The History of Rock Island in Post Cards Postcards were originally printed in the Rock Island Argus and Moline Dispatch, 2001 and are reprinted with permission C.W. Hawes Bungalow Today's Rock Island postcard, from the collection at the Rock Island Public Library, shows a house with the printed identification: "Bungalow of Charles W. Hawes, Head Clerk of M. W. of A." Fortunately, this charming home still graces our town and still looks very much like it did 90 years ago. The young man on the steps with the dog is probably his son, John, while Major Hawes and his wife, Mary, are seated on the porch. The dog's name is not recorded. Major Hawes, who earned his title during the Civil War as a member of the 92nd U. S. Cavalry, was born in 1841, the son of pioneer Rock Island settlers. After the war, he served Rock Island as Chief of Police and later as postmaster. He joined a Modern Woodmen of America camp in 1885, only two years after MWA was organized. In 1890, he was elected Head Clerk. Head Clerk is equivalent to the office now known as National Secretary. Major Hawes was a man of remarkable abilities, who greatly influenced and facilitated the move of MWA headquarters from Fulton, Illinois, to Rock Island in 1897. Later he was instrumental in establishing the Royal Neighbors of America as a true beneficiary auxiliary and not just a social group. He remained with MWA until 1914, when he retired due to ill health. Early in the 20th Century, Mr. Hawes and his family resided at 1216 21st Street and, for a few years, maintained what they called a summer residence at 1733 29th Street. By 1912, the family moved to their summer area permanently when they built this home at 2900 18th Avenue. Hawes died in 1916, only a few years after moving here but his wife remained until the mid 1940s. After her death, the home was sold and converted to a duplex. The previously residential neighborhood on 18th Avenue was changing. By 1953, a Chicken Delight restaurant had opened next door, and other businesses were locating nearby. Its proximity to a prime commercial corner made the demise of the Hawes bungalow only a matter of time. Within a few years, a brand new gas station stood on the home site. Today even the gas station is gone and the lot is part of the HyVee parking area. But the Hawes family home can still be seen. Fortunately, it was not demolished, but rather moved to a new location at 1418 20th Street in the Broadway Historic District. It is very recognizable, despite a few changes over the years. The postcard shows a porch that extends around the right side of the house. When the house was moved, the side portion of the porch was eliminated, which explains the reason for a curved railing on the south side and a flat one on the north. Fortunately the rustic masonry columns were saved. Over ensuing years, modern siding has been applied, narrow like the original, and the small balcony railing has been removed. Although the postcard calls this a bungalow, it shows many characteristics of other styles as well. Modern references to bungalows usually mean either a Craftsman or Tudor bungalow. The Craftsman is characterized by wide eaves and triangular roof braces while the Tudor has half-timbering and is usually constructed of masonry. The bungalow features in the Hawes house are the rustic porch columns and the fact that it is a 11Ú2 story building. If it contained two stories, it would look a great deal like many of the other homes in the Broadway area that combine Queen Anne and Colonial Revival features. The multi-gabled roofline is Queen Anne, while the Palladian triple window, trimmed with a wooden keystone, on the second floor and the porch balustrade are Colonial Revival. Take a drive or walk on 20th Street to see Major Hawes' house. If you'd like to know more about other homes in the area, be sure to pick up a free copy of the 20th Street Walking Tour booklet at the Preservation Commission kiosk at Rock Island's downtown library. Back to the Postcard Index Page Frank Mixter Residence Perhaps you have traveled past the corner of 8th Avenue and 20th Street and noticed the incongruity of the large open lot on the northwest corner. After all, this area in the heart of the Broadway Historic District is filled with large homes which are placed fairly tightly together, with most yards that tend to be 30 to 50 feet wide. If you traveled past this lot before 1988, can you remember what you would have seen? Today's postcard shows what you would have seen at this corner in 1908, as the message on the back was postmarked that year. The home at 734 20th Street was built for Frank Mixter in 1899, constructed by contractor John Volk at a cost of $13,000, a very substantial investment at the turn of the century. At the right of the postcard is the home of Phil Mitchell, Frank's business associate, which still stands today and is undergoing restoration. Not seen to the north of the Mitchell House is the Conner-Parker House, commonly known as The Victorian Inn. The Mixter