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Author Archives: SCblogger
Auld Lang Syne . . .
2011 has been a good year around here. We’ve received many new resources from family histories to land records, Shakers to Palatines. We’ve even added a few new databases to our arsenal. We’ve had great programs, like our Specifically for … Continue reading
Posted in Genealogy, Library, Local History
Tagged Genealogy, Just Shelved, library, Local History
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Happy Holidays from Special Collections
The staff of the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center would like to wish you and yours a joyful and genealogically successful holiday season. Don’t forget to ask your relatives for family information, stories, and copies of photographs! If you’re planning a … Continue reading
Just Skating By . . .
The river frequently froze over smooth, and made wonderful skating, particularly distance skating. A favorite stunt was to skate from Davenport downstream as far as Rock River—a matter of five or six miles. Sometimes, if there happened to be a … Continue reading
Posted in Local History
Tagged Edward Kunkel, Ice Skating, Mississippi River, Vander Veer Botanical Park, Winter
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A Street by Any Other Name: Kimberly Road
The street known as Kimberly Road in both Davenport and Bettendorf was dedicated on December 14th, 1936. This road was an extension of U. S. Highway No. 6 and it passed through what at the time was the northern section … Continue reading
Posted in Local History
Tagged Davenport (Iowa), David W. Kimberly, Kimberly Road, Street names
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In Their Own Words: Pearl Harbor
In 2001, our Special Collections Center was privileged to conduct oral history interviews with several area World War II veterans and others who were personally connected to the War, both home and abroad. On this 70th anniversary of the attack … Continue reading
Guess Who’s Coming to Town!
Santa likes Davenport, Iowa—probably because we’ve thrown him some pretty good parades over the years. The Jaycee’s Santa was bigger than life in the 1940s . . . . . . But decided he’d rather sit down for … Continue reading
Turkey Notes: a four-line Davenport tradition
It’s Thanksgiving Week!* Some of our readers already know about The Turkey Note tradition, either because your family writes them, your children write them in school, you make children write them in school, or you caught our previous posts about … Continue reading
Moustache Season
We’ve noticed that moustaches seem to be making a comeback. It might be because of Movember, a month long campaing that helps raise awareness for men’s health, including prostate and other cancers. If you’re looking for some inspiration, here are … Continue reading
A Hero of the Iowa 7th: Lieutenant Colonel Augustus Wentz
Wednesday, November 13, 1861 was a day of mourning for the citizens of Davenport, Iowa. Lieutenant Colonel Augustus Wentz would be buried on that crisp Autumn day. Only a few weeks before local residents had cheered as Wentz and members … Continue reading
A History Mystery Solved: The Disappearance of the Lindsay Lagoon
Once upon a time, there was a Mississippi River lagoon in the area near Lindsay Park Marina in the Village of East Davenport. The lagoon was used for swimming and fishing. Pretty nice place, from what we hear. It’s not … Continue reading
