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Chronicling America
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Newspaper The Rock Island Argus and Daily Union (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923 Rock Island Argus / Argus / Daily union

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About The Rock Island Argus and Daily Union (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923

Located on the Mississippi River, Rock Island, Illinois, is one of the Quad Cities, along with Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf and is the seat of Rock Island County (Yes, there are five cities included within the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area). Rock Island gets its name from the largest island in the Mississippi River, which was formerly called Rock Island and is now called Arsenal Island.

The Rock Island Argus is one of Illinois’ oldest newspapers and has been in continuous publication since 1851, when a weekly paper titled Rock Island Republican was founded by F. S. Nichols. In 1854, Colonel J. B. Danforth purchased the paper and began publishing a daily edition, along with the weekly. In 1859, Danforth, who was a Democrat, changed its name to the Rock Island Argus, to distinguish it as separate from the Republican Party.

In 1882, John W. Potter bought the Rock Island Argus, and when he died in 1898, his wife, Minnie, took over its operation. The Rock Island Argus only had 500 subscribers when John Potter took it over, but, by all accounts, the newspaper thrived under Minnie Potter’s leadership. The Potter family owned and managed the entire family of Rock Island Argus newspapers, including Rock Island Daily Argus (1886-93), the Rock Island Argus (1893-1920), and its successors until the paper was purchased by the Small Newspaper Group in 1985.

On October 16, 1908, the “worst fire in [the] city’s history” broke out. It was brought on by an explosion of coal dust in the yards of the Rock Island Lumber Company. The Argus published a special “Midnight Fire Edition” and reported that “millions of feet of lumber” were “devoured” before the fire could be put out. Three people were injured; 500 men were “thrown out of employment”; and an estimated $550,000 in total damages was reported.

The Rock Island Argus is still in publication today, with its headquarters now in Moline, Illinois. The Small Newspaper Group—which also owns the Dispatch—combined the two newspapers, with the content varying only in their respective mastheads.

Provided By: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Rock Island Argus and Daily Union (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923

Other Title

  • Rock Island Argus
  • Argus
  • Daily union

Dates of Publication

  • 1920-1923

Created / Published

  • Rock Island, Ill. : J.W. Potter Co., 1920-1923.

Headings

  • -  Rock Island (Ill.)--Newspapers
  • -  Moline (Ill.)--Newspapers
  • -  East Moline (Ill.)--Newspapers
  • -  Illinois--East Moline
  • -  Illinois--Moline
  • -  Illinois--Rock Island
  • -  United States--Illinois--Rock Island County--Rock Island

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Daily (except Sunday)
  • -  69th year, no. 134 (Mar. 25, 1920)-72nd year, no. 119 (May 4, 1923).
  • -  "Official Paper City of Rock Island"--Publisher's box.
  • -  "An Independent Newspaper."
  • -  Irregular number of pages published per issue.
  • -  Issues for Oct. 2, 1920, Sept. 29, 1921, and Sept. 30, 1922 include sections labeled: "Rock Island Independents' Booster Edition."
  • -  Issue for Nov. 8, 1920 includes an "imitation newspaper" section labeled "The Legion Booster," published by the Minstrel Committee of the Rock Island Legion Post No. 200.
  • -  Issues for Dec. 31, 1920, Dec. 31, 1921, and Dec. 30, 1922 called also: "Year-End Review."
  • -  Issue for Jan. 18, 1921 includes section labeled: "The New Fort Armstrong Theatre Edition."
  • -  Continues the numbering of Rock Island Argus (Rock Island, Ill. : 1893).
  • -  Issue for 70th year, no. 59 (Dec. 25, 1920) erroneously designated as 70th year, no. 60 (Dec. 26, 1920).
  • -  Various incorrect numbering.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Formed by the union of: Rock Island Argus (Rock Island, Ill. : 1893) and: Rock Island daily union (Rock Island, Ill. : 1908).
  • -  Rock Island Argus (Rock Island, Ill. : 1923) (DLC)sn 82016429 (OCoLC)9321540

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations, portraits.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn92053933

OCLC Number

  • 26846808

ISSN Number

  • 2377-7060

Preceding Titles

Succeeding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Rock Island Argus and Daily Union Rock Island, Ill. -1923. (Rock Island, IL), Jan. 1 1920. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn92053933/.

APA citation style:

(1920, January 1) The Rock Island Argus and Daily Union Rock Island, Ill. -1923. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn92053933/.

MLA citation style:

The Rock Island Argus and Daily Union Rock Island, Ill. -1923. (Rock Island, IL) 1 Jan. 1920. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn92053933/.