG_0234-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/IMG_0234-624x468.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Appropriate for birthday, retirement and high school graduation parties. You may bring your refreshments or choose your caterer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Thoreau Center is a charming and unique community event space for small gatherings. Our remodeling work was completed in 2025 and the Center may be rented for small gatherings. Located in Des Moines&#8217; historic Drake Neighborhood at 3500 Kingman Boulevard, you may rent the Thoreau Center for your important events and celebrations, including: Office [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10"}],"version-history":[{"count":60,"href":"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":599,"href":"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10\/revisions\/599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thethoreaucenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}