Upper Davenport, Then East Davenport

The neighborhood along the river here was once its own independent town. In the early eighteen fifties, a settlement called Upper Davenport was laid out, later renamed East Davenport. Within a few years it had sawmills, iron foundries, and riverboat landings drawing workers from across the region.

Davenport later absorbed it. The Civil War brought Camp McClellan to the surrounding land, and afterward the area grew into a dense working-class neighborhood of small homes. Today the Village of East Davenport is a historic district, with many modest Victorian-era homes that survived the twentieth century intact.