House was actually larger than the Mitchell House and probably similar in massing to the Conner-Parker House. Frank Mixter was one of eight children of George and Susan Mixter, who were early and prominent settlers of Rock Island. George was born and raised in Massachusetts, graduated from Yale and was intrigued by what was then the far, far west. Pleased with the climate and business prospects, he settled in Rock Island in 1837 and, except for two years spent in Dixon, Ill, he remained in Rock Island for the rest of his life. He married Mss Susan Elizabeth Gilbert of Moline in 1845. By profession, George was a lawyer but put aside professional engagements to manage vast business enterprises. Frank was born in 1853 and received his early education in the Rock Island Schools, then went to the university at Heidelburg, Germany. Frank was associated with the Rock Island Stove Company for half a century, starting in 1877 as a bookkeeper. In partnership with Phil Mitchell he purchased the firm, rising to president and then chairman of the board. Aggressive marketing of the high quality Riverside Stoves allowed the stove company to flourish. In 1871, 205 stoves were sold, but by 1890 they claimed to have sales of 20,000 stoves annually. Described as "a man of poise, foresight, good judgement, and superior business acumen" Frank also had financial interest in many other Rock Island enterprises, including the Rock Island Buggy Company, The Republic Oil Refining Company, and the State Bank of Rock Island. His neighbor, Phil Mitchell, was also usually involved in these firms. Frank was married at Southport, Conn., to Miss Elizabeth Bradley, "a descendant of the old Bradley and Sherwood families of colonial days, prominent in the annuals of New England." She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, serving as a regent in the Fort Armstrong Chapter. They had two children: a daughter, Florence, who married and moved to Southport, Conn., and a son, William, who after graduation from Yale settled in Portland, Ore., "but after a fine start in life, died in New York, June 30, 1912." The Mixter House was a grand Colonial Revival structure with a stately wraparound porch on the front. It also had a porte cochere - a covered porch for carriages to pull under - on the north and a two- story carriage house to the rear. While the style of the home was fairly simple, no cost was spared on the decorative detailing. A massive arched-top stairway window on the north contained stained glass in shades of gold, a triple window in front was topped with leaded glass transoms, and a decorative balustrade marked a roof gallery, which is just barely visible in the postcard. The balustrade was repeated at the second floor level of the front porch and the south side bay, which had a door with colored glass sidelights opening to the balcony formed by the bay. The front of the house had an exceptionally wide frieze (border between the siding and the eave) and wide vertical boards in the front corners to give a pilaster effect. Mr. and Mrs. Mixter lived in the home until his death in 1934. Elizabeth moved to her daughter's home shortly after becoming a widow and died at age 85 in 1937. Perhaps she lived the remainder of her life not knowing that her lovely home had fallen prey to a landlord that carved it into 10 apartments in 1936, increasing the density to 15 units by 1945. Over time, much of the decorative detailing was lost. The original wraparound porch was removed, along with most of the balustrade detailing found on other porches. The roof top had been altered, due partially to a fire, and the original roof gallery had been enclosed and enlarged to form a room. The property fell into disrepair and was largely neglected as it approached its demise in 1988, when it was torn down. Many would say that these large homes were fated to become apartment houses simply because of their mass and their locations, yet other homes in the area, which were also converted to multifamily, did not experience the extreme abuse and neglect this ill-fated structure succumbed to. The Mitchell House next door suffered similarly under the same landlord but today is undergoing restoration. The front porch is the most visible sign of the restoration in progress, stopping traffic as gawkers admire the detailed replica of the original porch, which is transforming the front facade of the house. Back to the Postcard Index Page Our postcard identifies this large familiar home as the Hodgson Funeral Home. That name tells us the card was published after 1941, when the Hodgson Mortuary moved from 17th Street to 608 20th Street and changed its name to Hodgson Funeral Home. Hodgson owners Alwin F. Lindoerfer and Walter Hesemen had announced the previous year that, pending permission from the City Council, they would purchase the DeSilva home for a funeral home. They intended to make extensive renovations, and noted that forty years previous it was considered a showplace of Rock Island. The Argus described