We came across this photograph in our collection of a 1st grade class in School #9 taken on September 25, 1907. School #9 was located at 1921 Grand Avenue in Davenport. It was renamed Tyler School one year later when all Davenport city schools had their school number replaced with the name of a President of the United States starting with President George Washington replacing School #1’s name.
Tyler School, originally School #9, was built in 1892 and originally housed 1st through 8th grades. In 1913, Kindergarten was added into all city schools. By the 1910s, many of the elementary schools exceeded student capacity. Tyler School also housed the teacher certificate program for the high school. A cottage was built on the school property for the teacher certificate program students while their former space in the school basement became a needed classroom for elementary students.
In 1916, the Davenport School Board began to explore the growing trend of intermediate schools which would teach possibly upper elementary students and high school freshmen. The idea was adopted and the building of three new intermediate schools began in 1918. When they opened in 1919, the schools (J.B. Young, West Intermediate, and East Intermediate) taught 7th, 8th, and 9th grades.
Tyler School was eventually demolished along with two other elementary schools by the school board in June 1941. That year, several older schools were also demolished as the school district worked on building modern schools for the growing student population in Davenport. Today the location is a park.
Going through the photographs, we realized another photo in our collection may be tied to our 1st grade photo. In June 1915, the 8th grade graduating class of Tyler Elementary School had their class picture taken. Many of these students would have been in 1st grade in September 1907. As the original photo does not contain names, we will simply have to look at the pictures and guess if any of the students in June 1915 sat for a class picture on September 25, 1907 in School 9.
(posted by Amy D.)
