Searstown
by Diana Alm
The land, once known as Rock
Island City, continued to be sold. Jonathan Huntoon, Thomas J. Rodman,
Philemon L. Mitchell, and Cornelius Lynde all owned portions of this land now legally named "Sears" and
often called "Searstown."
On March 6, 1883, David B. Sears issued a Quit Claim Deed to the Rock Island &
Milan Street Railway Co., a corporation. This strip of land, 20 feet wide plus 10 feet on each side of the tract
for slopes, was later to become the avenue for the streetcar leading to the Amusement Park located at the Watch
Tower in what is now Black Hawk Historic Site. It is now that section of Blackhawk Road between 11th Street and
Watch Tower Lodge.
Searstown was incorporated May 4, 1894. It was filed January 3, 1895. The map
shows the area of Sears where people were living.
Another large area to the east was uninhabited.
A parcel of land was transferred to Harriet D. Sears in 1896 with an exemption
of the land being used by the Tri-City Railway Company, formerly the Davenport and Rock Island Railway Company.
This railroad, owned by Bailey Davenport, carried coal from the mine located in Black Hawk Park into the city of
Rock Island.
An Ordinance, filed on October 8, 1898, by the majority of land owners within
the Village of Sears, petitioned for the disconnection of 543.44 acres from the village. All taxes had been paid
on the land. and all requirements of the law had been complied with.
This disconnection was the land that is now Black Hawk State Historic Site. Land
owned by the Sears family, which included two homes where they lived was part of this deal, but was added back
to the Village of Sears as a Second Addition on September 17, 1907. In 1915 Sears was annexed to the city of Rock
Island.
More about Searstown
Photos of Searstown Today
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