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Author Archives: SCblogger
Gordon Van Who?
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
Posted in Local History
Tagged Architecture, Davenport (Iowa), Gordon-Van Tine, Local History, U.N. Roberts
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Second Sunday is Coming Up!
Our Special Collections Center will be open this Sunday (February 10th) from 1-4 pm for genealogy and local history research only—the rest of the Main library will not be open. Walk in through the Fourth Street door (behind the big … Continue reading
Posted in Local History
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One-Way Question, Multi-Directional Answer
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
Posted in Local History
Tagged Davenport, Fourth Street, Iowa, Local History, Research, Third Street, Traffic
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The Way to the Hitching Post: A winter etiquette lesson
For those of us who feel that modern society has forgotten common courtesy, it appears that people felt the same way over a hundred years ago: From the Davenport Democrat, February 10, 1885: The Way to the Hitching Post “People who … Continue reading
Found it in the Archives!
Imagine….. A donor brings historic documents, written in French, to the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center at the Davenport Public Library that were passed down through the family. Having no sentimental ties to the brittle, fragile papers, they bring them to … Continue reading
The Early Bird Gets the Moonshine
Oh, there was always something going on in Scott County, Iowa, in the roaring twenties, from dance marathons to gangsters. At times, the place seemed more like Chicago than a collection of small towns surrounded by farms. Looking back to January … Continue reading
Posted in Local History
Tagged Moonshine, Mr. Alger, Mr. Hilson, Peter Bein, Prohibition, Raids, Sponge Squad
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Davenporter of Note: Bailey Davenport
January 9th was the 123rd anniversary of the death of Bailey Davenport, the second son of Col. George Davenport. And although he didn’t live in Davenport for a good portion of his life, we think the title of this blog … Continue reading
Our “Special” visitors for 2012
Update: We had a visitor on the last week of the year from Christchurch, New Zealand! That is quite a long way away! _____________________________________________________________________________ In 2012, genealogists and history researchers came from all over the country (and the world!) to … Continue reading
A Brief, More-or-less Musical Interlude
Our staff here at the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center celebrate the winter holidays each year by exchanging cards, going out to dinner, mailing cards to our wonderful volunteers, and, in one unfortunate case, writing new lyrics to an old holiday song. Here … Continue reading
Posted in Library
Tagged Holidays, Music, Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center
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Library Closings Ahead!
The Davenport Library System will be closed the following days: December 23, 24, and 25 and December 30-31 and January 1 Otherwise, barring inclement weather, we will be open our regular hours. Happy Holidays!!
