Crane Co., Davenport, IA

Crane Company building, 217 East 2nd Street, Davenport, Iowa. The first recorded structure on this site is a residence numbered 219. The building was home to Dr. John Emerson, the owner of the slave Dred Scott, from 1842 to 1843. A structure similar in size to that of the Crane Co. building first appears at this location on Sanborn Fire Insurance Co. maps in 1892. Reimers & Fernald (formerly located at the west end of the block) had their crackers and candy factory in a three-story, doublewide structure at this location. Founded in 1871 by Capt. August

Reimers, the company became known as Reimers & Fernald in 1874. The business specialized in the “Poetless” brand of crackers, with a distribution throughout much of the Midwest. It appears that Reimers & Fernald remained in the building through 1909, and in 1910 a washing machine warehouse (Lasher Manufacturing Co.) was the occupant. In September 1921, the local architectural firm of Clausen & Kruse

designed “alterations” of the building for the Crane Co. Crane Co., a heating supply distributor, occupied the structure through at least 1940.

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Uploaded on May 16, 2017
Taken on July 1, 2016