In addition its large number of portrait photographs, the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center’s J.B. Hostetler Studio Collection includes many panoramic images of Davenport and the surrounding area. A few of these feature houses. While Oak Knoll and the World War I housing projects were easily identifiable, understanding the location of the residences shown in the image below (#dplpanoramic074, volume 503, c. 1915) was more of a challenge.
Clearly the photograph was taken from the bluffs with a view out over the Mississippi River, but where in the city, exactly?
To find out, I focused first on the most unique buildings in the image: an institutional building and a steepled church on the far right side. Here they are shown in close-up:
I then consulted a map of Davenport with a date close to 1915 (Melchior Huebinger’s 1918 map of the city) to see what structures to the south of the bluffs these could be. Thinking the photographer must have been standing in the area where the Fejervary or Riverview Terrace parks are now, I identified a few schools that might be the institutional building, but none paired with a church. Looking to the east, I saw that both St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s churches also had associated schools close by.
For a closer look at the shape of these buildings, I brought out the 1910-1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map for Davenport (Vol. 1, also available online from the Library of Congress) from the RSSC Center’s map collection. Comparing the protruding ell at the back of the institutional building and the semi-circular church apse visible in the photograph to the drawings on the map, I concluded it had to be St. Joseph’s.
I then scanned the Sanborn map sheets to the northeast of the St. Joseph’s complex and found dwellings with shapes similar to those in the photograph at the corner of West 8th and Vine Streets. The photographer was likely positioned on the spot identified below on Sheet 40 as the “STEEP HILL SIDE” to capture the image of these residences.
Here is each house appearing in the panoramic (from right to left) side-by-side with its representation on the Sanborn map sheet (shown east to west and turned upside down for better comparison).
728 Vine Street identifying features: Square shape, porch and outbuilding on west side, 1-story wraparound structure on east side.
1015-1013 West 8th Street: Square shape overall, 1-story features on both sides. Rectangular building in the behind is likely 722 Vine Street.
1019/1023 West Eighth Street: 1-story porch on the east-side at the meeting of two 2-story structures, 1-story porch in front.
1025/1031 West Eighth Street: Protrusion on the east side, 1-story porch in front.
1031 is the only house still standing of the three on West Eighth Street visible in the panoramic. This recent image of the property from the Scott County Parcel Search makes clear that I’ve identified it correctly…just look at the roofline!
Stay tuned for more information about the people who lived in these houses!
(posted by Katie)
