Rock Island Waterfront
As we have been working on revising some of our Rock Island history this week, it seemed appropriate to use a photo from our limited Rock Island Collection. This photo shows part of the Rock Island Waterfront. Generally, the waterfront appeared to have two sections, much like the Waterfronts today: a swimming area and a boating area.
What made the Rock Island waterfront so unique though was the use of a “crib.” Because the waterfront was on a river with a particularly deep bottom, “cribs” were constructed with sides and a bottom underwater to keep Scouts from disappearing. One crib was dedicated exclusively to the “swimming area,” while the boating area (shown here) had two cribs. It appears from this image that these cribs could be used not only for practice boating, but also for lifesaving and advanced swimming practices.
This photo is special for another reason as well, though it might not be readily apparent by looking. The “Virtual Boxwell” project began in the late 1990s with an attempt to acquire and scan as many camp-related photos as possible. This photo was in the early group, captured in September 2000. As was sometimes the case back in those “early days,” the original owner of the photo was never captured. As a result, we can safely say this was among the first photos scanned and acquired for what is now VirtualBoxwell.org!