School Days: The new schools of 1940

Summer vacation has ended in Davenport as children returned to school this past Monday. We thought to celebrate this occasion by revisiting the Fall of 1940.

Seventy-five years ago, many of Davenport’s students were entering the hallways and classrooms of brand new schools.

Six new elementary schools opened that year. They were Jefferson (W 10th & Marquette), Monroe (4th & Cedar), Madison (Locust & Brady), Lincoln (8th & Pershing), Washington (Locust & Eastern), and McKinley (Kenwood Avenue and Middle Road).

The school building program was made possible by a PWA grant from the US government and a bond issue voted by Davenport Citizens. The total cost for construction was $2,500,000. (That’s $41,643,377.67 in 2014 money)

We hope you enjoy the images below of Jefferson, Monroe, Madison, Lincoln, and Washington elementary schools from 1940.

You can almost smell freshly sharpened pencils and the scent of new books coming from the images.

Jefferson school is at 1027 N. Marquette. Monroe School is at 1926 W. 4th St. Madison School is at 116 E. Locust. [c. 1940]

Gymnasium at Madison Elementary School, 116 East Locust Street, Davenport, Iowa. [c. 1940]

Classroom in Madison Elementary School, 116 East Locust Street, Davenport, Iowa. [c. 1940]

Kindergarten classroom in Madison Elementary School, 116 East Locust Street, Davenport, Iowa. [c. 1940]

Auditorium at Madison Elementary School, 116 East Locust Street, Davenport, Iowa. [c. 1940]

Library at Lincoln Elementary School, 318 East 7th Street, Davenport, Iowa. [c. 1940]