Above: Iowa Avenue in Muscatine, looking toward the Mississippi River, 1951.  The library is to the right.  While we lived in Muscatine, which fronts the Mississippi River 30 miles downstream from Davenport-Rock Island-Moline, it was common for the river to flood some years.  This year was no exception, and the river crested at about 21 feet above flood stage, according to the diary.  Parts of Muscatine were put on alert, the waterfront had its nearly annual sand-bagging brigade, and Dad helped one of his co-workers in a part of town prone to flooding move furniture to their attic in case they were affected.  They escaped any damage.