First platted as Park Resort and later Harrison; Panama City received its current designation in 1909. More than 100 years ago; men of vision recognized the attractiveness and potential of this land along the shores of St. Andrews Bay; and those visionaries established a city that is now anticipating its centennial year. A local newspaper once reported that such men �saw that nature had dealt kindly with that section of the country and that with properly directed effort a great future awaited it.� Others claimed the area was �nothing but a wilderness.� Today nature�s kindness to those who reside on these shores is apparent. This volume pays tribute to the city by recognizing the places; events; and; most importantly; the individuals who have inspired its success.
#2120932 in eBooks 2008-09-29 2008-09-29File Name: B0099FHD5M
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Before the World Was FlatBy Kenneth W. ZeiglerDavid Coopmans book. Rock Island County. is an important book. Somebody had to write the history of Rock Island County. Illinois. and David Coopman was just the person to do it. He is a lifelong resident of the place and the person whose memory is better than anyone I know. But the work goes well beyond even a prodigious memory. Consisting of remarkable photographs with extensive captions. the book chronicles the history of the county from the early 1800s. The ancient photos sparkle with the plein air lucidity of 19th century photography. How did he dig all this stuff up? In one particularly stunning landscape showing farmers hand spraying fruit trees. the spray. the tree leaves. and the blades of grass are wonderfully distinct.It is an important place. nestled into the confluence of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers. Theres a crook in the Mississippi there. where it runs west instead of south. that is so dramatic. you can readily see it on a globe. It was the home of the great Chief Black Hawk. The county had the first train bridge across the Mississippi River. You probably already knew that. But the rest of our history is hard to find. Mr. Coopman has rooted it out: Coal Valley. Carbon Cliff. Black Hawk Park. You didnt know there were over a hundred coal mines in the county at the turn of the 20th century.Theres something else important about this book. It is a wonderful chronicle of the golden age of urbanism in the U.S. The New Urbanist movement is really the old urbanist movement. In the book. we see the towns and cities of Rock Island County in the era of walkable neighborhoods. locally owned businesses...locally owned industry! The inventor of the steel plow--the greatest thing since the plow itself--set up his business in Moline. (The author and I attended John Deere Junior High School.) In the pictures. the streets of the small cities bustled with pedestrians. shopping. working. building. and playing. Cars were manufactured there. elevators. and Black Hawk Ginger Ale. There were trolley cars. And on the river. paddle wheel boats. ala Mark Twain. And the great dynamo of the industrial millennium throbbed upon the water. Before the world was flat. That was a long time ago. and its worth remembering.
