Before Settlement

Settlement & Industry

Channelization

Flooding

Human Impact

Current Management

Bibliography

Settlement & Industry
Steamboats ~ Lumber ~ Factories

Lumber was an important industry for this area in the early years. From 1865-1895 the sawmill industry dominated the cities. Logs were brought down the Mississippi River from the forests of Minnesota and Wisconsin, processed, and then transported by railroad to the rest of the country (American Mosaic 29). The log rafts were sometimes as long as ¼ mile and were as wide as a city block (Svendsen 28). The large log rafts were at first floated down the Mississippi by a crew of 15-20 men who lived on board. Later, a steamboat was designed for pushing the rafts down river (American Mosaic 29). Spin-off industries developed in response to the success of sawmills. Furniture, wagon, and piano makers all prospered in the area. Washing machines were a part of the spin-off industries as well. In 1890, 60% of all of the washing machines in the United States came from Davenport, earning the city the nickname of "The National Washing Machine Capital" (Svendsen 28).

The most well known lumber mill in the Quad Cities was that owned by Frederick Weyerhaeuser and Frederick Denkmann. They bought a small mill in 1860 and enlarged it by adding more machinery (Joined by a River 48). Within a year the output of the mill had doubled. The Weyerhaeuser and Denkmann  mill was one of the largest on the Upper Mississippi. It is pictured here at the left.  However, by the year 1890 the forests of Minnesota and Wisconsin were depleted. In 1905 the Weyerhaeuser and Denkmann  mill was forced to close (American Mosaic 31). The lumber era was over.