Name: Horton-Suiter House
Address: 108 N. 2nd St.
Acreage: less than one
Physical Description:
A 1 1/2-story frame "cottage," built c. 1860, and set on a 
raised lot surrounded by a stone retaining wall. House is 
five bays across the front, with a low-pitched gable roof 
with ridge parallel to the front facade. The center entrance 
is sheltered by a small porch supported by slender turned 
posts. A later addition is a one-story section, with slanted 
roof, on the northeast corner.

Significance:
The house is believed to have been built for Henry Horton, 
who worked as an engineer on raft steamers. It was later 
occupied by James Suiter (1878-1906), one of the last of 
the LeClaire rapids pilots, who supported his river income 
by working as a mortician during the winter months when 
the river was frozen.

Name: Samuel Van Sant House
Address: 322 North Cody Road
Acreage: less than one
Physical Description:
A 1 1/2 story frame house sheathed in narrow clapboards, built about 1860. L-shaped in plan with a relatively wide front gable facing the street and the main roof parallel to the street. There is a large triangular wall dormer centered in the front of the long arm of the L. Windows have flat enframements with very, hallow triangular pediments. A plain wooden porch, tucked into the angles of the L is a later addition.

Significance:
House was associated with Samuel Van Sant, son of the head of the LeClaire Marine Railways boatyards. In the late 1869's, while still a young man, Sam Van Sant designed and built the "J. W. Van Sant," a prototype for a raft boat which was to revolutionize the movement of logs and lumber down the Mississippi River. In the 1880's he moved to Minnesota, and later became governor of that state.

Name: George Tromley, Jr. House
Address: 127 Jones St.
Physical Description:
1 1/2 -story frame house, c. 1865. situated on a raised lot surrounded by a low stone retaining wall. The main roof is a jerkinhead, with ridge parallel to the street, and there is a large jerkinhead dormer centered in the front facade. Curving around the southeast corner is a one-story porch, connecting on the northeast corner with a one-story, gable-roofed section which may have once been the summer kitchen. House is faced with narrow clapboards. and has a single brick chimney with corbelled cap. Original ornate trim has been removed from the porch.

Significance:
George Tromley, Jr. (born in 1857) was the second generation of Tromleys to work as a pilot on the Upper Rapids, and thus was among the distinctive family groups which maintained their connection with the river trade over many years.

Name: William Suiter House
Address: 227 Wisconsin
Acreage: less than one acre
Physical Description:
Two story house with shallow gable roof, with its ridge parallel to the front façade. The front is three bays wide, with center entrance flanked by sidelights beneath a small gable roof. This latter feature postdates an estimated construction date of 1855. Windows are 6/6 sash in flat, plain surrounds. The exterior has been faced with modern siding. The plan is the traditional center hall, single pile arrangement, with rather recent frame and concrete-block additions at the rear. There is a single brick chimney centered in the roof ridge.

Significance:
The house was built for William Suiter, born in 1826 and a son of Phillip Suiter, one of the community’s original settlers and rapids pilots. William began life on the river as a raft hand, but was piloting boats by the time he was 21, a profession he followed for nearly 40 years. His sons, Mordecai, William and Charles, all born in the 1850’s, did not follow their father to work on the river, but instead went into railroading, the form of transportation which was to render the steamboat obsolete.

Name: Rambo House
Address: 430 N. Cody Road
Acreage: less than one
Physical Description:
A transitional Greek Revival/Italianate frame dwelling, built c. 1855. Two stories high, three bays across the front, two bays deep. Has cornerboards terminating in molding just under the broad eaves of the hipped roof, large brackets, and center entrance with a triangular pedimented lintel/enframement. Windows on both floors are almost floor-to-ceiling, with straight, molded lintels and flat enframements. A porch, with pent roof supported on slender turned posts (bracketed) extends across the front façade. Protruding polygonal bay on the first floor, south side. The lot is well above street level, surrounded by a stone retaining wall.

Significance:
William Rambo came to LeClaire in 1844, and established a saw mill (Scott and Rambo) south of the town. From 1853 until his death in 1871, he worked as a pilot on the Upper Rapids. His son James W., born in 1844, first worked as a raft hand in 1862. He received his pilot’s license the following year. Income from his work as a pilot and from the lumber mill allowed him to invest in Nebraska real estate as well as lead a comfortable life in LeClaire.

Name: McCaffrey House
Address: 208 N. Cody Road
Acreage: approximately one

Physical Description:
Two-story frame Italianate house on stone foundation. Exterior sheathed in narrow clapboards, with corner board extending to cornice level. Windows have curved wooden lintels and flat enframements, as does the main entrance, located to the right of the 3-bay main facade. The roof is a low hip, with plain, unbracketted wooden cornice. There is a two-story polygonal bay on the south side, with a bracketed cornice above the first story bay, Additions include a one-story screened porch on the south side, a large rock chimney at the rear. Located on a corner lot raised well above street level, with stone retaining wall on east and south sides. Built in 1870. 

Significance: 
John McCaffrey was, over his long career, a boat clerk, pilot, captain, and raft boat owner, as well as having interests in lumber and mining ventures. Born in Ireland in 1842, he came with his family to St. Louis when a child. He began river life at age 13, as a hand on a floating raft, and by 1864 was piloting on the Upper Rapids on a regular basis, his first boat being the "Alvira." He bought interests in the "James Means" and "LeClaire Belle", as well as other steamers and raft boats. Toward the end of his life, McCaffrey left LeClaire, and became a planter in Louisiana.

McCaffrey House is now the home of Grasshoppers Gift Shop and Tea Room.

