 |
|
|
Donovan House, 2020 9th Street
Most Significant Unprotected Structures:
Unusual domed tower on Queen Anne home
Architectural Style:
Queen Anne
Construction Date:
ca. 1900
Architect/Builder: Unknown
|
|
 |
This Queen Anne home built around 1900 is more elaborate than others nearby. It has a bay both on the front and the side. The hipped roof with the lower cross gable is typical of the Free Classic Queen Anne style. Most unique is the domed roof on the tower, which is rarer than straight-sided examples. The pent roof enclosing the front gable is also a common Queen Anne touch, as is the unusual half-domed window shape in the front dormer and the side bay brackets. The porch is not original and has probably been altered at least twice. The footprint for the porch may be in roughly the same location, but images from the 1980s show Tuscan columns and Colonial Revival detailing, which indicates the original Queen Anne styled porch might have been removed as early as 1910.
The address for this home does not appear in city directories until 1910, but given the style and its location on the southern part of 9th Street, it is likely the construction date is at least 15 years earlier. The first directory listing is Cornelius Donovan, who was Vice-President of Rock Island Sand & Gravel Company. In 1905, he was co-owner of Donovan Bros. Contracting Plasterers with his brother, J.C. Cornelius lived on the family homestead in South Rock Island Township with his widowed mother and was a candidate for Rock Island County Sheriff in 1902. He later became superintendant of the Rock Island state employment bureau and served as chairman of the Rock Island Police Board in 1925, when the city was recovering from the corruption instigated by John Looney's cohort, Police Chief Tom Cox.
From 1910 to 1920, the home had four different owners. In 1920, it was purchased by Dennis and Teresa Bennett, who lived there until 1935. Bennett had been a patrolman for the Rock Island Police Department since at least 1907, and then was promoted to detective and finally night captain in 1932, serving during the rough and tumble years of gangster John Looney's reign.
Return to MoSUS By Address page
Return to MoSUS By Name page
|
|
|
