Pioneers of Fort Madison Iowa

This sketch of the early pioneers of Fort Madison was published in Illustrated Fort Madison, 1896.

Augustus Caesar Dodge Iowa Politician

Augustus Caesar Dodge was a delegate to Congress from Iowa Territory in 1840. After Iowa became a state in 1846, he became one of its first United States senators.

In 1855, President Franklin Pierce appointed him minister to Spain. He ran for governor when he returned to the country, and later served as mayor of Burlington.

Plans For The New Hyperion Club Des Moines 1909

 

(Picture from Des Moines Register. January 17, 1909)

In January 1909, the Des Moines Register published plans for the Hyperion Club, offering a glimpse of what was shaping up to be one of Des Moines’s more ambitious country clubs.

The Hyperion started out in 1904 as a dancing club, organized by about 19 members. Before long, the group shifted gears, reorganized as a country club, and grew to around 100 members.

By 1909, it was still growing. Membership had reached 225, and the club was clearly thinking bigger. Its grounds, near Waveland Park, covered 225 acres and included an 18-hole golf course laid out at full championship length.

The plan printed in the paper showed a sketch of a new clubhouse with plenty of extras. The building was to include family quarters, bachelor quarters, lockers, a bathhouse, and a billiard parlor. There was also to be a separate building called Bachelor’s Hall.

The club sat along the Perry Interurban Line, about a 35-minute ride from downtown Des Moines. That made it close enough for city members to get there with little trouble, while still feeling like a trip out of town.

Brown-Williams Auto Co. Advertisement Des Moines 1909

This advertisement for the Brown-Williams Auto Co. appeared in the Des Moines Register on January 17, 1909. The dealership was located at 512 Grand Avenue in Des Moines, Iowa.

 

Sioux City Telephone Company 1907

The Sioux City Journal published this picture of the operations center of the Sioux City Telephone Company on February 17, 1907. Pictured are: Milton S. Crandall, wire chief; and Irma Markley.

Waterloo Fire Department 1919

 

New Waterloo fire truck - an American-La France model

1919 was a year of big changes for the Waterloo Fire Department. Longtime chief A. A. Dunham retired in early August, citing health problems. Assistant Chief Martin Burke filled in as chief for a few months until Captain Ray Tiller was appointed chief in early October.

Shortly after that, the city council approved the purchase of a new American-La France fire truck at a cost of nearly $12,000. The new truck had a complete hose and chemical system and a booster pump. It could pump 300 gallons per minute.

Davenport Police Motorcycle Patrol 1914

Motorcycle police officers Edwin Blackhan and John Bryant

 In the spring of 1913, the Davenport Police Department tried something new.

 

Automobiles were multiplying, drivers were testing the limits of speed, and the old methods—foot patrols and horse officers—couldn’t always keep up. So the department bought a motorcycle.

 

The plan was simple. A motorcycle officer would remain near the station house. When an emergency call came in, he was dispatched, racing through city streets faster than any patrol wagon could manage.

 

The first motorcycle officer was Charles Boettcher. He set the pace for the new experiment, proving that two wheels and a powerful engine could change the way a city was policed. When Boettcher moved up to detective work, Olaf Dahlquist took his place.

 

By 1914, the motorcycle squad had become indispensable. The Davenport Democrat and Leader said the department would be “lost” without its motorcycle officers. Speeding automobiles—sometimes called “auto speed maniacs”—were becoming a menace. The department answered with a machine built to match them.

 

They chose a Flying Merkle, a powerful motorcycle capable of reaching 55 to 60 miles per hour. That speed made it more than a novelty. It made it a weapon against reckless driving. As the department put it, a “motorcycle cop is the only effectual solution of the auto speed maniac problem.” It took a high-powered car to escape a motorcycle man, and few drivers owned one.

 

In the spring of 1914, two officers carried the city’s motorcycle duties. Edwin Blackhan handled the daytime shift. John Bryant took the night watch.

 

What began as a simple experiment quickly proved its worth. Within a year, Davenport’s motorcycle patrol wasn’t just a curiosity. It was essential. And plans were in the works to add another cycle.