KSTT: “Someplace Special”

Posted on June 29, 2009 by SCblogger

On July 7, 1946 the radio waves of the Quad Cities changed forever when KSTT went on the air for the first time with a one hour introductory program.  No one knew this dawn to dusk operation would soon become one of the most popular radio stations in the area.

Originally produced from the sixth floor of the Hotel Davenport (right across from the Davenport Main Street Library) the original programs included on-the-hour news, music segments from big band leaders like Jimmy Dorsey and Perry Como, and a daily farm report.  Local newspapers carried a daily program schedule, like today’s television show schedule, so listeners would not miss their favorite segments.

By the mid-1950s, KSTT 1170 AM had made the switch from Big Band to Top 40. From the 1950s into the 1970s, dance parties and music contests attracted large numbers of young adults to both events and radio programs.  One dance party was the “Concert of Stars” on January 29, 1959 with performers such as Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and J.P. “Big Bopper” Richardson playing for the crowds at the Capital Theatre in Davenport.  Only days later on February 3, 1959 Holly, Valens, Richardson and their pilot were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.

In 1963, KSTT moved to its new building on 1111 E. River Drive in Davenport.  Located right on a major thoroughfare, the studio had a large glass window were passing cars and pedestrians could see the DJ’s playing their favorite records.  One former KSTT DJ known as “Spike at the Mike” would eventually leave the station and finish his career as “Spike” O’Dell on WGN-AM.

By the mid-1980’s, competition from other Top 40 and rock stations led management to begin to make changes in programming style.  After a brief try as an Oldies station, KSTT moved to a sports theme by the early 1990s.  On March 1, 1993 KSTT 1170 AM, the station that introduced thousands of Quad Citians to popular Top 40 music ended its run on the radio dial. The KSTT call letters were retired and replaced with KJOC.  Today KJOC 1170 AM is a news/talk format.

For many years KSTT had a slogan “Someplace Special.” For many people, KSTT will always have a special place in their memories.

(Posted by Amy D.)

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Ding, ding, ding, went the Trolleys . . .

Posted on June 22, 2009 by SCblogger

In our Special Collections Center, we have hanging on our wall an enormous double photograph showing the southern view from the corner of Third Street and Brady in 1938 and in 1952.

The two photographs, separated by only 14 years, are quite similar.  The cars are slightly different in the newer image, and the huge RKO Orpheum sign has shrunk to a tasteful marquee, and the remainder of the bricked street has been smoothed over.  And, of course, all those rails and electric cables for the streetcars have all disappeared—

What?  Oh, yes, Davenport had streetcars.  In fact, the city depended on them for the better part of a century.

The first streetcars appeared in the 1860’s, each route controlled by a different company.  Ambrose Fulton operated the Third Street Route, taking residents around the downtown area for work or shopping, and Judge James Grant’s Brady Street line ran to the fairgrounds north of the city.*  The standard fare was a nickel.

These early streetcars were open trolleys and literally horse-powered, which was troublesome in the winter.  The wooden cars couldn’t be heated without causing fire hazards, and snow made for slow-going, especially up Brady Street hill, which was probably no treat for the horses on a dry road in the summer.

Steam cars made their debut in 1878, which made the hills easier on all concerned, though the contraption apparently smelled of smoke and made quite the racket.  Even with the extra power, horses were needed to help the “Brady Street Brute” on its way.

The Tri-City Railway Company, owned by the Holmes Syndicate of Chicago, formed in 1888 out of many of the smaller railway systems.  Dr. D. W. Allen, owner of the Davenport Central Railway, resisted the merger, and electrified his line the same year.  This made Davenport the first city west of the Mississippi to have an electrically-powered street railway—and the second city in the entire country. 

By 1890, all the railways were united under Tri-City, and all were electrically powered, though several routes to less populated areas or ‘occasional routes,’ including Oakdale Cemetery, were dropped out of necessity.  Soon, Davenport was festooned with cables and lined with rails and remained so for forty-odd years.

The advent of bicycles and the growing ownership of personal automobiles took a large bite of the streetcar business throughout the decades, but it was the introduction of motorbuses to Davenport, in 1926, that signaled the end.  Buses were cost effective, comfortable, and required no special equipment; routes could be modified, or added, without major investment.  Despite an extensive advertising campaign by the Tri-City Lines, using the tagline, “The Accepted Way,” ** it was clear that the streetcar’s time had passed.