Name: George Tromley Sr. House
Address: 806 N. Cody Road
Acreage: less than one

Physical Description:
House was built in two sections, the first, according to local tradition, c. 1840, although a mid-century date is more likely. The house is two stories, with a low-pitched hipped roof. The older section is constructed of brick, now painted white, The three-bay front has main entrance to the left, sheltered by a small gable-roofed porch on square posts which is probably a rather late addition. Windows have lintels with nearly flat pediments. The later section is of frame construction, with windows set in flat enframements topped with narrow cornices . In the angle formed b the two sections (south side) is a one-story porch with pent roof, supported on slender turned posts. On the south side of the older section is a two-story rectangular bay, a small pent roof separating the stories. A similar bay, though polygonal, is found on the southeast corner of the later section.

Significance:
George Tromley Sr. began his career on the floating log rafts common before the Civil War. After the war, Tromley and a local engineer, Thomas Doughty, took the small steamer "LeClaire" upriver, to conduct an experiment involving the use of a steamboat to push a log raft. Although the " LeClaire" was not powerful enough to control the raft, this venture set an example for Samuel Van Sant, who in 1870 built a boat sufficiently large and powerful to "tow" a log raft. The Doughty/Tromley experiment was thus a precursor of a major development in the transportation of logs from the northern forests to the mills.

Name: Jacob Suiter House
Address: 214 S. 2nd Street
Physical Description:
Two story brick house on limestone foundation, 3 bays across the front with a low hipped roof, built 1860. A simpler version of the Dawley house (127 S. 2^nd), with bracketed cornice and corner pilasters. Windows are 2/2 sash with broad flat lintels and narrow sills. A small wooden porch, supported on very slender turned posts, shelters the centrally-located main entrance. There is a one-story brick kitchen addition, with gable roof, at the rear, and a smaller frame addition beyond this.

Significance:
Jacob Suiter (1828-1904) was of the second generation of Suiters to follow the river trade as a raft and rapids pilot. His account book lists many of the boats he piloted, including "Stillwater", "Eclipse", "LeClaire Belle," and "Silver Crescent." Ten dollars appears to have been the standard rate for a trip over the upper rapids during the 1870’s. The house is also, of architectural interest. It is essentially a smaller, simpler version of the Dawley House (127 S. 2^nd St.) with clean lines and typical bracketed cornice of the vernacular Italianate style.

Name: Dawley House
Address: 127 S. 2nd Street
Owner: Don Frantz
Address: 127 S. Second St.
Legal Description: Lot 1O of Block 9 of the original town of LeClaire
Acreage.- less than one

Physical Description:

A two-story Italianate house, built of brick on a stone foundation the shallow hipped roof has four short, wide chimneys symmetrically spaced. The house is three bays across the front, four along the sides. Flat brick pilasters separate the bays on the front and south sides. These have narrow caps just below the level of the cornice. The eaves are rather narrow, with paired brackets. Windows are 6/6 sash with flat lintels and sills. The main entrance is to the left on the front facade. The wooden porch, extending across the front, with its thick chamfered posts, is Gothic Revival in influence and probably of a later date than the 1851 construction date. At the rear is a one-story kitchen wing, also with bracketed hip roof and wooden cornice. A small porch on the south side of this wing is supported on somewhat attenuated columns. A stone, retaining wall extends across the south side and rear of the lot, which slopes steeply down to the east.

Significance:

Daniel V. Dawley was born in Vermont in 1811. He worked in Troy, New York and New York City before coming west in 1834. About 1836 he obtained his first river job, that of clerk of the steamer "Hero". For the next 38 years he was employed on the river as either clerk or captain, working such boats as "Galena", "Henry Clay". He was also part owner of the "Golden Era" and worked extensively for the Minnesota Packet Company. He was appointed postmaster at LeClaire in 1881, and died in 1893.

Name: John Smith house
Address: 426 Dodge
Acreage: less than one
Physical Description:

Built in the early 1850's, this house is a small brick
dwelling, one story, on a low stone foundation. It has a gable roof, with ridge parallel to the front facade. The front is three bays, the sides two. The house has a center hall plan, the entrance sheltered by a small, flat-roofed porch supported on slender wooden posts. Windows have flat stone linters.

Name: John Smith House ("Smith-Parrick") 
<Photo not currently available>
Address: 126 S. Cody Road
Physical Description: (Razed 1978) 21/2-story house built of brick on a stone foundation, with a symmetrical front of 5 bays and a low-pitched gable roof with ridge parallel to the front facade. The central entrance has a wide enframement with sidelights. Windows are 2/2 sash, with flat sills and wooden shutters. The house is four bays deep, with two windows symmetrically placed beneath each gable end. There are porches on front and rear, with flat roofs and slender turned posts. The front porch, due to the slope of the lot to the east, is elevated above the level of the street, and has delicate, wrought iron cresting along the edge of the roof. A single chimney is located toward the north edge of the roof on the east side. The cornice has a wide wooden frieze, beaded at the bottom. Built 1849-50.

This house was originally built for William Allen, a steamboat captain. In the 1860's it was acquired by John Smith, a rapids pilot associated with the "Effie Afton" case.

(See inventory for John Smith House, 426 Dodge).

Name: Old Mill House
Address:

This house was built in 1851 at 419 N. Cody Road.  It sits on a stone foundation which, on the river side, forms a walk-in basement and is a two story, five bay, clapboard house with a gabled roof.  This house was acquired in 1865 by J. W. Van Sant with the adjoining boatyards.419 N. Cody Road

Name: John H. Suiter House

A two story house of frame construction on a stone foundation was built in 1855.  The front of the house is three bays wide with a sheltered porch running the full width of the facade.  This house is located at 1220 N. 2nd Street.  John H. Suiter was the second generation of Suiters on the river.  From 1843 until 1875 he worked as a rapids pilot.