This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
End of an era at Kahlke Boat Yards in Rock Island
Historic boat yard once famed for paddlewheelers on the Mississippi is reduced to a bulldozed lot behind the seawall in Rock Island. The Quinlan, Davenport, Lone Star, and James P. Pearson hulls and engines were lost after a long decline and a fatal fire, ending a river era once anchored by the Kahlke family business.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Rock Island
Mississippi River
Kahlike
Kahlke
James P. Pearson
Julius Wilkie
Ing
Quinlan
Coast Guard