The dismantling of the railways began in the early 1930s, and by 1936, only the Bridge line, running out to Arsenal Island, was still in operation.   By 1940, Davenport’s streetcar system was gone.  Many of the old streetcars were purchased by A. D. Harris, a Rock Island entrepreneur, who sold them as chicken coops, sheds, diners, or even as a different kind of ‘mobile home.

There are a few residents who might still remember childhood rides on the streetcars with their parents, but mostly this chapter of Davenport transportation history is recorded only in the history books or in photographs, like the one hanging on our wall.

You really should come down to see it.  Just hop on the nearest stree—oh, wait.  Well, there’s plenty of metered parking, bike racks out front, and a bus stop just around the corner.

___

*Present day Vander Veer Park.

**Davenport Democrat and Leader, March 24, 1929, p. 25, col. 1.

Sources:

“Autos Force Economy by Streetcars,” Davenport Democrat and Leader, June 3, 1925, p. 2.

“Busses for Davenport,” Davenport Democrat and Leader, July 15, 1926, p. 6.

“Local Legislation in a Short Time,” Davenport Tribune, July 21, 1892, p. 2. (About electrifying the railway route along 15th Street)

Svendsen, Marlys.  Davenport: A Pictorial History (1986)

Wundram, Bill. A Time We Remember (1999)

 

(Posted by Sarah)

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Socialists and Swimming Pools

Posted on June 15, 2009 by SCblogger

Most people find the building of a swimming pool to be an exciting time; waiting for the project to be completed and the weather warm enough to swim in the clear water.

Today, Davenport has many city and private pools for residents to swim in. Most of them were approved for pool replastering so they are practically new now. That was not the case when the city decided to build its first public swimming pool in 1921 – 1922. Who knew the event would become part of a unique time in Davenport’s history?
In 1920, citizens of Davenport elected their first, and last, Socialist majority city council. Not only was the mayor, C. L. Barewald, part of the Socialist Party, but so were five of the eight alderman ; the other three aldermen belonged to the Republican Party. The Mayor Barewald and the aldermen on his ticket wanted to promote the interests of the average citizen and the creation of a public swimming pool in the downtown area would fit that idea.

In 1921, the council picked a spot for a new Municipal Natatorium (a large swimming pool with showers and dressing areas), right along the Mississippi River at the foot of Harrison and Main Streets, and budgeted $50,000 to its creation.

From the beginning the Socialist council members faced great opposition. Many citizens were outraged that the council had picked a prime piece of real estate for a public pool that they felt could be placed elsewhere. Not only were these groups worried about undesirable people being attracted to the pool, but also of men, women and children walking the streets in bathing attire.* Those in favor of the pool felt it should be built in the downtown near the “working man’s” district to provide a solution to hygiene problems that faced groups of people living in crowded conditions without adequate bathing facilities in their residents.

On November 16, 1921 the issues came to a head when 18 civic and social organizations presented petitions with 16,000 signatures to the majority Socialist council at the city council meeting. The Socialist members argued the only reason people didn’t want the pool built on that location was because certain citizens wanted to use it for capitalist gain. After a lengthy argument, the five Socialist aldermen outvoted their three Republican counterparts to approve the deal.

To make sure nothing could interrupt their decision, the council ordered worker’s to begin digging the foundation very next day. Injunction proceedings were promised by those that opposed the building location, but in the end “The Working Man’s Bathtub,” as it was sometimes called in the newspapers, was built for $106,000, not the $50,000 estimated.

The Municipal Natatorium was opened on July 20, 1922 with a preview on the evening of July 19, 1922 that drew a crowd of thousands to view the facility. The ladies’ changing room contained rocking chairs and mirrors for patrons to use, the building had a first aid station, laundry for washing the swim suits, and showers for men and women. Heated water and soap were provided for the patrons and everyone was expected to shower before going into the pool. The pool also has a smaller section with a heating option as it used the best pool heat pumps. The larger pool on the other hand, was designed in a way that it remained cool despite extreme temperature on the outside.   People with open sores or colds were not allowed to swim.

Not even the grand opening could escape controversy. The opening coincided with the regular city council meeting on the night of July 19, 1922. The new mayor, Republican Alfred Mueller, and aldermen were promised the diving exhibition held that night would not take place until they arrived. Unfortunately that did not happen and they missed the show. Their outrage was expressed in the newspaper the next day.** However, most parties apparently did overcome their opposition or disappointment and the facility was enjoyed by thousands of citizens for many years.

The Natatorium closed in 1977 due to safety concerns and a declining attendance. It was decided that, as residential homes sprawled outwards away from the downtown area, improvements were too costly for a facility that no longer was part of a population center. The city decided to invest in smaller pools located in various locations throughout Davenport.

