Des Moines History Timeline 1980s

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The 1980 Federal Census counted 7,378 residents in Des Moines.
May 18 - At 8:32 a.m., Mount St. Helens experiences a major volcanic eruption. Due to favorable winds, the Des Moines area receives only occasional dustings of volcanic ash.

November 22 - Des Moines ordinance 550 annexed the Zenith area, south of the Kent-Des Moines Road, west of approximately 13th Ave South, and north of South 252nd Street.

February 28 - Des Moines ordinance 561 annexed the Delrose Mannor area, generally bounded by the 25th and 28th Avenues South, around South 232nd to 236th Streets.

January 1 - Des Moines ordinance 583 annexed the South Des Moinesr area, generally bounded the Zenith Annexation of the west, the City opf Kent on the east, the then southern city boundary on the north, and South 252nd Street on the south.
Thomas and Frederica Wooton donated three acres of land to King County for a park on Redondo Way just north of the waterfront parking lot.

The Port of Seattle launched a major airport noise-abatement program in response to community concerns surrounding Sea-Tac Airport. At the time, no formal proposal for a third runway existed; studies identifying the need for additional runway capacity would not begin until the late 1980s.

March 17 - Des Moines Ordinance 653 clarified the city's western boundary in Puget Sound.
May — The Midway Landfill, located between Interstate 5 and Pacific Highway South near Kent and Midway, was designated a federal Superfund site after investigations revealed methane gas migration and groundwater contamination. The former landfill was placed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List and became the focus of a major environmental cleanup effort.
Nov. 4 - Des Moines voters approve the purchase of the Des Moines Beach Park (formally the Covenant Beach Camp). The site was placed on State Register of Historical Places in 1988.

April 1 - Des Moines Ordinance 731 annexed the Safeway store area north of South 216th Street and west of Pacific Highway South.
September 18 - The new Des Moines Library opened adjacent to City Hall on the corner of 11th Avenue South and South 216th Street.
November 11 - The Des Moines Centennial Celebration began.

January 1 - Des Moines Ordinance 774 annexed the area now comprising Des Moines Beach Park.
April - The first comprehensive history of Des Moines, One Hundred Years of the Waterland Community: A History of Des Moines, Washington, is published. The editor was Richard T. Kennedy and Grechen F. Schmidt was associate editor.
May 29 - Des Moines Ordinance 798 annexed the north half of South 216th Steet from Pacific Highway south to the I-5 freeway