it as being one of Rock Island's most palatial residences. The first owner of this 14-room house mansion, which was built about 1892, was Henry B. Sudlow. Mr. Sudlow was a Superintendent of the Rock Island & Peoria Railroad as well as a Superintendent of the Coal Valley Mining Company. He was also a director of the railroad. His wife, Mary, may have been a member of the railroad-owning Cable family. In the late 1890s, Mrs. Sudlow hosted 200 people in this home at a reception to welcome Mrs. H. S. Cable into Tri-City society. When the Sudlows sold the home to Dr. Joseph DeSilva around 1901, they moved to a smaller home at 832 23rd Street. Until selling to Hodgsons, Dr. DeSilva lived in the home with his son, Edward, who was also a prominent physician. At that time, Dr. DeSilva, who was about 70 years old, had practiced in Rock Island for 45 years. He said that he would move to the Harper House hotel downtown, which he had purchased from the Harpers in 1909. The first known photo of the house appeared in Picturesque Tri-Cities, published shortly after the DeSilva family purchased it. That photo depicts a house that looks like the one on our postcard, but without the two-story front porch. The octagonal tower, which showed retracted fabric awnings on its windows, and the intricate roofline define the home as Queen Anne in style, while the extensive use of plain wood shingles at the third floor level are characteristics of the Shingle style. The varying shades of gray in the vintage black and white photo indicate a multicolor paint scheme, very appropriate to the Queen Anne style. On the stone curb next to the street, Dr DeSilva had placed a large stone block with his name carved in bold square letters - a stepping stone to help enter high carriages. So who added the big front porch on the postcard? Evidence points to the DeSilvas, since old fire insurance maps show the porch appeared about 1930. At the same time, a large addition was made at the northwest corner of the home - far right on our postcard. A one-story porch on the south that appeared in the early photo was removed. The intent of this remodeling - in addition to creating more space -- almost certainly was to "modernize" the house from a Victorian Queen Anne to a Classical Revival, a style repopularized in the 1920s. The postcard depicts the house as white, with a darker trim strip between stories as well as horizontal colored stripes on the porch balusters. The coloration may be an artist's enhancement of the original photo. The awnings are gone, but the tower windows are all fitted with forties style wide slatted Venetian blinds with wide tape hangers. There are more differences between the home on our postcard and the one today. Now there's a two-story porte-cochere addition on the south where the small porch was once located. Since this addition appears in a photo taken in 1941, it is probably one of the extensive renovations planned by Hodgsons in 1940. The first story on the front porch has been enclosed and, around 1980, aluminum siding was installed on the exterior, except for the gables, where original shingles remain. The interesting rounded bay on the north side that shows on the postcard has been covered with a vertical siding, but it is still curved. The balustrade atop the porch roof has also been removed. One hundred and ten years old and only three "families." Not bad for this old house! Footnote: I received an e-mail from Dean Lindoerfer in Colorado. His father was Alwin F. Lindoerfer, the owner of Hodgson Funeral Home which moved into the DeSilva home. Dean writes: The home was purchased for $7,500 by my father and my mother's brother, Walter H. Heseman, not by the Hodgsons. My father was working for Hodgson's but not at the DeSilva home location. My father purchased, renovated it along with his brother-in-law. The home, if you haven't been it, has a beautiful third floor ball room, now used for casket storage, etc. I now reside in Denver, but can remember Dr. Edward DeSilva (son of Joe DeSilva, who owned the home) talking about the big Rock Island County parties that were thrown at the third floor ballroom...big bands, dances...etc. Back to the Postcard Index Page 1601 1601 25th Street Postcards had appeal for both hometown residents and tourists. Postcards made it easy for people to send a familiar or exotic image to their friends, accompanied by a short note in the space provided on the front and/or back of the card. Popular Rock Island cards usually featured parks, scenic views, riverboats, or downtown buildings and streetscapes. The scene on today's postcard, however, is not typical of those cards. It's called a "real photo" postcard and it's from the collection of historic postcards in the Rock Island Public Library. Unlike most postcards, this card is an actual photo rather than a colored lithograph, and certainly wouldn't have been purchased by most tourists. The card was never mailed and is identified only as 1601 25th Street. Based on the woman's "Gibson girl" hairdo