Category Archives: Local History

For They Say When you Marry in June . . .

“For they say when you marry in June, You will always be a bride . . .”  We can’t be sure whether this rhyme held true for Clara Louise Hass,* who married Walter Kruse on June 2, 1917, but judging … Continue reading

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Aiding the Genealogy Effort: World War I Draft Registration Cards

On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war on Germany.  On May 18, Congress passed the Selective Service Act, and every male resident of the United States between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, regardless of citizenship status, was … Continue reading

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“An Honor to their Friends at Home, to the State, and their Country”

The Davenport Public Library will be closed Monday, May 27, in honor of those who gave their lives so that we could have the opportunity to live ours in freedom. The Scott County Soldiers’ Monument was erected as a memorial to … Continue reading

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A Sad Loss: Credit Island Lodge

On the morning of May 2, 2013, Davenport’s history suffered a sad loss: the historic Credit Island Lodge was severely damaged by fire. Blueprints in the Richarson-Sloane Special Collections Center show the original plans were designed by Clausen & Kruse Architects located at 910 Kahl Building* … Continue reading

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The Colorful Wedding Announcement of Miss Helen Watts

Included in our Hostetler Photograph Collections is a set of glass negatives  showing the former Miss Helen Kelsey Watts in her wedding gown, in which she married Mr. Homer Brown Payne. While researching these images, we located a wedding announcement, … Continue reading

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Throwback Thursday: The Quad-Cities USA Campaign

While adding items to our Ephemera collection, we found brochures for the Quad Cities U.S.A. campaign—and we couldn’t resist sharing! ________________ “A typical Quad-Cities resident lives in one community, works in another and shops in a third city. It’s urban, … Continue reading

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A Flood of Images: April 2013

Another flood has come and gone (or at least it is on its way to being gone!). While this one did not crack the Top 10 flood list, it unofficially crested at 19.12 feet on April 21, 2013 at Lock … Continue reading

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Library Leadership: Directors We Have Known

In honor of National Library Week, we thought we’d take a look at those who have led the Davenport Public Library over the past 111 years. Even with this brief amount of information, it’s interesting to note how the education, … Continue reading

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A Davenport First: Green River Soda

 As we wait (im)patiently in our department for winter to bloom into spring, we linger a little longer over the warm weather pictures and the senior yearbooks we pull for patrons. And sometimes our lingering leads to a blog topic—especially … Continue reading

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A Pencil-Drawn Snapshot in Time: City Engineering Department Survey Books

Many of our blog posts in the past year have involved the Civil War period, in honor of the 150th anniversary of the event. One Civil War era primary resource in the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections archives is the City of Davenport … Continue reading

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