Meet the Arnolds
tales
from the
iowa great
lakes
Before the amusement park had a name, a family lived on the shore. These photos follow the Arnold family, their home, and their hotel through the decades.
The photos begin with W.B. Arnold, his family, and their home. But it's the photos around him that are hard to look away from: families spread out across the sand, friends sitting shoulder to shoulder on the lawn, the particular ease of people who've found somewhere they want to stay a while. The looseness in these images doesn't match the formality we usually associate with the 1800s. People are laughing. People are close to each other. It looks like summer.
Further down, the property itself changes shape. The Arnold home becomes the Peacock Lounge. The inside photos are especially interesting: low light, wooden tables, and the unmistakable architecture of a home.
And then, at the end, a photo of the family returning comes back. Ella, much older than the girl who traveled with her family west from Wisconsin, and A.O. Stevens, who managed the hotel with his father-in-law.
All of these photographs are courtesy of the Dickinson County Museum, and we're grateful for the chance to share them.
episode info
Before the amusement park had a name, a family lived on the shore. These photos follow the Arnold family, their home, and their hotel through the decades.
The photos begin with W.B. Arnold, his family, and their home. But it's the photos around him that are hard to look away from: families spread out across the sand, friends sitting shoulder to shoulder on the lawn, the particular ease of people who've found somewhere they want to stay a while. The looseness in these images doesn't match the formality we usually associate with the 1800s. People are laughing. People are close to each other. It looks like summer.
Further down, the property itself changes shape. The Arnold home becomes the Peacock Lounge. The inside photos are especially interesting: low light, wooden tables, and the unmistakable architecture of a home.
And then, at the end, a photo of the family returning comes back. Ella, much older than the girl who traveled with her family west from Wisconsin, and A.O. Stevens, who managed the hotel with his father-in-law.
All of these photographs are courtesy of the Dickinson County Museum, and we're grateful for the chance to share them.
episode info