In 1980 the Municipal Natatorium, which had been renamed several years before as LeClaire Pool, was demolished and replaced by green space. This green space was later converted to a parking lot which still covers the site today.

For all its original controversy, the Natatorium played a positive role in the lives of thousands of Davenporters who today can think back at the happy memories that were made over the course of long, hot summers.

(posted by Amy D.)

*The Davenport Democrat and Leader, November 10, 1921. Page 13.
**The Davenport Daily Times, July 20, 1922.

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Milestones in local databases

Posted on June 12, 2009 by SCblogger

For those of you who  are statistically oriented, we’re very happy to announce that, thanks to dedicated volunteer Janet Greenlee, the 1925 Iowa Census index on our website now includes 9000 names of Scott County residents.

The index to the microfilmed Iowa Civil War Enlistments (another of Janet’s projects) has expanded to include over 1800 names of Iowa Civil War soldiers. 

So, if you haven’t used our local genealogy indexes recently you’ll want to check them out again to see if your ancestor is now included.

Thanks, Janet, for all your hard work!!

 

(Posted by Amy G)

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Researching the Records of England

Posted on June 8, 2009 by SCblogger

If you were fortunate enough to attend the Scott County Iowa Genealogical Society meeting on the first of June, you learned all sorts of interesting things about early English records from Pam Langston.  One thing that really surprised me is that the vast majority of Americans will eventually find themselves searching for English ancestors, no matter what their primary ethnic background. 

That being the case you will be pleased to learn that English Parish Registers can date back as far as the mid-1500’s!  The source that Pam recommended for learning whether the specific Register you need has survived is the Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers  (SC 942 Phi).  This resource includes colored maps of each county that shows the situation of churches and chapels and the beginning dates of the original register of the parish that have survived.

Another interesting tidbit that I learned is that the land records we rely on for doing American research don’t really exist in England.  Nearly all property was owned by the crown and feudal lords, rather than the common folks that the land transfer books we are accustomed to were never needed.  It wasn’t until 1925 that land transactions were required to be registered.

While land records aren’t available, census records are available and are very similar to the U.S. Census schedules that any researcher is familiar with.  The first census was conducted in England in 1801 with another done every ten years after that.  Unfortunately, the earliest censuses were simply counts, with no names of individuals provided.  In 1841 names of every  individual were recorded, but without information as to the relationships between individuals.  1851 is the first census that provides the name, age and relationship information that we are accustomed to finding in the U.S. Census.  In the U.S. the federal census schedules are released 72 years after they were taken.  In England the schedules are typically held for 100 years.  That being said, the 1911 Census was recently released.  Many of these censuses are available at the library through the Ancestry Library Edition database.

Another source for English research that we just received as a donation is the Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (SC 942 LEW).  This set is an alphabetical listing of just about every place in England that includes a detailed description of the place.  The larger the place, the more description provided.  For example, the entry for Barugh, indicates it is “a township in the parish of Darton, wapentake* of Straincross, West riding of the county  of York, 2 ½ miles (W>N>W>) from Barnesley, containing 396 inhabitants.  Here is a small endowed school, also an almshouse for two poor widows.”  That for Barton-Stacey, a larger community also provides the information that a fair is held on July 31st and that a Roman road passed through the parish.  If you find your ancestors in the parish registers you will want to be sure to look for their parish or township in this dictionary!

 ___

*If you’re like me, you have no idea what a “wapentake” is!  The encyclopedia Britannica indicates it is an administrative division of the English counties of York, Lincoln, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, and Rutland, first clearly referred to in 962/963 and corresponding to the “hundred” in other parts of England. The term wapentake is of Scandinavian origin and meant the taking of weapons; it later signified the clash of arms by which the people assembled in a local court expressed assent. Danish influence was strong in those English counties where wapentakes existed.

(Posted by Amy G.)

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Graduates of World War II

Posted on June 8, 2009 by SCblogger

The beginning of June this year brings two things to my mind: high school graduations and the 65th anniversary of D-Day.  Thinking of those, I began to peruse our year book collection in Special Collections.

The 1942, 1943, and 1944 yearbooks from Davenport High School allow a peak into the patriotism felt by these young adults.  Each school year revolved around not only your typical sports and dances, but began to include Red Cross work, paper and clothing drives, and testing to enter the armed services after graduation. 

The curriculum was altered for the war effort: an aeronautics course was introduced to teach basic flying knowledge;  Domestic Arts classes worked on making surgical dressings, and the Industrial Arts Department not only trained students during the day, but also offered adult night classes to get people into the factories.

