Diane Oestreich Presents Maps Of The WATCH TOWER AMUSEMENT PARK Rock Island, Illinois 1882 - 1927

03/14/2009 ... Attached are Sanborn Fire Insurance maps of the Watchtower Amusement park from 1906 through the 1930s as the current lodge was being built.

The scans show the layout of the park from an old multiple paste-overs original 1906 Sanborn map and I have scanned it for placement on the website. It's larger than my scanner so I had to piece two scans together.

Watch Tower 1 is how the site appeared in 1906. Yellow structures are frame construction; blue means masonry construction. Dotted lines indicate open buildings or porches. The number on a roof shows the height of the building.There is a single paste over (Paste Over 1) for Watch Tower 1. This added an open skating rink, a rectangular merry go round, a "booth" and a photo shop.

About 1916, after a new Inn had been constructed, a large sheet was added that replaced Watch Tower 1 and I've called it Watch Tower 2. This shows the addition of many features. When the state took over the site, there were three Paste Overs - A, B, and C, which changed the name and eliminated the carnival aspects. The last Paste Over D shows the appearance in 1936 with the current 'wings' of the main inn after the old inn was demolished but before the current center Inn was constructed.

Hope this is clear, but it will take some study.

Wonderful website!

Diane Oestreich