Safety Building
18th Street & Third Avenue The big power pole in the foreground and the absence of street signs, are the only clues that this is a vintage depiction of the Safety Building at on 3rd Avenue at 18th Street. The sepia-toned postcard was printed in Germany and was mailed in 1910, only two years after … [ Continued
Rock Island House (Ann Goldman Building)
17th Street & Second Avenue This Real Photo postcard from Shannon Hall’s collection is postmarked 1914 and captioned “Opening of the 1600 block, Rock Island, Illinois.” The prominent “R I House” sign atop the building at the left reveals that the camera is looking west on Second Avenue with the Rock Island House hotel and … [ Continued
Rock Island Lines Depot
3031 Fifth Avenue It took nearly fifty years for Rock Island to get a passenger depot worthy of the city’s status as the founding home of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. As late as 1900, when the eastbound freight switchyards of the Rock Island Line, as the railroad was commonly called, were moved … [ Continued
Circus Day – Second Avenue
Second Avenue W from 18th Street Oh, the excitement! On Rock Island’s normally staid downtown streets, where men wore suits and a woman was never seen without a hat, there were lions and tigers and bears…..and elephants. The circus was in town! As early as 1857, the Spaulding & Rogers circus arrived on nine cars … [ Continued
