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732 Gaines Street Davenport, IA 52802


 

THE JIPP        

Christian Jipp, an immigrant from Schleswig-Holstein, worked as a clerk at various retail shops along the Mississippi riverfront from 1860 to 1867. In 1868 he built the grocery at 8th and Gaines. This was one of the first retail businesses to progress up the hill from the riverfront on the city’s west side. He and his wife Fanny and their three children Ella, Rhoda and Meta lived in the back of the store for 10 years.  In 1878, he added the attached house.

After Christian’s death in 1913, the home was owned by his daughter Meta Jipp. The home was divided into two dwellings by 1920, with Meta and a tenant in residence. Various grocers ran the store from 1910 to 1953.  By 1940, the home is in the name of Rhoda Jipp, the last surviving member of the original family. She is living there with a tenant. After her death in 1945, the home continued to be two apartments.  In 1955 the store is listed in the city directory as Binders antique shop, and in 1956 thru 1958 as Henshaw Upholstering . In 1959 thru 1983 it is listed as various Laundromats.

       By 1984, the home address and store are listed as vacant.

Building for the Future

In 1989, after numerous code violations, the city inspection staff recommended the building be demolished. Various plans for use for the structure were proposed, including a beer garden but these plans were never realized. In 1997, the building was purchased by a neighborhood organization with the goal of obtaining grants to rehabilitate the structure. These plans also went unrealized. By 2004, deterioration on the west side caused an interior brick wall to collapse.  The building rose to #1 on the city’s demolition list. That same year, Gateway Redevelopment Group launched a fund drive to save the building. Using donations of cash from neighbors and supporters, the professional expertise of neighbors and area contractors, grants from RDA and the State Historical Society of Iowa, and thousands of hours of volunteer labor, the building was saved to become the offices of GRG, the home of their Architectural Rescue Shop, a caretaker apartment and the Hamburg historic Resource Center.


   

Only known Jipp Grocery ad 1871       


 

 

 

Jipp bottle description from Antique Bottles of Iowa 1846-1915  

 


 

 

Davenport Daily Republican March 20, 1902

 


1833 - Christian Jipp was born in Holstein region of the German confederation.

1835 - Fanny was born in Holstein region of the German confederation.

 April 23,1857 - Christian arrives on board the steamship Howard from Hamburg to New York. Destination listed as Davenport.

1870 - Family listed in the Davenport census  - Christian, Fanny, Meta, Ella, Rhoda and a domestic servant Cristina Rolf in household.

1885 - Christian, Fanny Meta, Ella, Rhoda and a Christian (age 17, born in Germany), listed in household

April 3, 1888 - Fanny dies. Is buried in Oakdale Cemetery

1900 - Census - Christian listed as widower

March 10, 1913 - Christian Jipp dies. Is buried in Oakdale Cemetery.


From the Davenport city directories

1920

730 Miss M M Jipp

730 1/2 Dorothy Shurleff

732 A E Postel grocer

1955

730 Fannie M Schirach owner

730 1/2 Florence Witherspoon

732 Binder's Antique Shop

 

1923, 1925

 730 Miss M M Jipp

 732 V B DiMaria gro

 Jipp Meta M h 730 Gaines

 Jipp Rhonda E tchr J B Young school r730 Gaines

1956

730 Fannie M Schirach owner

730 1/2 Florence Witherspoon

732 Henshaw Upholstering Shop

1930

730 Gaines Alvin F Schaefer

732 Gaines Vincent B DiMaria

1957, 1958

730 Vacant

730 1/2 Florence Witherspoon

732 Henshaw Upholstering Shop

1932

730 Rhoda Jipp owner

730 1/2 Gaines Alvin F Schaefer

732 Gaines Vincent B DiMaria gro h2427 W Locust

1960

730 Darlene G Moore

730 1/2 Florence Witherspoon

732 Howard Laundromat

1933

730 Rhoda Jipp owner

730 1/2 vacant

732 Hilltop Market

1966

730 Gaston R Letarte

730 1/2 Florence Witherspoon

732 Stewart's Laundromat

 

1934

Vincent DiMaria (Jule) mgr Hilltop Market h

 730 1/2 Brown Meta Jipp r730 Gaines

1970

730 Robt Drovin

730 1/2 Joseph Pierre

732 Johnson C Laundromat

1934, 1935, 1940, 1944

730 Gaines Rhoda E Jipp owner

730 1/2 Ada Malueg teacher Sudlow Intermediate school

732 Hilltop Market

 

1975

730 Vacant

730 Mrs. Delores Cribbbs

732 Johnson C Laundromat

 

1945,1947

730 Fannie M Schirach owner

730 1/2 Ada Malueg

732 Hilltop Market

1980, 1982, 1983

732 Gaines Street Laundromat

1949, 1951, 1954

 

730 Fannie M Schirach owner

730 1/2 Ada Malueg

732 Hilltop Market

 

1984, 1985

730 Vacant

732 Vacant

 

 


 May 7, 1885 Davenport Daily Gazette

Cremation Society Meeting

 

 


Gateway Redevelopment Group, Davenport, Iowa