Did You Know?

Sylvan Island was originally a peninsula, not an island at all. It was man’s need for water power which caused the island to be separated from the mainland. The island was created by detonating part of the land to create a canal. Learn more here.

Jersey Ridge Road is one of the main streets that run to the north out of the Village. This road was named after the Jersey cattle that once used the same route and made a path near the area where the road sits today as they meandered up the hill to graze. Learn more here.

Jens Jensen was born in Denmark and as a young man emigrated to America. He designed approximately 350 private estates, the Denkmann Hauberg estate in Rock Island is one of them. Although areas of the landscape had become quite overgrown, a remarkable amount of restoration has been completed. The Friends of Hauberg have produced a […]

In the 1940’s Rock Island received two World War 1 era cannons from the federal government. They were put on display in Lincoln Park. By 2017 they had been moved to a workshop and Rock Island park employees were working to restore them. The wheels and carriages had deteriorated to the point that they were […]

Father Catich, the artist who crafted several of the stained-glass windows in St Mary of the immaculate Conception’s Church, was the founder of the St. Ambrose Art Department in 1939. Saint Ambrose holds a large collection of Father Catich’s work. Much of it is displayed in the Edward M. Catich Memorial Gallery in the Galvin […]

The Rock Island Public Library was constructed of “grey canyon stone” from a quarry in North Amhurst, Ohio. So why does it appear yellow today? The stone is grey when it is freshly cut and when protected. But when exposed to the elements it slowly weathers. When tiny amounts of iron in the stone oxidize […]

The Women’s Suffrage movement took many decades, and came late to many areas of the country, including the Quad Cities. Women’s Suffrage was adopted in Colorado, Idaho, and many other states before it came to Illinois in 1913 and Iowa in 1919. Learn more here.

In Chippiannock Cemetery in Rock Island there is a graveside statue of a dog.  He is watching over the graves of two children, Josie and Eddie Dimick.  They both died of diphtheria on October 22, 1878. The story is that the family’s Newfoundland, named Rex, followed the children’s parents when they visited the grave. When […]