Davenport, Iowa


Davenport is located along the Mississippi River in the eastern part and is the third largest city in the U.S. State of Iowa. Davenport is a city full of rich culture, music venues, festivals, museums, baseball games and more. Davenport won the 2007 City Livability Award in the small-city category from the U.S. Conference of Mayors.



To See And To Do In Davenport


  • The Davenport City Hall
  • The Putnam Museum and IMAX Theater
  • Figge Art Museum
  • The German American Heritage Center
  • The Quad City Symphony Orchestra
  • NorthPark Mall
  • Bucktown Fine Arts
  • The Riverfront


History Of Davenport - Timeline


Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836. The first settlers of Davenport were mostly Germans. The founder Antoine LeClaire named the city after his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk War stationed at nearby Fort Armstrong.

The city was incorporated on January 25, 1839. The Davenport Public Library was opened in 1839. In 1856, the railroad connected Davenport to Rock Island, Illinois. Steamboat companies saw the railroad as a threat to their business and just weeks after the railroad was completed, a steamboat captain deliberately crashed the boat into a bridge.

In 1865, The Iowa Soldiers Orphans Home or The Annie Wittenmyer Home opened. The Putnam Museum and IMAX was founded in 1867. In 1872, Phebe Sudlow was appointed principal of Davenport High School. She was the first female principal in the United States.

On June 19, 1874, Phebe Sudlow was then unanimously voted to the position of Superintendent of Davenport Schools. She was also the first woman in the United States history to be a public school superintendent. St. Ambrose University was established in 1882. The city hall was built in 1895. The first chiropractic school in the world, Palmer Chiropractic College, opened in 1897.

In 1901, eight blocks of buildings were destroyed by a fire on Davenport's east side. The Blackhawk Hotel was built in downtown in 1915. On Christmas day in 1920, 10,000 people turned out to see the opening of Davenport's new theater, the Capitol Theatre. In the late 1940s, parking meters were installed in downtown. The farm crisis of the 1980s hit Davenport hard. 35,000 workers lost their jobs throughout the entire Quad Cities area.