Volunteer firefighting companies began to operate in Davenport in the mid-1850s. They were generally poorly equipped and dispersed throughout the city in inadequate buildings. Finally, in 1880 the city determined that a paid, professional fire department was required to properly service the growing city, which by that time was over 21,000. The fire department was officially established in 1882 and by 1900 there were six hose companies as well as a citywide alarm system and fire hydrant network. Central Fire Station was built to accommodate the growing needs of the city, particularly in the downtown area.

Central Fire Station was built in 1901. It is the oldest continuously used fire station west of the Mississippi River.

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Built in 1901, Central Fire Station serves as the headquarters of the Davenport Fire Department. It is the oldest continuously used fire station west of the Mississippi River. It was designed in the Italianate style and also incorporates elements of the Neoclassical style. The building's most notable features are the two towers over the main entrance; fire hoses are hung to dry in the taller one. A large addition was built in 2016 to provide more space for administrative offices, bedrooms, and a new lounge. The original part of the station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.



Central Fire Station

A work in progress, this tour begins at the Central Fire Station and includes many of the landmark historic buildings of the city. the tour concludes at the German American Heritage Center. 

Built in 1895 to replace the original city hall which had been built prior to the Civil War. This four story building is constructed of sandstone in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. The heavy stone appearance is deceptive as the weight of the building is born by a steel frame. This reduced the cost of the structure. 

Davenport City Hall

The land on which the church buildings stand was donated to an Italian missionary Father Samuel Mazzuchelli&nbsp;by one of Davenport's founders, Antoine LeClaire. LeClaire was an interpreter for the U.S. Army and was also a businessman. He served as the interpreter between the U.S. government and Native Americans during negotiations that took place after the Black Hawk War (May-August 1832). For his efforts, the Native Americans gave LeClaire two tracts of land, one of which would become Davenport. It was from this property that he donated the land for the church.&nbsp; The original church served as a school, the living quarters for the parish priest, and as the court for the Second Judicial District. The second floor was used as the church space. The building was expanded in 1844 and later in the 1940s. Construction for the new, larger church building began in 1850 and completed three years later. It, too, was expanded—in 1885 and in the late 1940s. A new parish center was added in 2010.&nbsp;

St. Anthony's Catholic Church is the first church congregation established in Davenport and the second oldest Catholic church west of the Mississippi River. The congregation was founded in 1837 and the original two-story church building was erected the next year. Today, it is used for religious education programs. The second and present church building used by the congregation was constructed 1853. The two buildings comprise a historic site called the St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Church Complex, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

St. Anthony's Catholic Church 

A group of stockholders formed the Davenport Hotel Company in 1905 to build a hotel that was situated halfway between two passenger train depots. In this way, the Davenport Hotel was also associated with the city's railroads. While the Davenport was an immediate upgrade to older hotels in the city, its success only lasted until 1915 when the more luxurious Blackhawk Hotel was built. In 1916, the company that owned the Blackhawk Hotel bought the Davenport, which continued to operate until the 1960s. It was converted into an apartment building and then renovated in the mid-1980s. The Davenport originally had a cornice but this was apparently lost when a fire damaged the building in 1939. The Davenport Hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also a contributing property of the Davenport Downtown Commercial Historic District, which is also listed on the register.

When it was completed in 1907, the former Davenport Hotel was regarded as one of the finest hotels in the Mississippi River Valley. Designed in the Renaissance Revival style, it features six-story towers surrounding a two-story main entrance, which resembles a portico. It also features decorative panels at the tower corners. The hotel boasted modern amenities including elevators, a dining room, private bathrooms, fireproof construction, and sample rooms for traveling businessmen. Its construction signaled the beginning of a period when other tall buildings and hotels were erected in the city. Today the old hotel is now an apartment building and also houses a community theater called the Mockingbird on Main.

Davenport Hotel

German Savings bank was established in 1869 by&nbsp;Henry Lischer and H.H. Anderson. It was successful and became an integral contributor to Davenport's economic growth in the coming decades. It acquired Citizen's National Bank in 1906 and ten years later, German Savings Bank was the largest in the state. It was forced to change its name to&nbsp;American Commercial and Savings Bank during World War II as anti-German sentiment was very high. The bank continued to prosper and grew in size after acquiring more banks. A major change to the bank occurred in 1931, when the country and the world were in the midst of the&nbsp;Great Depression, which began on October 29, 1929 with the collapse of the U.S. stock market. Almost exactly two years later on September 29, 1931, the stock market crashed again. People panicked and pulled their funds from the bank. To save the bank, the bank chose a new leader by the name of V.O. Figge, and renamed it Davenport Bank and Trust Co. Figge&nbsp;who would eventually become CEO and remain with the bank for 60 years. During his tenure, the bank grew to become the&nbsp;biggest and most profitable bank in the state. The bank was sold to Norwest Bank in 1993. Five years later, the two banks merged to form Wells Fargo Bank. A few floors were converted into apartments in 2013. The building's time as the location of a bank came to a close in 2016 when Wells Fargo moved to a new location. It was at this point became the Davenport Bank Apartments building.

