Colonel Davenport House

08/30/2026

View of the Old Davenport House from the East side.

This unnamed photo of the house before restoration was found in our files. The gentleman reposing to the left probably has an interesting story since this appears to be a professionally taken photograph from around the turn of the 20th century. The view is of the east side of the kitchen wing on the left, the river on the right, while the actual east wing of the house has already been removed and the chimney fireplace boarded over. Exact date of that removal and why is also unknown.

08/29/2026

Open Friday and Saturday Noon -4PM

08/28/2026

More about the Fishertown Print, the Original Painting, and a 1900 Map

The Davenport House sell prints of the original 1900 painting (pictured) by Wilhelm Holm, a German American artist (1857-1949) which is owned by the Davenport German American Heritage Center.

According to the GAHC Fall 2023, Vol 38 NO. 3 issue of Infoblatt, (https://gahc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Infoblatt-Fall-2023.pdf):

"Wilhelm Holm was an incredibly talented artist who was known for his fresco work in local homes. However, he was clearly skilled with oil painting as well, as his impressive piece, Fishertown, demonstrates. This beautiful work depicts the riverbank at the foot of Marquette Street in Davenport. Due to various locks and dams which have since been built on the Mississippi, the wooded islands Holm so carefully recreated are no longer visible, making Fishertown an invaluable record of Davenport’s history."

The 1900 Huebinger Map "In and Around Davenport" (exerpt pictured) shows the three islands with Fishertown on the lower left. The three shoreline islands at the foot of Marquette and Division streets—historically known as Maple Island and Willow Island—were filled in primarily by decades of municipal and industrial dumping, rather than the alteration of water levels from Lock and Dam 15. The city took full legal possession of Maple Island by December 1913 to formalize the permanently reclaimed shoreline.

While Fishertown operated as an informal, self-contained community for decades, it frequently flooded and sat entirely within unincorporated Rockingham Township. The neighborhood’s legal status shifted in a two-stage process: The geographic area of Fishertown was officially absorbed by the City of Davenport on January 22, 1958. By the late 1950s and 1960s, the final remaining residential structures of Fishertown were demolished or abandoned.

08/28/2026

On this day in 1832, Sauk leaders Black Hawk and Wabokieshiek surrendered in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, following their defeat at the Battle of Bad Axe, which effectively ended the Black Hawk War.

08/27/2026

A few months ago some of our volunteers attended a talk at Nahant Marsh and the history of the area was expertly described in detail. Fishertown, at the end of what is now Marquette Street was discussed. We have this picture at the Col Davenport House and thought we would share it with you.

08/25/2026

View of Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa 1874 (from Picturesque America Volume 2)

The top view of Rock Island is looking over the bridge crossing Sylvan Slough from the island, and noteworthy are the two church steeples along the skyline. One may be the current St. Mary's Catholic Church which was constructed at 22nd Street and 4th Avenue in 1862, while the other is likely to be Trinity Episcopal Church at 19th Street and 6th Avenue which opened for its first services on Easter Sunday in 1869.

The Davenport landmarks are unfamiliar to me as we look at the 1872 Government Bridge that was built on the same site as the current bridge (1896). The church to the left may well be St. Anthony's, but I am unsure what the steepled building to the far right is. Antoine LeClaire's 1855 house should be around there, but it has a cupola, not a spire. Positive ID and best guesses are welcome in the comment section!

Published in 1874 by D. Appleton & Company, Picturesque America Volume II spans 576 pages and serves as a grand "pen and pencil" tour designed to showcase the vast, untouched natural splendor and rapidly growing cities of the United States. While the famed poet William Cullen Bryant edited the work and wrote the overarching introduction, the chapters themselves were written by a rotating cast of literary journalists (including Oliver B. Bunce, R.E. Garczynski, and Constance F. Woolson) who traveled alongside top landscape artists. From the book:

"On the eastern bank, in Illinois, is the city of Rock Island. Opposite to it, on the other shore, is the city of Davenport, in the State of Iowa. These are both connected with the island by bridges, through which steamers pass by means of draws. These bridges were the first that spanned the Mississippi, and they met intense opposition from the steamboat-men, who hired gangs of desperadoes to burn them down as fast as the workmen erected them. But at last the cause of order triumphed, and the river-men consented to an act which they declared would forever ruin the commerce of the river. A candid and impartial mind will be forced to admit that the steamboat-party were not altogether in the wrong, for Nature here has done so much to obstruct navigation by rapids that the draw bridges were really like putting the last straw on the camel’s back. So powerful are the rapids here that in the fall freight-boats are sometimes prevented altogether from ascending, and it is easy to see that there might be seasons of water when a very little thing, such as the draw-bridges, would be sufficient to turn the scale against the boats."

This is a very high-resolution image (2791x2007) that one of our dedicated volunteers compiled on a thumb drive (along with 80 or so other images, mostly maps) which are available for purchase at our sutlery for $5. More images from that thumb drive will be forthcoming in future posts.

08/21/2026

Explore the heart of Rock Island Arsenal with a guided van tour on Saturday, Aug. 29, at 10:00 a.m.! Visit the Rock Island National Cemetery, Memorial Field, Quarters One and the RIA Museum, all for just $25. Call 309-782-8630 to reserve your spot!

08/21/2026

08/19/2026

Edward Bonney's Complicated History

Most local history buffs know that Edward Bonney is the man who claimed the $1500 reward for the capture of George Davenport's murderers, three of whom were hung in Rock Island on October 29, 1845.

Bonney wrote a great memoir of his exploits called "The Banditti of the Prairies" which is a trustworthy account of his manhunt, as long as one keeps in mind the fact that he was trying to burnish his public image after being accused of counterfeiting himself.

I don't recall where I found this image many years ago, but the handwriting in the lower right corner states that "This article was taken from a newspaper and pasted in the back of the book 'Banditti of the Prairie.'"

It is not known (to me) who the book belonged to or who pasted the newspaper article in the back inside cover pages, but the article is believed to have been clipped from a 1910 Cedar Rapids Gazette interview with a Mrs. Mary Hines, who had apparently been keeping her dead husbands secret about his past with Edward Bonney for many years.

Bonney is a fascinating character with a shady past, and the whole truth about him may never be known. Let me know in the comments if the article is too hard to read and I will try to post a transcription.

Update: I found an article from Cedar Rapids Gazette Jan 7, 1910 - "Pioneer Woman Tells the Truth About Murder of Col. Davenport, in Early Days" which is only slightly different from the one pictured here, which must have come from a different newspaper that carried the same story, possibly older.

Apparently, a Mrs. Mary Hines of Independence, Iowa, had given an affidavit to someone about her husband's secret, and it made the rounds in Iowa newspapers.

08/17/2026

George Davenport kept a trading post on Pine Creek, though it was likely temporary.

From this point, August 19th thru mid-October, the Pine Creek Grist Mill will be open WEEKENDS ONLY. On Saturdays, we’re open 10 - 5. On Sundays, we’re open 12 - 5. We’ll be open on Labor Day, too!

In this particular photo, the atmosphere around the Mill appears foggy. The Muscatine Area has been experiencing copious amounts of rain, which has Pine Creek running high and out of its banks, which can be seen in the background. For mid-August, that is unusual, and more typical of May or June. Wanted to share the nifty photo with those who appreciate the gorgeous Pine Creek Grist Mill.