FAREWELL – Night Scene Second Avenue
Second Avenue, East from 17th Street “Arrived in Rock Island today. This is near our hotel and the train station.” It is a typical message for this enduringly popular postcard scene where 17th Street meets Second Avenue as it bends to follow the river in downtown Rock Island. Here, the camera has captured a long … [ Continued
Central Trust & Savings Bank
230 18th Street In Rock Island’s early years, it seems that there was a bank (or two) at every downtown intersection. This postcard shows one of the finest bank buildings constructed in our area. Even today, it looks a great deal as it did when it was built in 1914 on the northwest corner of … [ Continued
Masonic Temple
420 18th Street This circa 1915 postcard shows the Masonic Temple at the northwest corner of 18th Street and Fifth Avenue that had been built only two years earlier. It looks the same today, with the only apparent changes being an added fire escape and a new lighted sign hung at the corner. The dream … [ Continued
Market Square
17th Street & 2nd Avenue One postcard story was about a 1906 view of the Market Square building decorated for the Farmers National Congress. This is another postcard from the same era, but with a completely different view, that shows Market Square’s surroundings on 17th Street, looking south from Second to Third Avenues. In contrast … [ Continued
