Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-11-27
Movement For City Beautiful" Shows Marked Resu1


ments and improvements. Garnsey
square is now the leading public re-
sort of the west end Of the city.
The court house square is the prop
erty of the county. The good taste that
has been shown in its care and i'm
provement by the respective gentle
men who have held the Office OF sher-
if has addcd greatly to the neat and
refined appearance Of the neighbor-
hood in the central part of the city.
Within the past 10 years there has
been added to the city a park. now
called Long View park, that is not eX-
celled in it's natural beauty by any
small park in the Mississippi valley.
GIFT TO THE CITY.
This park. containing about 40 acres,
was donated 20 the city Of Rock Island
by a party OF gentlemen who succeed
ed to the ownership of large portion
OF the real estate owned by the late
Bailey Davenport The improvement
Of this park followed upon the organ
ization Of a municipal park board in
1905 under the administration of
George W McCaskTin The improve
ment Of this park being determined
upon by the park board, the citizens
Of the city, cooperating with the city
council, furnished the necessary funds,
and in a remarkably short time such a
Il l. to h, Cd
miration and attention of all persons
who were familiar with the conditions
before the work was Begin. The park
was formally dedicated 70 the public
On July 10. 1908, since which time il
has been under the care and manage
] ent CT the writer, IS city park superin
) tertenLand has been so beautified that
! IL is the resort Of thousands Of citizens
and visiting strangers. A little more
work remains to be done to fully com
plete it according to the plan origin
! ally agreed upon.
OTHER PARKS ADDED.
| In 1911, there was added another
public square at the west end o
the city, now known as DenkmanI
square. This square was the gift 0
F. c. Denkmann, a member of tn,
park board. The grading and side
walking OF this square now being com
plete, in due time. with the growth O
ornamental trees and rich grass sod
this will become a favorito playground
for the children and resort for adults
Another acquisition for a park wa
the purchase by the city in 1910 Of
beautiful tract of % acres Of land a
the east end OF the city overlookin
the Mississippi valley. The lack @
funds has prevented any material in
provement of this park at the presen
time, but in due time that is expected
For beauty of situation 1t is not 81
celled by any park in the city Whe
it is improved, it will add to the cit
one more public beauty spot. for whic
the city OF Rock Island is now just
famous.
SEVENTH AVENUE BOULEVARD.
Another park improvement was b
gun by the city council in the yea
1859. At the east end in what
known as seTeCth avenue 10 TO b
seen @ beautiful Improvement. II
nvcr1c. u1-de- the care Of the park S
poTinteIdent. has been boulevaTde
and laid out in pretty grass plots, wit
towering snTu6bery and flower beds
various v1T.eties. Looking along II
eTeule from west to east. or viz
versa, rcEs.rG AuR;:5tana college ar
the Dcnknann Memorial library, Il
ove--e ia a place CT great beauty.
2l-oa en- be said n favor OF Il
zeal and economy shown in the wol
t Gc1c - TIE parks. Win q scanty re
) cr-e. coc-cc.y over 1880 per year, Il
/ parks haze been inD-oTed almost
r well &c ~ MANY cities where the pa
4 revenue ia muoa greater. DaveEpo
y has yearly park revenue of abo
: $4,000. Rockford $4,000. Peoria 80
e COZ. Springfield $4,000 Considers
. tio ANAL. annual park Te-caue OF 4
!. city CT Rcc., Island. It is q matter