and leg-o-mutton shirtwaist sleeves, it dates to the first decade of the 20th century. The photo was likely taken just after the house was built, since city directories indicate a construction date of about 1908. The first listed residents were Harry and Mamie Kluge, who perhaps are the couple in our picture. Mr. Kluge was a driver, first for the streetcar company and later for the Math Bakery and Confectionery. The lady wears a long apron over her skirt and is attractively groomed. The gentleman has a tie and vest displaying his watch chain, but wears no jacket, even though the barren trees indicate a late fall or winter date. The focus of the card is the house. Notice how the pair is carefully positioned far enough away from the house to ensure that the entire structure is included in the picture. The front of the house is neatly finished with a foundation of rock-textured concrete block and carefully applied clapboard siding. Even the chimney is nicely embellished at the top. The gathered curtain in the window indicates the house is occupied, although the rear addition appears to be only roughly finished with streaky vertical siding and open-backed steps. Other buildings visible in the distance show the semi-rural character of this developing hilltop neighborhood. The Kluges lived here only a couple of years, then moved to a "30th Street, South Rock Island" address. Directories list many different occupants in ensuing years, indicating that the house may have been rented. By 1920, Henry and Clara Kroeger moved into the home. Mr. Kroeger was a carpenter, and likely he was the person responsible for greatly enlarging the tiny house with a 11Ú2 story addition at the rear and a big porch in front. The chimney remained in the same spot, however. The house must have accommodated the family well, as the Kroegers remained here for fifty years. The Kroeger family remained a strong presence in this neighborhood through the 1990s, as Henry and Clara's married daughter Margaret lived next door at 1603 25th Street. More recent owners expanded our pictured house even more and changed the original siding as well. As noted earlier, this is not a typical postcard. According to the July/August 2000 issue of Old House Journal, "real photo" postcards were popular between 1902 and 1910. During those years, Kodak made a preprinted postcard backing that allowed photographers to print relatively small quantities of postcards directly from their negatives. This created a new business, where traveling photographers went from town to town to create and sell postcards. Many of these postcards show homes; others are of street scenes and public buildings, especially from towns that were too small to provide an adequate market for lithographed cards. Unfortunately the locations of many of these real photo cards, especially those produced for homeowners, are not identified. Not only is the street address frequently unknown, even the city of origin may be difficult or impossible to determine. When present, postmarks can be an aid in such identification. In the pre-digital (and even pre-camera for many) era, real photo postcards allowed images of prized buildings to be created and shared. This was a wonderful way for homeowners (or renters) and businessmen to show pride in their building. Surviving cards are now a valuable resource for architectural and community historians and can be a source of enjoyment for us all. Submitted by the Rock Island Preservation Society Back to the Postcard Index Page Rosenfield House This 18 room Rock Island house would be considered spectacular anywhere in the country - in fact it was described as the "most magnificent residence in the three cities" when it was completed in 1893. That's not surprising, considering its reported cost of $50,000. That may not seem like a great deal of money today, but consider this: Lincoln School at 7th Avenue and 22nd Street was completed the same year at a cost of $60,000. Extending those numbers into today's dollars means the Rosenfield House would cost millions to build today, if indeed the skilled artisans could be found. Large mansions such as this are very vulnerable to demolition. Most of the big estate homes in Rock Island have been destroyed, either to build something else - from highways to commercial buildings -- or because they were so neglected and abused that restoration was impossible. Sometimes they have been demolished for no good reason. How did it happen that Morris Rosenfield's house still stands triumphantly, with its architectural and historical features intact? Many people and organizations, and federal law as well, are responsible. When Morris Rosenfield built his massive brick and stone house, he called it Spencer Place, because this was the original site of John Spencer's home. Spencer, one of the first settlers and major landowners in Rock Island, had sited his small home at the head of 19th Street (it came to a dead end at his property) so he had a clear view all the way