At 255 feet tall, the former Davenport Bank and Trust building is the tallest structure in Davenport. It was built in 1927 by the American Commercial and Savings Bank, which was established in 1869 and originally called German Savings Bank. Its architecture combines Beaux Arts and Neo-Classical styles and the building is topped by a three-story clocktower, which features four six-foot tall statues of eagles. The main lobby is two-stories tall and features murals, wrought-iron teller cages, ornate Black walnut woodwork, and a marble floor. A modern parking structure was built next to the building in 1971. Today, the old building is a luxury residence known as the Davenport Bank Apartments. It also houses office and retail space. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Davenport Bank and Trust Building

The idea for the building originated from a group of Chicago developers who wanted to build a vaudeville house leased to the Orpheum Circuit, which was a national theater chain. They started to negotiate with&nbsp;longtime Davenport developer George M. Bechtel, who owned a successful bond company,&nbsp;in 1926 but eventually these plans fell through. Undeterred, Bechtel, who liked&nbsp;the idea, made a deal with with the successor to the Orpheum Circuit—the the Radio-Keith Orpheum Circuit (RKO) of New York City—in 1930 to build a combined hotel/theater complex.&nbsp; The hotel opened in eleven months and featured 200 hotel rooms and 50 apartments. Retail space was located on the first floor. Unfortunately, it was built at the beginning of the Great Depression so in the end the hotel was not successful. Despite this, the building operated as a hotel under different owners until the mid-1980s. The hotel was renovated from 2004 -&nbsp;2007 into apartments.&nbsp; As for the theater, when it opened it featured state-of-the-art equipment and a large stage capable of handling any vaudeville act, performance, or Broadway show. It had 2,700 seats, which made it the largest theater in the state at the time. Eventually, the theater began to show movies as well. RKO owned the theater until 1978. By this time, the theater had fallen into a state of disrepair and was not often used (the last movie shown occurred in 1973). In 1981, the Davenport Chamber of Commerce bought the building and sold it to a non-profit called&nbsp;he RiverCenter For The Performing Arts, which raised funds to restore the theater and operate its programming. Renovations were completed in 1983 and the theater's name was changed to the current one. Another round of renovations took place in the mid-2000s (at the same time as the hotel was being renovated).

Now called the Mississippi Lofts and Adler Theatre building, this historic structure used to be named the Hotel Mississippi-RKO Orpheum Theater. Chicago architect A.S. Graven designed it in the Art Deco style and it opened in 1931. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 for its architecture and importance to the city's commercial activity. It was the largest apartment residence and theater built before World War II in Davenport. 


Mississippi Lofts and Adler Theatre

Economic boom in Davenport in 1915 Designed by the Davenport architectural firm of Temple and Burrows and built by McCarthy Improvement Co., Davenport, the landmark at 200 E. 3rd St. in downtown Davenport was promoted for its all-brick “fireproof” construction. In fact, a huge sign on the roof proclaimed “Fireproof Hotel Blackhawk.” Built at a cost of $1 million, the hotel sported what at the time was the most modern equipment possible. Amenities in rooms included ice water that could be drawn from the tap. “No longer will it be necessary for the late celebrant to roll out of bed in the morning and wobble to the phone and deliver this message: ‘Send a boy with a pitcher of ice water to this room,” the Daily Times reported at the time. Galas, big bands, concerts, and dances were hosted 1980's farm crisis and job loss brought the hotel into its darkest days.

The Blackhawk Hotel, located in downtown Davenport, Iowa has been a luxury hotel since the day it opened on February 16th, 1915. At the time, it's all-brick, "fireproof" structure was touted as one of the finest of its day. At its peak, it offered 400 luxury rooms with 10 total floors.

The hotel cost approximately $1 million to build and included the most modern equipment at the time, including cold drinking water from the tap. 

Over the years, the hotel has hosted presidents, celebrities, as well as international dignitaries.

The Blackhawk Hotel has had a tumultuous history, due to economic factors impacting staffing and renovation efforts. The 2010 renovation work is the most recent. A new entryway, atrium, elevators, swimming pool, and bowling were added.