Fun was not forgotten, but usually went on with a patriotic theme.  In 1943, Davenport High School named Marjorie Brownlie “Miss Victory” and held a Victory Dance instead of the traditional Homecoming Queen and Homecoming Dance.  Parades were cancelled due to rationing, but dances were held including the Spinster Spree (which may be called Sadie Hawkins Dance or Turnabout elsewhere).  How did these students get to the dances and events?  Many took the bus to conserve gas and tires.  An interesting image when you imagine the boys in their best suits and girls in their party dresses all riding the city bus to the event.  It must have been fun!

Reading the comments in the yearbooks from the principal and other officials, it is obvious they knew many of their young men would be walking out the door on graduation day and heading soon after to military training camp.  I imagine faculty felt both pride at what these youth had accomplished during their days at Davenport High School and fear of what they faced once they left its walls.

Principal A.I. Naumann wrote in the 1944 yearbook, “You will be called upon to do your part in bringing a better order out of this gigantic conflict. You may be asked to defend the right against tyranny in whatever forms it may have arisen.  If so, it will bring to you the sacrifice of your future ambitions for a time and a separation from all that which you hoped would materialize shortly after your high school graduation…We are proud of you, for we confidently believe that you will do your part bravely and efficiently.”*

What powerful and overwhelming words written during a powerful and overwhelming time in our history. How many of us today could imagine those words being written in our high school yearbooks?

Thank you to all of our veterans and congratulations to the Class of 2009.  We applaud those who have changed history and those who are just setting out to make it. 

 

___

*Davenport High School Blackhawk, v. 27, 1944, Pg. 9.

(Posted by Amy D.)

 

 

 

 

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Riverboats We Have Known: The W.J. Quinlan

Posted on June 1, 2009 by SCblogger

After something of a delay, it’s finally looking like spring in the Quad-Cities: the weather is warmer, the boats are on the Mississippi . . . and the orange construction barrels are in full bloom.

The promise of bridge delays for the foreseeable future is having an adverse effect on the good humor of drivers used to zipping from the farthest of the Iowa Quad-Cities over the Mississippi to the furthest of the Illinois Quad-Cities (or vice versa) in little more than 20 minutes, even while keeping to the posted speed limits.

It is obvious, at least to commuters, that Something Must be Done. Unfortunately, looking to the future doesn’t help: flying cars and jet packs won’t be ready for the general public for at least a couple of years—and even if they were, such high-powered gadgetry probably wouldn’t alleviate road-rage or fuel consumption problems.

But some people are looking to the past for a way to combine more speed with less haste and more people with less energy: ferryboats.

And when one thinks of past Davenport ferryboats,*the one that usually comes to mind is the W. J. Quinlan.

quinlan

This beautiful steam-powered stern wheeler, built in 1904 by the Kahlke boat works in Rock Island, Illinois, was originally named the Davenport. In 1925, William J. Quinlan bought the boat, refurbished her, and renamed her after himself.

The Quinlan carried businessmen, shoppers, sightseers, and children between Rock Island and Davenport during the day, and offered night tours of the river—plus the use of its dance floor and casino— to couples and gamblers.

After decades of active service, never venturing more than two miles from where she was built, the Quinlan developed structural problems in her hull, and retired to the Kahlke yard in 1946.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if some enterprising soul could bring her out of retirement, fix her up, and set her to providing peaceful transportation across the river? Unfortunately, that would be impossible—the Quinlan was lost in a dry dock fire in April of 1967.

Which, say those of us who cross the river in our twice-daily commute, doesn’t mean we couldn’t establish another ferry in her honor, at least until Orange Barrel season is well over.

Just call it the WJQ2.

___
*Okay, when we think of past Davenport ferryboats.

(posted by Sarah)

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A Veteran’s View: Harold Labonte

Posted on May 25, 2009 by SCblogger

     

 

harold-labonte

 In 2001, our own Karen, along with several volunteers, began interviewing local residents for a World War II/Korean War Oral History Project.  Our Oral History Collection now includes the war-related stories of 74 veterans, former civilian workers, and even a war bride or two.

The recordings of the full interviews—most of which have been transcribed—have always been available at our Center, but now we are pleased to be able to offer selections from these interviews online—just in time for Memorial Day!

Harold Labonte joined the Air Force in 1935 at the age of 18.  However, he spent World War II as an extremely hard-working Air Force Civilian Technician.   He was so important to the war effort, that he became one of the few civilians personally chastised by General Patton.  Mr. Labonte passed away in August of last year.

