History is just around the corner

DAVENPORT--We are all approaching the time of that seasonal "cooped up" feeling that visits when Old Man Winter arrives in town. You can choose to pass this time indoors to read a good book, play a crossword puzzle or take a Sunday drive. If the latter is your preference, then I suggest you start in Davenport where history can be found all around.

Take for instance a concrete rectangle standing near the alley on Ninth Street between Maxwell and Main. You've probably driven or walked by this pillar many times not realizing what it truly was, but it's worth taking a closer look. The four-sided block of cement was placed here by a homeowner trying to prevent vehicles from hitting the shed that used to stand at this location, but its story begins on Harker Street where the city began.

You will see holes which still contain remnants of metal rings toward the upper portion of this old-time capsule. These rings would have been on multiple sides, and together with the old concrete block made for one sturdy hitching post along Harker Street. Hitching posts like this were necessary for any stop in a time when people traveled by horses...if you cared about keeping your horse in one place while you stopped in at the local mercantile.

If that concrete doesn't excite you, you can visit another pile of the same material at the northeast corner of Sixth and Lincoln Streets. Just off to the east side of McInnis Road (which once was the old highway), you will see remnants of an old sawmill run by Clark Green, who lived just down the street.

Green was apparently quite the businessman, as he operated a sawmill at this location, and a flour mill just to the south where the Cottonwood Apartments stand today. Lifelong Davenport resident Dick Teel recalled his parents hauling their wheat by wagon to Green's mill, where he would grind it into flour. While both mills were destroyed long ago, the concrete remnants live on to tell of their past.

At 1116 Park Street, remnants of a different kind still stand tall for anyone wishing to learn about the first church erected in Davenport. The First Presbyterian Church built its original building at the northwest corner of Eleventh and Park Streets (facing east) in 1889. This building was in use until 1902 when it was replaced with a newer building located on Morgan Street at the site of today's church.

The original church building was cut into two pieces and used for the construction of two houses. The back half remained at its original location as part of a dwelling that was torn down in 1958 to make room for the current home at this site. The front half and bell tower were used to build the back portion of residence at 1116 Park Street and remain standing today.

If you look south at the residence from Morgan Street, you will still see the modified bell tower standing as the northeast portion of the house.

For your last stop, head south on Eighth Street just past Main. You will gaze upon a wonderfully detailed black wrought iron fence bordering the alley at 1006 Eighth Street. Many people have fences, but this one tells parts of two local stories.

In 1897, Davenport's version of the Lincoln County Courthouse was built where it still stands. Soon after construction a black wrought iron fence was added around the property to top off the project. The fence does appear in the background of several old local photos, but it would not survive as originally built.

Davenport, like every other place in the country during 1942, found itself indirectly involved in World War II. Metal was a hot commodity and scrap drives were common in order to obtain enough metal to manufacture planes, ships and other equipment needed for the war. Even little Davenport contributed to these efforts through collecting metal like the original courthouse fence, which was donated for the cause.

The original fence did not disappear altogether, however. While still a mystery, a small section of the courthouse fence survived the scrap efforts and was later placed in the yard of this residence as a northern border.

While there are many more sites to see, the four aforementioned offer glimpses into a past when horses once ruled the streets, trees were cut into wood for the individual customer, pioneers needed a place for worship and World War II consumed the world. History can seem distant when you read about it in a book, but to some degree it lies around every corner. Even a corner near you in little old Davenport.