Tag Archives: Antoine LeClaire

The Old/Original Antoine LeClaire Homestead/Residence/Treaty House/Railroad Depot

Researching the home built by Antoine LeClaire on the site of the Black Hawk Treaty is quite a challenge.  There have been at least 3 different buildings in Davenport called “The LeClaire House.” There’s LeClaire’s 2nd home, the mansion built … Continue reading

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Indigenous American Voices

This past Wednesday evening at the Eastern Avenue branch of the Davenport Public Library, a direct descendant of the Lakota leader Crazy Horse spoke about recording his family’s oral history.  Floyd Clown, grandson to Crazy Horse, was on his 146th … Continue reading

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Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Credit Island, which took place during the War of 1812, on the fourth and fifth of September 1814.  Special Collections will be participating in the city’s commemoration of this event … Continue reading

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A Holiday Gift for Mr. LeClaire

So what do you buy yourself for the holidays when you own nearly the whole town? While that is a question few of us will ever have to ponder, it was probably a yearly dilemma for Antoine LeClaire by the mid-nineteenth … Continue reading

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Happy 175th Birthday, Davenport!

The year 2011 marks the 175th anniversary of the founding of Sofa City – that’s right! In February of 1836 the official “Articles of Agreement” were drawn up, land was purchased from Antoine LeClaire, and a town was platted in … Continue reading

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When Opportunity Knocks . . .

It is August in the Midwest and we all know without a doubt that the weather around here can be brutal (Heat Wave: 1936).  There’s no need to dwell on the heat or the humidity. So today’s post will avoid the topic … Continue reading

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What’s in a Name?

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 … Continue reading

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Happy Birthday, Davenport!!

On this day in 1836, the City of Davenport was platted and named. In order to understand the weight of history behind that simple sentence, one would have to look back at least to the treaty, signed on September 21, 1832, … Continue reading

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The Little Engine that Did—another first for Davenport!

This week, we are celebrating the upcoming anniversary of the first locomotive in Iowa, which arrived in Davenport on July 19, 1855.  This was a pretty big deal—most people were counting on reliable overland transportation to be as much of … Continue reading

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