Rock Island County History in Postcards

Crescent Bridge New Sylvan Bridge Log Raft on the Mississippi Rock Island Reservoir Rock Island High School, 1945 Lincoln School in Rock Island Immanuel Lutheran School Augustana College St. Mary's School Old YMCA The Villa de Chantal United Presbyterian/Wayman AME Church St. Anthony's Hospital Rock Island County Courthouse Clocktower Tri-City Railway Old Post Office The Rock Island Library Safety Building The People's Bank Rock Island Savings Bank Fort Armstrong Hotel Bear Automotive Farmers' Congress Eagle Building Modern Woodmen of America The Elks Club Prince Hall Masonic Lodge The Family Theatre The Fort Armstrong Theatre Downtown's Second Avenue Black Hawk Lounge Garnsey Square The Mill Store C. W. Hawes Bungalow Frank Mixter Residence De Silva House House at 1601 25th Street Rosenfield House 1103 2nd Avenue R. R. Cable Residence Double House L. S. McCabe House Buford Home The Guyer House

Rock Island Preservation Society The Rock Island Preservation Society (RIPS) provides a number of services that promote the preservation of Rock Island's past: its buildings, people and history. One service is to promote the preservation and restoration of old homes, commercial buildings, and other city properties by making annual Preservation Awards. The postcards published in this section originally appeared in the Daily Dispatch and Argus. The cards' commentary has been written by Diane Oestreich or another member of the Rock Island Preservation Society. These postcards contain a wealth of information about Rock Island. For more than 100 years photographers in the Quad City area have created postcards of businesses, factories, downtowns, and, of course, the river. Since March of 2001, the Rock Island Preservation Society, has been researching these postcards and publishing them weekly in the the Rock Island Argus and Moline Dispatch as a way of promoting the restoration of our local architectual treasures. This column features vintage Rock Island postcards with text that has been researched and prepared by the Rock Island Preservation Society as a public service. According to an article by Robert M. Skaler in 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."

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