Blackhawk Hotel

Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, Hose Station No. 1 is a historic fire fighting station built in 1877. It was constructed for the volunteer Fire King Engine 2nd Hose Company, the predecessor to the city's first paid fire department in 1882 (they changed their name to Hose Company No. 1 at this time). Local architect J.W. Ross designed it in the Italianate style with a red brick facade. Interesting features include arched windows and a tower. The building is Ross' earliest recorded project; he would go on to design other important buildings in the city including Scott County Courthouse. The building is also the oldest fire station still standing in the city. As of March 2019, it appears that the building is vacant.

Hose Station No. 1

J.H.C. Petersen was born in Germany and arrived with his family in American in 1860. They settled in Scott County and Petersen found work as a farm hand. Eventually, he started working in a match factory where he learned business skills. In 1872, he and his sons opened J.H.C. Petersen's Sons' Store, which sold dry goods. The store grew in the coming years, operating wholesale and retail lines and opening branch stores in nearby cities. This enabled them to build the store in Davenport. They hired fellow&nbsp;German immigrant and local architect, Frederick G. Clausen,&nbsp;to design it.&nbsp; Petersen died in 1910 but his sons continued to run it until 1916 when the last son, William, sold it to a competitor, Harned and Von Maur Co. which operated Petersen's as a separate store.&nbsp;This continued until 1928 when the two stores were&nbsp;consolidated into the Petersen-Harned-Von Maur Store. The name was shortened to Von Maur in 1989.

The River Music Experience (RME) is a non-profits arts center housed in the historic J.H.C. Petersen's Sons' Store building, which was built in 1892. RME was established in 2004 and is dedicated to preserving and promoting the musical heritage of the Quad Cities. To this end, RME offers a wide array of educational programming and opportunities to learn about and play music. It hosts live performances throughout the year as well. As for the building, it is a fine example of commercial "department store" architecture. It was designed in the Romanesque style as a smaller version of the Burnham & Root's Rookery Building in Chicago. In addition to its architecture, the building is significant for once being the flagship store of what is now the Von Maur department store chain.

River Music Experience 

Two previous First National Bank buildings stood on this site before the present one was built in 1924. The bank itself was established in 1863, becoming the first bank founded after the U.S. Congress passed the National Banking Act, which created the national banking system. When the first building was erected is unclear, but the second was built in 1910. Six stories tall, it was destroyed by fire in the winter of 1923. Chicago architect O.H. Breidert designed the current building. Sculptor Adolph A. Weinman created the reliefs of the main entrance. His work includes the pediment over the entrance to the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C. and the frieze in the courtroom of the U.S. Supreme Court. The First National Bank Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The Iowa chapter of the American Institute of Architects named it one of the 50 Most Significant Iowa Buildings of the 20th century.

The former First National Bank building is one of most striking landmarks in Davenport. A fine example of Renaissance Revival architecture combined with elements of the Chicago style, it was constructed in 1924 and features a stone exterior, an arcade of arches and fluted pilasters with capitals on the lower level, a recessed arched main entrance, a 1918 clock (not original to the building) mounted on the northeast corner, and wide overhanging cornice at the top. The main entrance is especially noteworthy. It consists of an ornate cast bronze doorway and carved-stone figures above and in the arch. The doorway features classical symbols, figures, and objects to represent commerce, banking, law, agriculture, industry, and labor. The building is now known as the U.S. Bank Building and a bank branch is located on the first floor. The remaining floors are used as office space.

First National Bank Building

The museum opened as the Davenport Municipal Art Gallery in 1925 with a gift of 350 European and Mexican Colonial paintings, creating the first municipal art gallery in the state of Iowa. Today, the collections include more than 3,500 paintings, sculptures and works on paper from the 16th century to the present. These include works from Asia, Haiti, and America. The museum also houses the archive of American artist Grant Wood, who is known for his painting "American Gothic." In 1987, the museum changed its name to the Davenport Museum of Art. Then in 2003, the museum relocated to the heart of downtown Davenport, following a major capital campaign. In recognition of the $13.25 million gift to the new building project from the V. O. and Elizabeth Kahl Figge Foundation, the museum was renamed the Figge Art Museum. The Figge Art Museum opened at its new home on the banks of the Mississippi River in August 2005. The 114,000 square-foot facility was designed by British architect David Chipperfield. The combination of reflective, transparent and opaque surfaces continuously transforms the appearance of the facade in relation to the sun and changing cloud patterns. The building is a civic landmark in downtown Davenport and enables the museum to further its mission as a regional exhibition space and a community-oriented education center.

