Author Archives: SCblogger

If At First You Don’t Know . . .

Posted on March 14, 2013 by SCblogger

Sometimes all it takes is one misprint to throw our sense of history off for over 131 years. For at least that long, it was believed that George Colt was the first City Marshal of Davenport.  This was reinforced by … Continue reading →

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The Rise and Fall of the Hickey Brothers

Posted on March 7, 2013 by SCblogger

In 1901, William Hickey and his kid brother Dennis pooled their savings and opened a little cigar store at 123 East Third Street. It did pretty well. So well, in fact, that in five years, they opened a second store … Continue reading →

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Second Sunday is Coming Up!

Posted on March 7, 2013 by SCblogger

Our Special Collections Center will be open this Sunday (March 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 →

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The Colored School Controversy

Posted on February 27, 2013 by SCblogger

In August of 1857, Iowans ratified their State Constitution, including Article IX, which established a popularly elected state board of education authorized to provide “for the education of all the youths of the State, through a system of common schools” … Continue reading →

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Gordon Van Who?

Posted on February 14, 2013 by SCblogger

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 →

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Second Sunday is Coming Up!

Posted on February 6, 2013 by SCblogger

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 →

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One-Way Question, Multi-Directional Answer

Posted on February 5, 2013 by SCblogger

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 →

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The Way to the Hitching Post: A winter etiquette lesson

Posted on January 29, 2013 by SCblogger

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 →

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Found it in the Archives!

Posted on January 23, 2013 by SCblogger

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 →

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The Early Bird Gets the Moonshine

Posted on January 16, 2013 by SCblogger

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 →

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