The Col Ballroom
Encyclopedia
The Col Ballroom is located in the West End of Davenport, Iowa
, United States
. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
and on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties as the Saengerfest Halle.
The largest music event in Davenport’s history took place in 1898 when it hosted the 18th annual Saengerfest. It brought together ten local German singing groups as the United Singers of Davenport. Together they organized and hosted the event. The festival included 1,200 singers from Davenport, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
, Elgin, Illinois
, Elkader, Iowa
, LaCrosse, Wisconsin, Manning, Iowa
, Moline, Illinois
, Peoria, Illinois
, Rock Island, Illinois
and St. Louis, Missouri
. The event drew German-Americans from throughout the Midwest, and Western Union
added extra German operators so as to get news of the festival out over the wires. An estimated 100,000 people attended the four-day event. The festival ended with an outdoor concert at Schuetzen Park
that was attended by 12,000 people.
Preparations for the festival included building a 4,000 seat auditorium for the event. A holding company built the wood structure for $4,500. After the festival ended the hall was used as a warehouse. In 1906 a second floor was added by new owners and the building was dedicated as a dance hall called The Coliseum. It was destroyed by fire on October 21, 1913.
In November 1914 the new Coliseum was opened by owner Leo Kerker. The building has a steel frame covered with brick. The building has an arched roof, and individual tiles across the top of the façade each have a letter that spells out the word “Coliseum”. A sign with the name “The Col Ballroom” hangs over the main entrance. The words are in the shape of a heart. In the early 1990s the building was extensively renovated both inside and out. Ownership of The Col was passed to Don Wachel. The Quad Cities Mexican American Organization has owned the building since 1995.
The building has operated as a ballroom and concert venue ever since. A back wall of the building has the autographs of performers who played there. The Col Ballroom was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, and it was inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Music Association hall of fame in 1999.
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
and on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties as the Saengerfest Halle.
History
Davenport’s strong music tradition is due in large part to the influx of German immigrants into the city starting in the late 1840s. They founded numerous music groups in the city before 1900. The groups with longer staying power included: the Liedertafel (founded in 1848), Maennerchor (1851), Strasser’s German Union Brass Band (1856), Germania Band (1883), and three other groups founded in the 1850s included Gesang Chor Der Turngemiende, Deutscher Saengerbund and Onretti Verin. There were also short lived music organizations: Germania Saengerchor, Gesang Verlin Teutonia, Eintracht Glee Club, Claus Groth Singing Society, Thalia Verein, Harrigaria Maennerchor, and the Davenport Saengerbund. In 1858 the city hosted the third annual Saengerfest, or singer’s festival, which drew people from throughout the Mississippi River Valley.The largest music event in Davenport’s history took place in 1898 when it hosted the 18th annual Saengerfest. It brought together ten local German singing groups as the United Singers of Davenport. Together they organized and hosted the event. The festival included 1,200 singers from Davenport, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Eau Claire is a city located in the west-central part of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 65,883 as of the 2010 census, making it the largest municipality in the northwestern portion of the state, and the 9th largest in the state overall. It is the county seat of Eau Claire County,...
, Elgin, Illinois
Elgin, Illinois
Elgin is a city in northern Illinois located roughly northwest of Chicago on the Fox River. Most of Elgin lies within Kane County, Illinois, with a portion in Cook County, Illinois...
, Elkader, Iowa
Elkader, Iowa
Elkader is a city in Clayton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,465 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Clayton County.-History:The city is named after Algerian leader Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza'iri...
, LaCrosse, Wisconsin, Manning, Iowa
Manning, Iowa
Manning is a city in Carroll County, Iowa, United States, along Iowa Highway 141. The population was 1,490 at the 2000 census. It is named for Orlando Harrison Manning, a Lieutenant Governor of Iowa.-History:...
, Moline, Illinois
Moline, Illinois
Moline is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 45,792 in 2010. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities has a population of...
, Peoria, Illinois
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
, Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...
and St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. The event drew German-Americans from throughout the Midwest, and Western Union
Western Union
The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters is in Englewood, Colorado. Up until 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S...
added extra German operators so as to get news of the festival out over the wires. An estimated 100,000 people attended the four-day event. The festival ended with an outdoor concert at Schuetzen Park
Schuetzen Park (Iowa)
Schuetzen Park is a privately owned park located in the west end of Davenport, Iowa, United States. It was developed by the Davenport Schuetzengesellschaft as a location for the practice of target shooting in the traditional German style called "Schuetzen". The park is now owned and operated by...
that was attended by 12,000 people.
Preparations for the festival included building a 4,000 seat auditorium for the event. A holding company built the wood structure for $4,500. After the festival ended the hall was used as a warehouse. In 1906 a second floor was added by new owners and the building was dedicated as a dance hall called The Coliseum. It was destroyed by fire on October 21, 1913.
In November 1914 the new Coliseum was opened by owner Leo Kerker. The building has a steel frame covered with brick. The building has an arched roof, and individual tiles across the top of the façade each have a letter that spells out the word “Coliseum”. A sign with the name “The Col Ballroom” hangs over the main entrance. The words are in the shape of a heart. In the early 1990s the building was extensively renovated both inside and out. Ownership of The Col was passed to Don Wachel. The Quad Cities Mexican American Organization has owned the building since 1995.
The building has operated as a ballroom and concert venue ever since. A back wall of the building has the autographs of performers who played there. The Col Ballroom was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, and it was inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Music Association hall of fame in 1999.
Visiting Artists
The following is a partial list of band leaders and musicians who have performed at The Col:- Louis ArmstrongLouis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
- Les BrownLes BrownLes Brown may refer to:*Les Brown , U.S. Big Band leader, or his son, Les Brown Jr., leader since 2001*Les Brown , American author-See also:*Leslie Brown...
- Johnny CashJohnny CashJohn R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
- Doris DayDoris DayDoris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
- Danzig(band)
- Duke EllingtonDuke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
- Jimi HendrixJimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
- Harry JamesHarry JamesHenry Haag “Harry” James was a trumpeter who led a jazz swing band during the Big Band Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone.-Biography:He was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a...
- Stan KentonStan KentonStanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
- Wayne KingWayne KingWayne King was an American musician, songwriter, singer and orchestral leader. He was sometimes referred to as "the Waltz King" because much of his most popular music involved waltzes; "The Waltz You Saved For Me" was his standard set closing song in live performance and on numerous radio...
- Guy LombardoGuy LombardoGaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
- Marilyn MansonMarilyn MansonMarilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
- MetallicaMetallicaMetallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
- Glen Miller
- Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
- Stevie Ray VaughanStevie Ray VaughanStephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...
- Sonic YouthSonic YouthSonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
- Lawrence WelkLawrence WelkLawrence Welk was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982...
- The Pixies
- The Beastie Boys
- The ReplacementsThe ReplacementsThe Replacements were an American punk rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1979, and are considered pioneers of alternative rock. The band was composed of guitarist and vocalist Paul Westerberg, guitarist Bob Stinson, bassist Tommy Stinson, and drummer Chris Mars for most of their career...