Port Byron Academy
The Port Byron Academy was established in Port Byron mainly through the
efforts of Reverend A. A. Harper. His son, E. T. Harper was the first
principal. The school was started in 1881 in the second story of the
building now occupied by Adrian and Witter's implement store, in the
Dorrance Block. It has a strong Alumni, numbering among its members many
prominent men and women. Professor M. J. Yolton, a graduate of the
institution, is its present principal.
The Port Byron Academy is located at Port Byron, one of the oldest towns
in Rock Island County, lies on the sloping hillside of the east bank of
the Mississippi. The situation is healthful and the scenery of the river
and bluffs is noted for its beauty. The village has some eight hundred
inhabitants and has a high moral and social tone. In many respects it is a
New England town. It has a quiet, intellectual atmosphere well suited to
an earnest pursuit of studies. It stands about thirteen miles north of
Moline, and is on the new main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul
railroad to Kansas City. It is also reached by the Chicago, Burlington and
Quincy railroad, and by ferry to LeClaire, with the Interurban line to
Davenport and Clinton.
The purpose of the academy is to supply a high grade of scholastic
education under the best of Christian influences. It attempts to give the
broadest and best culture combined with a practical education for every
day life. It plans to use the latest methods and to keep abreast with all
the advances in modern learning.
The academy is a chartered institution under the direct control of the
board of trustees. It has the hearty support of the Rock River and
Davenport, Iowa, Association of Congregational Churches and is under their
general supervision.
Beloit College takes an active part in promoting the interests of the
academy, in securing and directing. its teachers, in planning its courses
of study.
Early Settlements of Rock County
Source: Historic Rock Island County, pub. Kramer & Company, Rock Island, Illinois, 1908