The Black Hawk Inns

Five successive buildings stood on this site. In 1882, Black Hawk Pavilion was built on the crest of the bluff at Black Hawk's Watch Tower, with a small dining room and kitchen serving picnickers who arrived by steam-powered streetcar to hike the trails and picnic; it was torn down in 1891 when the amusement park was established. The first Black Hawk Inn opened to the public on July 15, 1892, built at a cost of $10,000 with a dining room and ballroom, while piano and vocal performances were given in second-floor parlors, before fire destroyed it on July 3, 1896. The second Black Hawk Inn opened on June 25, 1897, built at a cost of $20,000, and its grand opening drew 5000 people; it had a dining room and ice cream parlor on the first floor, open verandas overlooking the Rock River valley, and a large second-floor ballroom with live bands every Saturday night, until fire destroyed it on August 1, 1915. The third Black Hawk Inn opened on June 16, 1916, built at a cost of $60,000 as a fireproof structure with a first-floor dining room and second-floor ballroom; Illinois purchased the land in 1927, took possession of the inn, and razed it in 1935 to make way for the present building.

Rock Island, Illinois · United States