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Matt Timion - 4th Ward Alderman - City of Moline, IL

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Matt Timion - 4th Ward Alderman - City of Moline, IL

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06/18/2026

Then & Now: Jul's Danish Farm

On the bottom left of this postcard we can see Jul's Danish Farm. The address was 3031 7th Street.

Opened in 1949, Morgan Jul (a well known Rock Falls restaurant man) build his second restaurant in Moline at the cost of $300,000. The 2-story frame structure with basement dining rooms was able to accommodate 750 people at one time. There were six complete dining rooms and an all-electric kitchen.

The restaurant served American and Scandinavian food.

The restaurant was mired with controversy.
- In Feb 1950 a civil rights suit was brought against the restaurant for refusal to serve two African American patrons.
- In Apr 1950 the sheriff's office raided and removed illegal gambling devices from the restaurant. The restaurant ran an illegal casino, including a dice table, six slot machines, and five over gaming tables which were dice and roulette tables.
- In 1951 Morgan Jul was sued by 23 employees for unpaid wages, ranging from $20 to $300 due to them.

These lawsuits and associated fines resulted in the restaurant filing for bankruptcy. By April of 1951 Jul's Danish Farm closed, and was reopened as a night club named the Colony Club.

This location was eventually known to many long-time Moline residents as the Towers Restaurant.

In 1967 the Elks Club moved from its downtown location on 6th Avenue to this building.

In 2002 the building was auctioned off, and appears to have been used for a few years as an auction house or meeting hall.

The building was eventually demolished, and is currently owned by MetroNet , likely as a location for their infrastructure to provide high speed internet to the city.

06/15/2026

Then & Now: The Moline Trust and Savings Bank Building

Built in 1921, this impressive nine story building was designed by local architect Olaf Z. Cervin And built at a cost of $586,576.

Originally the business district was on 3rd Avenue (River Drive) and a small growth of businesses extended up 15th Street along the trolley lines. When the business district moved to 5th Avenue, the intersection of 5th Ave and 15th St was prime real estate. At one point all four corners of this intersection had a bank.

Originally the the upper floors served as offices for a variety of tenants with fantastic views of the city and the river. The main floor has housed a variety of banks over the years.

In the 1980’s as the downtown became less attractive to businesses, tenants moved out and the building began to fall into disrepair. Some floors sat vacant for over a decade while the main floor continued to operate as a bank. In 2014 developers Russell Construction and The Amin Group purchased the building and spent $3.5 million dollars converting it into thirty one-bedroom apartments (5 & 15 Apartments) retaining the Chase Bank on the main floor.

06/11/2026

Then & Now: The Butterworth House

This postcard shows one of Moline’s grandest historic homes: the Butterworth House. Built in 1892, the house was a wedding gift from Charles Deere, son of John Deere, for his daughter Katherine Deere and her husband William Butterworth. The family called the home “Hillcrest.”

Perched high above the city in Moline’s Overlook District, the house reflected the wealth and influence of the Deere family during the height of Moline’s industrial growth. Over the years, the Butterworths greatly expanded the mansion, adding elegant entertaining spaces, formal gardens, and even one of the largest residential pipe organs in the Midwest. When comparing the postcard to the photo taken recently, many of the additions become evident.

Katherine Deere Butterworth became known for her philanthropy and community involvement throughout the Quad Cities. After her death in 1953, the home was preserved through the William Butterworth Foundation and eventually became the Butterworth Center, which still serves the community today.

Today, the Butterworth Center & Deere-Wiman House remain some of the best-preserved reminders of the Deere family’s enormous impact on Moline history.

06/08/2026

Then & Now: 5th Avenue (looking east)

5th Avenue is a popular subject of postcards. Once the economic hub of the city, this area of 5th Avenue became the new business district after retailers left 3rd Avenue (now River Drive) for greener pastures a few blocks away.

Most of the buildings in this postcard are still there. On the right the old Shaleen Furniture Company is now Melis pancake house. The clothing store on the left is now Griffin Floorcrafters.

06/04/2026

Then & Now: The G.A. Stephens Residence

Long before the parking lot beside the Scottish Rite Cathedral/The Spotlight Theatre existed, this property was home to one of Moline’s most prominent pioneer families.

