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From: "Cathy Joynt Labath" <>
Subject: [IASCOTT] Scott County-1846
Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2002 13:45:23 -0600


A Glimpse of Iowa in 1846
By John B. Newhall

SCOTT COUNTY.
This is one of the river counties, situated north of Muscatine, and
occupying nearly a central position in the Territory, from north to south;
there being four counties below and four above, bordering upon the
Mississippi.
In the interior of Scott, remote from the river, there is a deficiency
of timber. Probably the prairies are among the largest of any of the
surveyed portions of the Territory, although handsomely undulating and
fertile. Nature, as if to compensate for the absence of timber in the
interior, appears to have selected the region bordering upon the
Mississippi, as one of her chosen spots. Ever since the earliest settlement
of Iowa, this portion has been justly esteemed among the most desirable and
fascinating regions of the boundless West. Being entirely free from low
bottom lands, (the usual causes of disease,) it was early selected by the
sagacious pioneers, among the favored spots of the upper Mississippi valley.
Perhaps no other country in the world presents so happy a combination of
picturesque beauties, blended with excellence of soil and salubrity of
climate, as the vicinity of Rock Island. All, who have ever visited this
charming region, concur in expressing their admiration of the surpassing
beauties of nature's inimitable works.
Davenport is the seat of justice of Scott county, and the most
important town in the county. It is beautifully situated, on a plain upon
the western shore of the Mississippi, directly opposite the town of Rock
Island, Illinois. It contains a handsome brick court house; a large and
spacious hotel, constructed at a cost of about $30,000; sustains a weekly
newspaper, numerous mercantile establishments, and all the various mechanic
arts, trades, &c. (See Davenport Directory.)
Rockingham is also a beautifully located village, situated upon the
Mississippi, about three miles below Davenport. Population of Scott county
in 1838, 1252; in 1840, 2193; and in 1844, 2750.


Cathy Joynt Labath
Scott County, Iowa USGenWeb Project
http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/index.htm
Iowa History Project
http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm


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