If, after hearing this brief recording, you would like to hear the rest of Mr. Labonte’s story, you are welcome to bring your favorite set of headphones to our Center!

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What’s in a Name?

Posted on May 21, 2009 by SCblogger

The city of Davenport was named after Colonel George Davenport.  This is fairly well known—at least to most residents of the Quad-Cities—although every once in a while, we still receive a question concerning the invention and manufacturing of long, squared-off couches.*

Very rarely does someone pause to ask why an Iowa city was named after a man who never lived on that side of the Mississippi—George Davenport lived near where Fort Armstrong once stood, on the Mississippi Island that is now known as Arsenal Island.  Or, for that matter, why the town wasn’t named after Antoine.**

The answer is threefold: 

Because of Antoine LeClaire’s genealogy. 

Because Antoine and Col. Davenport were friends.

 And because Col. Davenport was not universally liked.

 Antoine LeClaire was the son of a French-Canadian father and a Pottawatomie mother, which at the time meant that he was at a disadvantage, socially speaking.  While he owned the land on which the new town would be built, he didn’t have a lot of ready cash, and feared that investors wouldn’t be interested in a project headed by someone with his parentage—perhaps especially so soon after the Black Hawk War.  So he formed an initial company of men with English-sounding surnames, and decided to give his town an English name as well.

And what better name that that of his good friend Col. George Davenport?  George Davenport had been in the area since roughly 1816, when he was hired to run supplies from St. Louis to Fort Armstrong.  He established several trading posts as he went and had become friendly with the local tribes. Ironically, he received his rank when he was appointed quartermaster officer in the Illinois militia—even though he was so opposed to the War that he had traveled to Washington, DC, to speak to President Andrew Jackson on the behalf of the Sac-Fox tribes.   During his transactions with the Fort, he met and befriended Antoine, who, having grown up speaking at least half a dozen Native American dialects, was employed by the Army as a translator.  One could suppose that Antoine might have been especially pleased to name a town after a man who evidenced favoritism toward Native Americans.

This all seems straightforward enough.  But there was one small problem.

At this time, on the opposite side of the Mississippi, there was a proposal to expand the Illinois settlement of Farnhamsburg and rename it after George Davenport—and this honor most likely would have forced Antoine into choosing another name, just to avoid confusion.***  Luckily, not everyone held George Davenport in high esteem.   Col. Davenport had not been particularly quiet about his opinion of one Colonel Stroud, whom he thought was largely responsible for the worst of the violence of the War . . . and the fuming Colonel Stroud had just become a member of the Illinois legislature.  Stroud put his foot down and the Illinois town was named Stephenson, after Colonel James Stephenson.^

So that is how our city was named after an Englishman who never lived here. 

Would it be too confusing at this point to mention  that his real name was George King?

___

*For the record, no, the davenport was not invented here and as far as we know, they were not manufactured here, at least by that name.

**There is a LeClaire, Iowa, in Scott County, but it’s just a tad younger.  Besides, Antoine was fond of naming things after his wife . . . Margueritaville?

***Kansas City, anyone?

^ Six years later, Stephenson, Illinois changed its name again, to Rock Island, which was the original name of the Mississippi River island where George Davenport lived—that’s probably a coincidence, but still . . .

(posted by Sarah)

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New Old Stuff, Old New Stuff!

Posted on May 18, 2009 by SCblogger

New to the Special Collections Center’s Iowa vital records microfilm cabinet is Lee County.  Thirty-five rolls of births, delayed births, deaths, marriages and even a few naturalizations are ready for use the next time you come in. Lee County is the only one of Iowa’s 99 counties with two county seats, so that may account for all those records! To learn more about their unique system you can follow this link.

Another helpful resource that is accessible from our six internet workstations in SC or your home computer is the Iowa Digital Maps Collection of the University of Iowa. There are Sanborn maps, plat maps, and atlases for many Iowa counties. Searchers now have integrated access to the 9,000+ map items in the Iowa Digital Library.  The site features enhanced functionality that allows browsing by a number of specific criteria, including place names and map formats. Be sure to spend some time there. It is fascinating.

One more resource that we depend on daily in Special Collections is our collection of City Directories. Sometimes we find images of buildings or houses or even dates when businesses began as in the example below from the 1912 Davenport City Directory:

 blog-city-directory-sanitarium-1

Other times, you just stumble across something that makes you giggle, like this ad from 1910:

blog-city-directory-corns-2-1

 

Either way-it’s all in a day’s work in the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center! Come in and see what you can find!

(submitted by Karen)

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