Crescent Warehouse Historic District

Railroad bridge over the intersection of East Fourth St. and Pershing Ave.

The area that would become the Crescent Warehouse Historic District was sparsely developed through the 1870s. In 1872 a new double-deck wagon and railroad bridge was built at the foot of Iowa Street across the Mississippi River. The new mainline of the Rock Island Railroad spurred development in the area. They built a new rail yard between Iowa Street and Front Street (now East River Drive) in the 1880s. Car repair shops and a roundhouse were begun in 1887. The woodworking industries hit their peak in the mid-1890s and as other industries moved into the area, the land around the Rock Island Railroad's mainline became more desirable. Also, after the decline in the woodworking industries the riverfront property in the downtown area where some of the mills were located became LeClaire Park in the early 20th century. The riverfront property on the east side of town reverted to other industries, especially after a disastrous fire in the wood yards near the Village of East Davenport.[4]

Rail sidings embedded in the sidewalk along East Fifth Street

In the early 1890s, the eastern portion of the district was home to a few small-scale manufacturing facilities for the Crescent Mills, the Davenport Oatmeal Company, and the Reupke, Schmidt & Company Steam Bakery. West of Iowa Street was found small warehouses, small frame houses, larger rooming houses, a tavern, a lumber yard and the former location of Trinity Episcopal Church.

The present Government Bridge was completed in 1895 on the piers of the 1872 bridge. The first level of the bridge was equipped to carry electric streetcars as well as other modes of transportation. The upper level continued to carry the Rock Island Railroad. In 1901 and 1902 the railroad right of way was elevated through the downtown area. Four tracks were placed on most of the elevated rail bed to accommodate the 70 passenger trains that passed through the city.[3] A new passenger station was built three blocks to the west of Rock Island Avenue (the present Pershing Avenue). While not in the historic district it proved convenient for the traveling salesmen employed by the businesses that would make the district its home. At the same time that the mainline was being elevated rail sidings were being laid in the streets and alleys of the district to serve warehouse and factory customers. The infrastructure for the railroad was completed by 1910. At the same time, the Rock Island Railroad consolidated their old shops elsewhere and built a new freight station in response to the expanded need for rail freight.

Smith Brothers and Burdick Company building

At the same time, the Rock Island Railroad expanded, Davenport's population began to expand. At the turn of the 20th century the city's population stood at 35,254 and by 1910 it rose to 43,028. Another 13,000 were added by 1920 and the population total stood at 56,727.[3] In response, the commercial and industrial operations in the city expanded as well. Many of the smaller firms in the city consolidated and so the number of business actually declined during this period as the number of wage earners increased. These larger firms saw an increase in earnings from $12 million in 1900 to $50 million in 1920.[3]

The western and southern sections of the district were transformed from a largely residential area to a mix of factory and warehouse buildings. Six such buildings were constructed between 1900 and 1910 with another six buildings built the following decade. By 1901 the Davenport Paper Box Company and the Kerker Paper Box Company were among the first businesses to build new structures in the district. They were followed by the Sieg Iron Company warehouse (1905), a heavy hardware distributor, and grocery distributor Smith Brothers and Burdick Company (1905). The later building was built on the property vacated by Trinity Church. The Halligan Coffee Company built a new office and warehouse building in 1907 at the corner of East Fourth and Iowa Streets. The freight building was the sixth building built in that decade.

Ewert and Richter Express and Storage Co. warehouses on East Fourth Street

In 1911 the Preston, Sickles and Nutting Company, a wholesale hardware company, started construction of a six-story building on the northeast corner of Rock Island and East Fifth Streets. On January 25, 1915, the Crescent Macaroni and Cracker Company building on Iowa Street was destroyed in a fire. The building had been built as the original Burtis House Hotel. They replaced their factory with a new building that was completed within 18 months. At the same time across Iowa Street, the Sieg Company was expanding and built a new office building. The same year the Ewert and Richter Express and Storage Company, which already had a four-story building on East Fourth Street, was building a new six-story addition next door. The older building was destroyed in a fire on February 8, 1933. That same year a new three-story building, designed to match the 1915 building, was designed and constructed.

The Great Depression saw a decline in the local economy. Davenport, however, continued to be an important regional jobbing center with 62.6 percent of the bi-state wholesale business headquartered in the city.[3] The wholesale businesses contributed $50 million to the local economy in 1940.[3] After World War II the Crescent Macaroni and Cracker Company, Halligan Coffee Company, Smith Brothers and Burdick Company, Sieg Company, Marbury Coats factory, General Electric Company distributorship, Schlegel Drug Stores wholesale division, Buhrer Brokerage Company food brokers, and Frank Lewis Company food brokers were all headquartered in the district. The last building built in the Crescent Warehouse Historic District was an automobile showroom for Vincent J. Neu Oldsmobile in 1950. The single-story building on the northwest corner of East Fourth and Iowa Streets housed the dealership for only nine years when the dealership's rapid growth forced it to move outside the central business district.

Halligan Coffee Co. Lofts

The buildings in the district continued to house a variety of businesses over the years. Although its ownership changed several times, the Crescent Macaroni and Cracker Company remained in operation until 1991. In 2003 The Alexander Company of Madison, Wisconsin started the process of converting several of the structures into loft apartment buildings.[5] The Crescent building and the former Rock Island freight house (also known as the Waterloo Mills building) were converted into 73 units in 2005 and are now known as the Davenport Lofts.[6] The Ewert and Richter warehouse buildings became a 56 unit complex that was completed in 2007 and is now known as 4th Street Lofts. The Kerker building was converted into 18 units in 2012 and is called the Kerker Lofts. That same year Restoration St. Louis, who had already renovated the Hotel Blackhawk and the Forrest Block in downtown Davenport, bought the Smith Brothers and Burdick Company building to convert into loft apartments,[7] which opened in January 2015 as the Market Lofts with 37 units.[8] In 2014 the Alexander Company converted the Sieg Iron building on Iowa Street into a 33 unit apartment building.[9] Y & J Properties completed a $6.5 million renovation of the Halligan Coffee Company building into 45 market-rate lofts in April 2015.[10] The following month the Crescent Electric Company building and the Sieg Iron Company building, contiguous buildings on East Fifth Street, received $3.1 million in historic tax credits from the state of Iowa. They are the last two buildings in the district to be renovated.[11] Renovations to the buildings were completed in the spring of 2018 and the 62 units opened as the Pershing Hill Lofts.[12]