Rosenfield House (ca 1890)
1900 6th Avenue

Built between the years of 1890 and 1893, this was the home of Rock Island businessman Morris Rosenfield and his family. Rosenfield was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1859, joining his two uncles in a local wholesale leather business. In 1869, he founded the Moline Wagon Company with two partners. Eventually, the Moline Wagon Company employed between 375 and 400 men, and had the capacity to manufacture 100 wooden wagons a day. In Moline, a city boasting many successful industries, the wagon company was one of the leading manufacturing firms. One of the Rosenfield children, Walter, was mayor of Rock Island from 1923 to 1927. The home remained a single family residence until 1920. The Romanesque Revival style structure with a Queen Anne silhouette is believed to have been designed by Rock Island architect E. S. Hammatt as he was the only architect in the Tri-Cities designing in the Romanesque style in the 1890s. The December 2, 1893, issue of the Rock Island Argus describes the house as palatial, containing 18 rooms, seven fireplaces and a third floor ballroom. It is reported to have cost $50,000 to build.

Romanesque features include the cross gabled roof, the tower with a conical roof, the round-topped arch over the north front window, and the asymmetrical facade. Exterior surfaces combine dark red brick with five bands of rough-faced, rectangular (ashlar) stonework. Also of note are the stone dormer, the foliate pattern of the pressed tin cornice, the second story recessed porch, and the massive front and carriage porches, both constructed of the same pinkish ashlar stone.

Although it does not lie within the Broadway Historic District, this home is a significant architectural property in its own right.