The original railroad bridge that first crossed the Mississippi River in 1856 between Rock Island and Davenport is long gone, but there are obviously new spans to replace it. The Government Bridge, which we drove across to Illinois to visit the two cities that make up half of the Quad Cities, is quite the hulking…
Tag: Rehabilitation
Prospect Park, Davenport, Iowa
Heading east of downtown Davenport, we reach Prospect Park and environs. Centered around an eponymous greenspace, the area grew up later than Hamburg upriver from older parts of Davenport. There is still no levee protecting the city, so there are excellent views of the Mississippi River from the neighborhood. There are relatively simple houses on…
North of Downtown, Davenport, Iowa
Leaving the Hamburg neighborhood, we wandered up Brady Street, I think, and looked at the Cork Hill area, I think, and other neighborhoods north of downtown Davenport. First up on the list of major landmarks we spotted is Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Cathedral, built in 1891 according to designs by architect James Egan. Mass was…
Hamburg, Davenport, Iowa, Part Two
Continuing our look at the Hamburg neighborhood in Davenport that we started yesterday, we look at another amazing Italianate house. What is interesting is that there does not seem to be much of a Second Empire phase in the city’s architecture, or on the other side of the river. There certainly is plenty of Second…
Hamburg, Davenport, Iowa, Part One
We headed down to the Hamburg neighborhood in Davenport, which has recently seen extensive rehabbing and restoration of its historic houses. The neighborhood is obviously named after the German Hanseatic city of Hamburg, which still is one of the most important port cities in the world. Apparently many of the early residents of the area…
Downtown, Davenport, Iowa
Continuing and ending our end of the month look at Mississippi River towns north of St. Louis for the time being, we come to the Quad Cities, and first we will look at Davenport, Iowa. Of course, Davenport, and Rock Island, Illinois on the opposite bank (which we’ll look at in a few days) are…
Woodside, Maplewood
I realized last weekend that I never created a Maplewood tag, so as we look at the streetcar suburb in the coming days, that oversight has been corrected. Starting out, we’ll look at Woodside, built in 1849 by the Rannell Family, making it the oldest house in the city. The farm was subdivided into various…
Muscatine, Iowa, Part One
Continuing our end of the month series of Iowa river towns upriver from St. Louis, we next arrive in Muscatine. We first pass by a power plant, taking advantage of rail lines along the flat floodplains to receive its bounty of coal. Muscatine was founded in 1833 by George Davenport and was originally known as…
Sheldon Memorial
The Sheldon Memorial was built in 1912 for the Ethical Society according to designs of the architect Louis Clemens Spiering. Spiering is actually a very interesting figure, having participated in the design of the 1904 World’s Fair, as well as being a descendant of the famous German Marxist Karl Ludwig Bernays. St. Louis, as pretty…
Down by the River and Railroad Tracks, Jefferson City
For my finally few minutes in Jefferson City I headed down to the levee area of the town where there is an Amtrak station. But looking at and comparing the photo above and seeing what is there now, it is obvious that much has been demolished, sadly. There is a small state historic site you…