We have blogged in the past about west Davenport subjects, including Fairmount Cemetery, which was named in a contest, Scheutzen Park with its fabled fairy lights, and the fun of the Mississippi Valley Fair.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Today, we’re adding another west Davenport name into our blogging collection, but this name does not herald a peaceful final resting\u00a0spot or a\u00a0place for fun and frivolity.\u00a0 It was called Bloody Hollow.\u00a0 While the origins of the name may be in question; many would agree that this area of west Davenport lived up to its name.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0earliest legend\u00a0we have\u00a0for the name Bloody Hollow is found in the Davenport Daily Republican<\/em> of June 17, 1900.\u00a0 An article entitled \u201cHistoric Tales of the Vicinity\u201d tells of a small, but\u00a0vicious skirmish that was fought between the settlers and Native Americans around 1814.\u00a0 The fight centered on a ravine, small stream, and path that would one day be part of Scheutzen Park.\u00a0 The settlers lost the battle and stories were told of how the water in the creek ran red with blood on that day— and the area was\u00a0dubbed Bloody Hollow.<\/p>\n A May 19, 1909 ,article in The Davenport Democrat and Leader<\/em>\u00a0reports a\u00a0story told by Captain W. L. Clark, who lived in the area as a boy.\u00a0 Captain Clark remembers a fight between three settlers: one named Franks and two brothers with the last name Buck who had settled illegally on part of Mr. Franks claim.\u00a0 Clark said the claim was not far from what was, in 1909,\u00a0the McMannus property.\u00a0 A quick check of the 1909 Davenport City Directory showed the McMannus family lived near the junction of Telegraph Road and 3rd<\/sup> Street, not far from the area\u00a0known as Bloody Hollow.<\/p>\n Captain Clark described the Buck brothers as being rather mean spirited.\u00a0 At one point, one brother fought Mr. Franks when they happened to meet at Captain Stich’s saloon on Front Street.\u00a0 According to the story, Mr. Franks won the fight and the Buck brothers sought revenge.\u00a0 Soon after, they came upon Mr. Franks near the ravine and attacked him.\u00a0 Mr. Franks was said to have defended himself with a heavy stick, breaking one brother\u2019s arm and gashing the head of the other.\u00a0\u00a0Beaten, the\u00a0Buck brothers went back to the Galena area.\u00a0 That fight, according to Captain Clark, was how Bloody Hollow got its name.\u00a0<\/p>\n However it was named, Bloody Hollow lived up to its name for many years. Newspaper accounts over the years described Bloody Hollow as a wooded area with winding roads.\u00a0 These roads seemed filled with danger, illegal activities, and tragedy well\u00a0into the 1930s. \u00a0<\/p>\n It is not uncommon to find\u00a0mention of Bloody Hollow while looking through old newspapers.\u00a0\u00a0Lighter articles\u00a0imply that\u00a0it was a place for couples to go \u201cparking\u201d.\u00a0 The area was reportedly covered with Native American artifacts for those interested in exploring the legends of the site.\u00a0 During prohibition, the area contained taverns and home distilleries that were frequently raided by police.<\/p>\n More serious news items\u00a0included reports of numerous car accidents, several of them deadly, as cars\u00a0careened off\u00a0the winding road to end up in the ditch \u2013 or even the creek.\u00a0 On August 26, 1924, Leslie Haythorne, drunk and speeding,\u00a0missed a curve on the road and drove his friend\u2019s touring car down the ravine and into the creek.\u00a0 Haythorne was killed, though his passenger,\u00a0Ralph Jackson, escaped with minor injuries.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kidnappings and assaults were not uncommon in the wooded areas as well.<\/p>\n The official\u00a0name of the road that ran past the ravine and creek was Slough Road, but newspapers and directories of the day still called it Bloody Hollow.\u00a0\u00a0In the early 1900s the area was platted for the W. H. Crane Subdivision, and Sharon Road was built to adjoin Slough Road\/Bloody Hollow.\u00a0 Sharon Street was renamed Waverly Road in 1919 and Bloody Hollow finally disappeared from the directory in 1942, as the area was absorbed by the expanding subdivisions surrounding Waverly. \u00a0<\/p>\n The area that was once called Bloody Hollow is still wooded, but the danger and tragedy have (one hopes) passed on into history.\u00a0 Still, I don\u2019t think I will be exploring those woods on a dark night anytime soon!<\/p>\n (Posted by Amy D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We have blogged in the past about west Davenport subjects, including Fairmount Cemetery, which was named in a contest, Scheutzen Park with its fabled fairy lights, and the fun of the Mississippi Valley Fair.\u00a0 Today, we’re adding another west Davenport … Continue reading