This home at 1505 Grand Avenue (on the corner of East 15th Street) was built circa 1913 for Dr. Charles Edward Glynn and his wife Blanche Jeanette Langan. It was likely photographed by J. B. Hostetler a few years later, perhaps in 1914 when the property was entered into Davenport Rotary Club’s yard beautification contest. [1]
Dr. Glynn, born and raised in Long Grove, returned to Scott County in June 1902 after graduating with high honors from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago. He practiced out of leased rooms in the Whitaker block (the corner of 2nd and Brady). [2]
Glynn was president of the Davenport Hospital, a private medical facility incorporated in 1908. The building at South Avenue (now 29th Street) and Brady was designed by Temple, Burrows & McLane and completed in October 1909. [3]
This advertisement appeared in the 1913 city directory:
Dr. Glynn served at Fort Dodge as a captain in the Army medical corps in the First World War. Blanche Glynn was an active member of the Red Cross unit of the Sacred Heart Cathedral parish during this time, often hosting meetings at the house on Grand Avenue. [4]
Dr. Glynn sold the home to the Diocese of Davenport in April 1925 as a residence for the auxiliary bishop. Its estimated value was $14,000. [5]
The subsequent residents were also a medical doctor and his wife: Dr. & Mrs. Elmer Senty. They used the house often to entertain guests through the remainder of the 1920’s. The property was listed for sale in July 1930:
1505 Grand Avenue passed to coffee salesman Walter A. Kleinhen and his wife Lissa in the early 1930s. The portraits below appeared in the local newspapers on the occasion of the couple’s golden wedding anniversary, in 1939. [6]
After Walter’s death in 1941, the house went to his son Rex’s family. It was listed for sale again in the winter of 1960, and changed hands multiple times into the 1970s.
Explore the history of more Davenport houses and neighborhoods with the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center’s many resources!
(posted by Katie)
Sources: [1] Davenport Democrat and Leader, May 17, 1914, page 32. [2] Davenport Daily Leader, June 19, 1902, page 7. [3] The Daily Times, October 2, 1909, page 4. [4] The Daily Times, October 26, 1918, page 6. [5] The Daily Times, April 9, 1925, page 6. [6] The Daily Times, January 2, 1939, page 8.