downtown. Mr. Rosenfield was born in Germany and came to Rock Island as a young man in 1841, to join his uncles in a wholesale leather business. He made his fortune, however, by operating the Moline Wagon Company, a factory that made farm wagons. He was already elderly by the time his home was completed, and he would only live here 6 years until his death, which is why the postcard is identified as Mrs. Rosenfield's residence. The wagon company was sold to Deere after Mrs. Rosenfield died in 1910. The mansion remained in the Rosenfield family for some years, with son Walter taking over ownership until the late teens, when he moved across 7th Avenue to what was known as the Buford House. Walter was president of Rock Island Bridge and Iron Works, and also served as mayor of Rock Island from 1923 - 27. Walter sold the house in 1916 to Martin Welch of Illinois Oil Company, who sold it again a few years later to St. Joseph's Catholic Church for use as a convent. Forty years later, in 1958, the church built another convent and sold the mansion to the Tri-City Jewish Center for $85,000. The Center already owned the Buford House across 7th Avenue and needed space for its educational center. When the Jewish Center purchased the property, it was saved from destruction. Rabbi Jordan Taxon said other potential buyers had been looking at the property to tear it down and build a motel or restaurant. When Rabbi Taxon led a reporter on a tour of the home, he noted how the nuns had taken loving care of the home. They had used the formal parlor, which had a fireplace of white tile with inlaid flowers, as a chapel. He also pointed out many details that would be restored - parquet floors, with each 10 inch square made of 14 kinds of wood; rooms paneled with hand carved squares of different woods; a parlor ceiling, with angels painted in oils. The Jewish Center continued the loving maintenance of the home, accommodating their educational use with minimal change. When a new Jewish Center was built on 30th Street in the late 1970s, Harris-Weber Ltd. of Northbrook, Illinois purchased this site to construct an 8-story senior citizen high rise. The Rosenfield Mansion was almost certainly doomed. But wait! To the rescue comes a relatively new federal law! Anytime federal dollars were involved in a project, the project had to be reviewed for its impact on local historic resources. Since the high rise was largely funded by federal dollars, an evaluation of the mansion was mandated. Fortunately it was found to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (did we have any doubt?). Thus it could not be demolished if the developers hoped to keep the federal subsidy. While they could have chosen to finance the entire project on their own and proceed with demolition, they decided to restore the mansion for a senior center instead - and keep those federal dollars. That restoration was facilitated by the Rock Island City Council, who voted in 1980 to give $40,000 towards the restoration. The developers were permitted to demolish a brick carriage house near 7th Avenue. As a result of loving care through the decades, this beautiful home looks like it over did a century ago. The high rise is now located to the east where the postcard shows a peek at the Victorian Inn in the distance. The Rosenfield mansion has been incorporated into Coventry apartments and is used by the tenants. So we thank you Morris Rosenfield for building this mansion. And more thanks to St. Joseph's and the Sisters of Charity, to the Tri-City Jewish Center, and to Harris-Weber and Coventry for maintaining and restoring it. Twenty years ago the Rock Island Preservation Society sponsored a tour of the home. Shall we ask the folks at Coventry if we can repeat that tour, to share this wonderful piece of Rock Island history and architecture? Back to the Postcard Index Page The Guyer House Today's "real photo" postcard of the house at 728-21st Street is from the historical collection of the Rock Island Public library. It was mailed by Anna, who lived here, to Aledo friend Amelia Anderson, to show her the extensively remodeled house. In her note, postmarked 1911, Anna points out the windows of her bedroom and the kitchen, stating: "I am sending you a picture of the house since it was rebuilt You can see one window in my bedroom to the left--also some kitchen windows. It is taken (from a) SE view. Hope you are well. I am, with love, your friend, Anna." We can discover the extent of the remodeling because we have a photo of the original house, built in 1873. It shows a six room clapboard (wood) sided structure in the "front-gabled" Italianate style. This relatively rare variation of the style - although frequently seen in Rock Island - is recognized by peaked gables facing the front and sides of a rectangular house. It had ornate wooden hoods --like tiny awnings -- above tall narrow windows, carved gingerbread decoration on the gables and porches, and decorative wood brackets under the eaves. During the Tudor remodeling, the