Dick Nesbitt Drake University Football 1928

 

Dick Nesbitt, Drake University football player, Des Moines, Iowa. (watercolor drawing of black and white image published in the Des Moines Register. November 29, 1928)

Charles Nigg The Maquoketa Wheelman

 

Charles Nigg of Maquoketa, Iowa, pushed a wheel barrow called the Iowa Special from Maquoketa to the American Legion convention in San Antonio, Texas in 1928. He served in the Spanish American War with his two brothers. (picture from Des Moines Tribune. October 11, 1928)

Mrs. Lewis Neff (Formerly Marjorie Love)

 

This photograph of Mrs. Lewis Neff, formerly Marjorie Love, was published in the Des Moines Register on March 11, 1923. She was the daughter of Otis G. Love. Mrs. Neff lived in New York where her husband worked in the export department of a large sugar company. (watercolor drawing of a black and white newspaper image)

Iowa Military Units at Camp Dodge

The Des Moines Register (October 7, 1917) published these pictures of Iowa soldiers at Camp Dodge, training for overseas duty in World War I. It's an interesting look at army life.

Sioux City men of Company A training at Camp Dodge.

Pictures From The Villisca Axe Murders

On October 7, 1917, the Des Moines Register published these photograpghs of the Villisca Axe Murder house and some of the victims and suspects. I hadn't seen a few of these before so I thought they were worth a look.

The Villisca Axe Murder house as it appeared in 1917.

Luther College Decorah, Iowa circa 1910

 

Main building at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa (circa 1900-1910 - watercolor after a vintage postcard)

Inn at Fejervary Park Davenport Iowa

Fejervary Park feels easy now. Wide lawns. Trees. Walking paths. Families with coolers and kids running loose.

But for a stretch of time, it had an inn sitting right at its center.

Nicholas Fejervary built the mansion in the 1800s, up on the bluff with a clear view of the Mississippi. It wasn’t tucked away. It was meant to be seen.

In 1902, his daughter gave the property to the city of Davenport. The mansion became an inn.

And Davenport used it.

Weddings filled the rooms. Clubs held meetings there. Community dinners ran long into the evening. If something important was happening in town, it was happening at the Fejervary Inn. People dressed up, shook hands, and looked out over the river like it were part of the evening.

It didn’t last. By the 1930s, the building had been torn down.

Now it’s just park. Grass under your shoes. Trees overhead. A regular afternoon.

But once upon a time, this wasn’t just green space. It was where the entire town turned out for events and celebrations.