Moline Has A Newly Designated Historic Landmark! by Barb Sandberg (August 2002)

It's official!!!! The Moline City Council designated the John Deere House a Moline Historic Landmark on July 16, 2002. Although restoration of the home is not complete, the exterior has been returned to its original configuration looking as close as possible to the way it did when John Deere lived in the home from 1880 to 1886. An application is also pending with the State of Illinois for listing the home on the National Register of Historic Places. The review of the application will take place in December in Springfield.

John Deere House, circa 1886

John Deere and his second wife, Lucenia, had been living for many years in a brick house located on the corner of 18th Street and 3rd Avenue (demolished in 1909 to make way for the new post office building which is currently owned by Kone). By 1875 Deere was a wealthy man and could well afford a home more suitable for a man of his status in the community. His son, Charles, had recently built his victorian home, "Overlook," on the bluff just four blocks west of the property that John purchased. From this new location, John would be able to look down on his factories located directly below the property along the banks of the Mississippi River where The MARK now stands.

Over the next five years, John Deere would double the size of the original "cottage" turning it into an impressive Second Empire style home. John Deere added two very innovative additions to his new home. One was the placement of iron rods in all corners of the house to add stability to the structure in case of high winds on the bluff. The other was the installation of an underground air-conditioning system that brought cool air up into this house. The changes that Deere made to the home have all been documented during the recent restoration.

The John Deere house left the Deere family in 1933. It was converted into apartments in 1937 and continued as Red Cliff Apartments with 16 efficiency apartments listed when it was purchased by the City of Moline in 1993. By the late 1980s the structure had fallen into a serious state of disrepair and although many looked at the property when the City put it up for sale, those interested lacked sufficient funding to make the necessary repairs and complete the restoration. Fortunately for Moline and for the historic property, Roger & Cheryle Colemark came forward in 1996 and purchased the home with plans to restore it back to the way it looked when John Deere lived there. They plan to open it to the public as a Social Center and Bed & Breakfast upon completion. This house, being the only physical structure still standing in Moline directly associated with John Deere, makes it one of our most valuable Historic Landmarks.

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