chimneys were rebuilt and a noteworthy lightening rod with a white ceramic knob was removed from the peak of the front gable. Even the fence was changed, although the photo of the original house did show a fence enclosing the large lot. Were it not for the placement of the windows and porches, today's Tudor style house would not be recognizable as the original Italianate home. The first owners of the house were William and Charlotte Dart. Other members of the prominent Dart family owned at least three estate-type homes in this area during the mid to late 19th Century. The family was a local leader in the wholesale grocery business known as Henry Dart's Sons operating in downtown Rock Island. William Dart had this house built in 1873 with a loan for $3,000. The lot, at the corner of Adams and Guyer Streets in John W. Spencer's Third Addition to the city, cost $992 in 1865. Before 1876, when Rock Island adopted a street numbering system, 8th Avenue was called Guyer Street. In 1895 the house was purchased for $6,500 by Edward Holmes Guyer. Edward (Eddie, as he was known as a youth) was one of two children of Samuel and Annette Holmes Guyer (for whom Guyer Street was named). He had spent his childhood in the family home nearby on the northwest corner of 19th Street and 8th Avenue. After their parents' death, Edward Guyer's sister continued to live in the old homestead for many years. That house, a hipped roof Italianate, is standing today. It is built of brick rather than the wood of our postcard house. Edward married Constance Kimball and had a son and daughter who all lived at 728-21st Street. Mr. Guyer's life as a practicing attorney began in 1879, following in his father's footsteps, and he continued to practice law until his death. But his real interests lay elsewhere - in land development. He was involved in the development of fourteen different additions in the cities of Rock Island, Moline and East Moline. One of his Rock Island additions was the Keystone Addition. In a flyer handed out to potential buyers for a new building addition in East Moline, Mr. Guyer was described thusly: "This is the man, of great renown, Who's busy building "Focus Town". A mighty city builder he, Alert to opportunity, His handiwork is plainly seen. From Milan clear to East Moline, His pathway marked with building lots, Parks, avenues and garden spots. And many a place owes its position To his method of practical addition". He may have been a poet, and he certainly was not modest about his accomplishments! The extensive -- $6000 -- rebuilding of this house in 1910 to enlarge and convert it into a "modern" Tudor style home must have been quite a challenge, even for E. H. Guyer. The remodeled appearance is true to Tudor architectural details, with the design being achieved by use of a stucco finish over the original wood siding. Smooth cement trim gives the house the look usually provided by wooden timbers. It's interesting that the Guyers did not replace the original Italianate double front doors with etched and frosted glass windows, which are now hidden behind the Tudor style eight-light divided glass doors. The addition mentioned in the 1911 postcard message included a large formal dining room, butler's pantry, kitchen, second stairway and bedroom upstairs, all of which make up the back third of the rebuilt house. At the time of Mr. Guyer's death in 1938 at the age of 84, an editorial in the Argus proclaimed, "E.H. Guyer was prominent in commercial, industrial, banking and legal affairs in Rock Island for more than a half a century." His funeral was held here at his home. Soon after, the home was sold to the Robert Reagan family. Mr. and Mrs. Reagan lived here until their deaths in 1978 and 1983. During those later years, the upper portion of the house was divided into apartments and changes were made to the exterior porches and grounds. Yet the Tudor style appearance remained, although the wood fence with concrete corner posts shown on the postcard no longer surrounds the house. A long carriage house with doors on both the alley and avenue sides was removed during the Reagans' years as well. So who was Anna, the occupant of that "new" back bedroom? Not the Guyers' daughter as we'd originally assumed - her name was Alice. Anna may have been a live-in servant, not uncommon for the times. But the more appealing possibility is that she was a literate, upward-striving country girl with a dream of higher education. In that era, young girls whose families lived in rural areas would help carry out household duties for city families in exchange for room and board so they could attend high school. In the Guyer' s case, Rock Island High School was only a very convenient distance block from their home. Despite modest changes over the past 90 years, the house today is readily identifiable as the same one on our postcard. And we can think of our unknown Anna when we look at the upstairs bedroom window on the far left. Back to the Postcard Index Page Back to the Postcard Index Page