Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home/Site of Camp Roberts - Davenport, Iowa - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

The following excerpt is taken from "Iowa: A Guide to the Hawkeye State":

IOWA SOLDIERS' ORPHANS' HOME, 2800 Eastern Ave., was originally organized to care for the orphans of Civil War soldiers. The first group of 150 children orphaned by the war, arrived in Davenport on November 16, 1865, by steamer. A staff of 63 people, including four doctors, now take care of 500 dependent or neglected children, among whom are about 100 who are orphans of World War soldiers. One of the buildings is named for Mrs. Annie Wittenmyer, who started and directed the movement for an orphans' home in fulfillment of promises made to many dying soldiers. There are 26 buildings which include a number of cottage-dormitories, barns, a silo, a hospital, and school buildings. The latter are utilitarian in style. At the immediate right of the entrance a cement marker indicates the SITE OF CAMP ROBERTS, later known as Camp Kinsman, a training camp for soldiers of the Civil War.

Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home, also known as the Annie Wittenmyer Home, housed more than 12,000 orphans during its years of operation. It opened in 1865 and ran continuously until it was closed in the 1970s. Some of the historic buildings in the complex have been torn down and newer buildings built, but after it became City property, efforts were made to get the remaining buildings on the Historic Register. The buildings currently house a public library and various community outreach groups. The complex was placed in the National Historic Register in 1982.

The marker telling of the Civil War camp, placed in 1929 by the local D.A.R. chapter, is still there in front of the Annie Wittenmyer building, as it was in 1941 when the guide was written.

Book: Iowa Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 224 Year Originally Published: 1941

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