The Figge Art Museum is the premier art exhibition and education facility between Chicago and Des Moines. With soaring glass walls reflecting the constantly changing sky, the museum’s expansive galleries and intimate rooms are home to some of the Midwest’s finest art collections. Studio-style classrooms allow young and old to participate in the creative process.

Figge Art Museum

As Judge of the Eighth Circuit,&nbsp;Dillion became well known around the country. He issued a ruling—the Dillon Decision—that outlined the limits of local government authority. This ruling has been the basis for federal court cases ever since. He served in this position until 1879 and moved to New York City where he became legal counsel to Western Union, Union Pacific Railway, and other large companies. During these years he also taught classes at Columbia Law School and then later at Yale Law School until 1892. In his last years he operated a private practice in New York City.

Situated at the eastern edge of LeClaire Park, the Dillon Memorial is a monument dedicated to lawyer and judge John Forrest Dillon (1831-1914), who, for a time, lived in Davenport and served on state and federal courts. Notable posts include serving on the Iowa Supreme Court and being appointed Judge of the U.S. Circuit Court for the Eight District by President Ulysses S. Grant. The memorial was built in 1918 and consists of a column topped by a bronze lantern, a basin at the bottom which functions as a water fountain, and bas-relief panels depicting lion heads and John Dillon. In his will, he requested that the memorial be built at this location. As such, it complements the Civil War Soldiers Monument located twelve blocks to the north. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Dillon Memorial

Railroads arrived in Davenport in 1856 when the first bridge across the Mississippi River was built between Davenport and Rock Island. Eventually, a number of railroads operated in Davenport including the Davenport, Rock Island and Northwestern Railroad (DR&amp;NW). In 1901, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad bought the DR&amp;NW. The three companies decided to build a joint facility in 1916 to better facilitate passenger service in Davenport but construction didn't begin until 1923. During their years of operation, the station and freight house contributed to the city's economic growth.The importance of the station began to decrease after World War II and passenger service ended in the 1950s. How long freight service continued is unclear but Union Station operated as a bus station and then as a visitor center from 1990 to 2017. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The Ethiopian restaurant opened in the Freight House in 2018.

Built in 1924, Union Station is the only passenger depot still standing in Davenport. The adjoining freight house was built at the same time and currently houses an Ethiopian restaurant. Constructing the two buildings was a joint effort of three railroad companies: the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad; the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad; and the Davenport, Rock Island and Northwestern Railroad. Union Station is a good example of the Classical Revival style but is primarily significant for its association with railroading in Davenport. As of early 2022, it is used as an office building.

Union Station 

The pavilion&nbsp;is named after W.D. Petersen, who was a member of the Davenport Levee Improvement Commission, which built it as a memorial to Petersen's daughter, Wilma, who passed away. The pavilion was one of several improvements the commission made to the riverfront between 1911-1931. The reason there were so many band shells in Davenport can be attributed to the city's German population, who were known to enjoy music. The Petersen pavilion was updated and expanded in 2011.

The LeClaire Park Bandshell has been a key landmark on Davenport's riverfront since its construction in 1924. Its official name is the W.D. Petersen Memorial Music Pavilion and it was one of several band shell pavilions in the city; it is the only one that remains. The pavilion is one of the state's only examples of Spanish Revival architecture and it is modeled after one built for the Panama California Exhibition in San Diego in 1915. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Performances and events take place here throughout the year, including the Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival, which is one of the largest of its kind in the country.  

LeClaire Park Bandshell

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It served as a hotel where German immigrants stayed and it also became a social gathering place for them as well. In 1876, the new owner and local manufacturer, John Frederich Miller, changed the name to the Miller Hotel. He ran the hotel until 1889. It continued to operate as a hotel for the next several decades under different names. When this trend ended is unclear but the&nbsp;German American Heritage Center bought it in 1995 and partially restored four years later. Finally, in May 2000 the museum opened. The building is the last of the many German hotels&nbsp;that once operated in Davenport.

The German American Heritage Center is a museum dedicated to preserving the history of German-Americans and their contributions in the Midwest. It was established in 1994 and is located in the historic Germania-Miller/Standard Hotel building, which was constructed in 1871 by businessman John Brus. It is an excellent example of Late Victorian commercial architecture and features an elaborate metal cornice (decorative molding at the top of a building's exterior) and arched windows. The museum features a permanent exhibit and two rotating exhibits. There is also a theater and two restored hotel rooms. Visitors can even try on period clothing German immigrants would have worn. The museum also offers a variety of classes, workshops, and programs related to the German-American experience and culture. 

Downtown Davenport Iowa Walking Tour

Central Fire Station

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information