George A. Stephens was a co-founder of the Moline Plow Company, which later became part of the massive agricultural manufacturing industry that helped shape Moline’s identity. The Stephens family became one of the city’s most influential early industrial families, and their estate stretched across a huge portion of the hilltop. In fact, the front lawn of the property extended north across what is now 7th Avenue into present-day Stephens Square.

George A. Stephens died in 1900, and after the family left Moline in the 1920s, the property was divided. The portion containing the mansion was sold in 1923 to the Scottish Rite Cathedral Association. The old mansion was later demolished to make room for the new cathedral.

The Scottish Rite Cathedral, which still stands today at 1800 7th Avenue, was dedicated in 1930. Designed in a dramatic Gothic Revival style, it reportedly cost about $450,000 to build, an enormous investment at the time.

One important detail often forgotten today is that the Stephens mansion did not sit where the cathedral now stands. The house was actually located roughly where the current parking lot sits beside the cathedral. I have included a map from 1912 and a screenshot of Google Maps of the same area to show where the house stood.

06/01/2026

Then & Now: the "new" High School

The original “new” Moline High School on 16th Street opened in 1914, replacing the older 1894 school known as “The Castle.” Cost for construction was approximately $200,000. For more than 40 years, this hilltop building served as the home of Moline students and became one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks.

In 1946 parts of the building were used for the Moline Community College to provide education for World War II veterans. The Moline Community College eventually became Black Hawk College.

In 1958, Moline High School outgrew this building and moved to its current campus on Avenue of the Cities.

The Old Moline High School Lofts opened in 2006. The project includes 26 one-bedroom apartments, 22 two-bedroom apartments, 12 three-bedroom apartments at affordable and market rate rents. Twelve of these units are targeted toward the physically disabled. The development includes a media center, a business center, a community room, and a fitness room. The total project cost was $9,885,426.

05/28/2026

Then & Now: The Jubilee On The Boardwalk

Opened in 1987, The Jubilee on the Boardwalk was a three story floating restaurant, opened by Joe Schadler, the owner of the Queen of Hearts Showboat.

Mr. Schadler announced plans to build the floating restaurant in May of 1986 when he sought docking permits from the Army Corps of Engineers. The restaurant was one piece in Schadler’s plan to market river excursions and tours attractions in the Quad Cities.

After the advent of legalized riverboat gambling in Illinois, Mr. Schadler hoped to win one of the states gaming licenses, a hope enhanced when the Moline City Council said it preferred that any riverboat gambling operation here be located on Mr. Schadler’s riverfront site.

Riverboat partnerships with Las Vegas casinos failed to pan out.

The Jubilee closed in December of 1992, and was sold down the river to a gambling operation in Mississippi. Records indicate that this boat ended up as a casino after all, just not in Moline.

05/25/2026

Then & Now: The Chautauqua Building

Built in 1903 by the Tri-City Railway Company, The building was an open-air pavilion. At the time Prospect Park was owned by the railway company, and was often referred to as the little "Coney Island."

In addition to rides, swimming, pony rides, and a zoo, the pavillion was a place for Chautauqua performances. The Chautauqua movement was a nationwide 'subtle revolution' that brought education and the arts to local communities through a unique mix of lectures, concerts, and live theater.

The building fell into disarray after the advent of motion pictures and automobiles decreased the demand for such entertainment.

During 1949 the Quad City Music Guild chose the theater for the site of its first production, ultimately saving the pavilion from demolition. Over the years many improvements have been made to the building. A cement floor was laid, dressing rooms furnished, curtains purchased, and orchestra pit developed and a workroom constructed beneath the stage.

05/21/2026

Then & Now: Black Hawk College

These two postcards show Black Hawk College.

Black Hawk College was founded in 1946 as Moline Community College to serve World War II veterans. The institution was later renamed Black Hawk College in 1961. While the institution was founded in '46, the current Quad-Cities campus in Moline has undergone various developments since then, including major renovations initiated in 2020.

The major renovations are noticeable when comparing the old postcards to their modern day photos. The investment in the community and the quality education make this community college a bright spot in our already great city.

Address

Moline, IL
61265

Telephone

+13098635428

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