Tag Archives: Local History

Platting the Past

Posted on June 14, 2013 by SCblogger

Maps are fascinating glimpses into the past—but not always for the obvious reasons. Take this 1940s era plat book for example, which shows us what a modern and attractive home looked like at the time: This set of plat maps … Continue reading →

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For They Say When you Marry in June . . .

Posted on June 6, 2013 by SCblogger

“For they say when you marry in June, You will always be a bride . . .”  We can’t be sure whether this rhyme held true for Clara Louise Hass,* who married Walter Kruse on June 2, 1917, but judging … Continue reading →

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The Colorful Wedding Announcement of Miss Helen Watts

Posted on May 8, 2013 by SCblogger

Included in our Hostetler Photograph Collections is a set of glass negatives  showing the former Miss Helen Kelsey Watts in her wedding gown, in which she married Mr. Homer Brown Payne. While researching these images, we located a wedding announcement, … Continue reading →

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Throwback Thursday: The Quad-Cities USA Campaign

Posted on May 2, 2013 by SCblogger

While adding items to our Ephemera collection, we found brochures for the Quad Cities U.S.A. campaign—and we couldn’t resist sharing! ________________ “A typical Quad-Cities resident lives in one community, works in another and shops in a third city. It’s urban, … Continue reading →

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The Rise and Fall of the Hickey Brothers

Posted on March 7, 2013 by SCblogger

In 1901, William Hickey and his kid brother Dennis pooled their savings and opened a little cigar store at 123 East Third Street. It did pretty well. So well, in fact, that in five years, they opened a second store … Continue reading →

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The Colored School Controversy

Posted on February 27, 2013 by SCblogger

In August of 1857, Iowans ratified their State Constitution, including Article IX, which established a popularly elected state board of education authorized to provide “for the education of all the youths of the State, through a system of common schools” … Continue reading →

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Gordon Van Who?

Posted on February 14, 2013 by SCblogger

If you’re new to the Quad-Cities, you might hear someone point to a specific house, maybe a nice Craftsman-like bungalow down East Locust Street or a lovely Tudor in McClellan Heights, and say, “That’s a Gordon Van-Tine home.” And you … Continue reading →

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One-Way Question, Multi-Directional Answer

Posted on February 5, 2013 by SCblogger

Weren’t Third  and Fourth streets in Davenport always one-way streets? And if not, when did they change from two-way to one-way traffic? These were the questions being asked for the last couple of weeks, ever since the Davenport City Council … Continue reading →

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Cool Resource: Widows’ Pension Records

Posted on September 21, 2012 by SCblogger

One hundred years ago, there weren’t a lot of options for widowed mothers who needed help caring for their children. In Iowa and parts of Illinois, if a judge felt that the mother could not provide for her family, the … Continue reading →

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The Made In Davenport Exposition of 1910: “One Dandy Big Fine Time”

Posted on September 11, 2012 by SCblogger

  In September of 1910, the manufacturers of Davenport held the first “Made in Davenport” Exposition from Monday, September 12 to the following Saturday evening. According to an article in the Davenport Democrat on September 11, an ‘army of carpenters … Continue reading →

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