Des Moines History Timeline 1880

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December 7 - At about 5:45 p.m. local time, an earthquake was felt throughout portions of the Puget Sound region. Although little damage was reported, it may have been a precursor to a stronger earthquake several days later.
December 12 - At about 8:40 p.m. local time, a strong Puget Sound earthquake was felt from Victoria, British Columbia, to Portland, Oregon. Bells rang, chimneys were damaged, and residents throughout the region reported strong shaking. The earthquake reached an estimated intensity of VII on the Modified Mercalli scale.

March 12 - Fountain O. and Lydia E. Chezum's purchased waterfront property from John Murray. It was later platted as the City of Des Moines in 1889.

February 12 - King County established School District No. 55 (Adelaide District), which later served the Buenna community. The Buenna School was erected about 1892–1894 on land donated by Henry Bucey and became the principal school for families living between Adelaide, Redondo, and Star Lake.
April 26 - Reverend Thomas J. Massey purchased the waterfront property of Fountain O. and Lydia E. Chezum. It was later platted as the City of Des Moines in 1889.
Captain Robert Flynn homesteaded land between 8th & 16th Avenues South from South 220th to 224th Streets; and between 212th & 220th Streets from 8th to 12th Avenues South. He was among the earliest settlers in the Des Moines area, arriving after John Moore and before the platting of the Des Moines townsite in 1889.

May - The Des Moines Methodist Episcopal Church was organized, becoming the first church congregation in the new Puget Sound community. A permanent church building was later constructed in 1904. It was orgnized by Reverend Thomas J. Massey.
November 10 - The Star Lake School District was organized and the first Star Lake School opened near Star Lake. The school served farming families living along Military Road and in the Star Lake and Five Mile Lake communities. The first school was built at South 288th Street and Military Road. A larger replacement school was constructed in 1909 but it burned down the same year. The third school was built in 1910 at 3212 South 272nd Street.

July 12 - The Des Moines Improvement Company was incorporated by F. A. Blasher, Orin Watts Barlow, Charles M. Johnson, and John W. Kleeb. Financed largely by investors from Des Moines, Iowa, the company platted and promoted the new town of Des Moines on Puget Sound. Blasher had moved west from Des Moines, Iowa, and persuaded investors from his hometown to finance the project.
August 6 - The first Des Moines Post Office opened in James F. Hiatt's general store near the waterfront. Hiatt became the community's first postmaster, and the establishment of the post office marked one of the earliest official recognitions of the new town of Des Moines.
August 6 - The Des Moines Precinct formed by King County.
September 3 - William H. & Clarinda Miller claim 85 acres (north of 192nd Street and east of 16th Avenue South) & rented Mr. Brown's home site from Gatzert-Schwabacher Land Company. (Purchased in Oct. 1882 from Mr. and Mrs. Oulette.) The land company owned much of what became Normandy Park and the Manhattan area.
November 11 - Washington becomes the 42nd state.
The Dunbar family settled on a 160-acre homestead in the Manhattan area north of present-day Des Moines. Their claim occupied a large tract overlooking Puget Sound and became one of the earliest pioneer farms in what later became the Manhattan–Normandy Park district. The land was between 180th & 192nd Streets from 8th Avenue Southwest to 1st Avenue South.