The geocache is available to be found in Daylight Hours ONLY.
Please park only in designated areas.
Please replace/re-hide the geocache as it was found to allow the same fun experience for all geocachers.
Cache safely and HAVE FUN !
There were originally some COMMEMORATIVE WOODEN COINS that were contained in each museum geocache, and you could take one. Due to popularity, many of the museum caches no longer have any of the coins available in the caches, but you may go inside during business hours and check with the host location to see if they have any left on hand.
NOTE: Be sure to write down the NUMERIC CODE associated with, and contained in each cache. Those numbers will be used to locate the coordinates to the BONUS CACHE for this series!
Click this bookmark link to see all of the Q.C. Museum Series caches: [Click Here]
Imagine stepping in the footprints of a person from over a century ago…only to see them appear before your eyes. Hear the sounds of a storm at sea, the roar of an old wooden German rollercoaster, and joyous music celebration as you travel through 2,000 years. Listen in on century old conversations on an old party-line phone that tell the emotional story of despair, hope and triumph. See a reflection of yourself as a turn of the century immigrant as you explore and try on clothing of yesteryear. Enter a restored hotel room, sit on its bed and gaze out at the Mississippi at the same sight an immigrant took in on their first night in Davenport.
In the mid-to-late 1800’s millions of German citizens left their homeland and settled as immigrants in the United States. The 1900 U.S. Census documented that over half the citizens in Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota were German immigrants or their descendents. Scott County, where the first passenger railroad crossed the Mississippi River, was the entry point for many immigrants to the upper Midwest region and points west. In 1900, Joseph Eiboeck, a veteran German newspaperman, described Davenport as, “the most German city, not only in the State, but in all the Middle West, the center of all German activities in the State”.
Founded on August 1, 1994 as a private, not-for-profit organization, the German American Heritage Center (GAHC) seeks to preserve the heritage of our German speaking ancestors for present and future generations and to enrich our knowledge of the German immigrant experience.
Today GAHC, a National Historic Site, has evolved a museum that includes a large permanent exhibit and two rotating special exhibits. Within the permanent exhibit, visitors enjoy an orientation theater, six education stations, and two restored hotel rooms. Visitors enjoy an interactive experience as you learn about immigrants’ journey by sea, train and foot, to their final destination at the German American Heritage Center building, which was originally a very busy hotel for thousands of immigrants in the 1860s. One of the highlights in the exhibit is called “Step into my Shoes.” Visitors will find footprints of a child, female and male at this section. They can step on any set of the footprints, which then triggers the corresponding character to appear before them on a screen and talk about their personal experience as an immigrant. Visitors may also try on clothing that immigrants would have worn during the turn of the century, and enjoy exploring many artifacts on display. The museum also provides educational programs, workshops and classes relating to the German American experience and culture; Assists in the coordination of festivals to foster an understanding of German American heritage; provides for cultural exchange through language classes and production of cultural presentations to the public; and partners with other heritage groups on programs, exhibits and events.
The GAHC building was built in the 1860s, and was originally the Standard Hotel where thousands of German immigrants stayed in the 1800s when they arrived in the area. The building was purchased in 1995, partially restored in 1999, and reopened to the public in May, 2000. In October 2009, GAHC debuted a newly expanded space including a new large interactive permanent exhibit called the “German Immigrant Experience,” two traveling exhibit spaces, and large program facilities. GAHC offers several new programs based on the new permanent exhibit and two new temporary exhibit spaces.
The German immigrant experience is an integral part of the history and fabric of life in Iowa, in the region and in the nation. The German American Heritage Center (GAHC) was formed in 1994 to document and celebrate this heritage.
The Germania House was among the earliest of many “Gast Haus” building in the area. This structure is the last remaining immigrant hotel of that period in the region and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The GAHC saved the building from deterioration and potential demolition by raising $1.3 million to restore the exterior of the building and to restore the first and second floors of the four story building for use as a historical center. That work to save this historic treasure and to utilize it as the German American Heritage Center was completed in 2004.
The Mission is to “preserve and enrich for present and future generations knowledge of the German immigrant experience and its impact on the American Culture.” GAHC’s focus is cultural programs and immigrant contributions. GAHC seeks to reach out to other cultural groups and demonstrate the contributions immigrants from many countries and from varied backgrounds have made to the ethnic palette which is the United States.
More information is available at this link: http://gahc.org/default.htm
Permission for placement of this geocache was granted by: Kelly Lao - German-American Heritage Center
DTCBears is a supporting member of:
