122.667.3

This photograph, taken by W. G. White on October 7, 1938, shows the new Grand Avenue underpass from Fifth Street, looking north toward Lincoln Way. Tracks from the Chicago & North Western Railroad cover the bridge spanning Grand Ave. In the center left is the water tank which occupied the western edge of the Chicago & North Western Depot Park. The Interurban Railroad Depot can be seen in the center right of the photograph, above the bridge. That depot occupied the space which today [2005] is the site of the Greater Iowa Credit Union (once, the ISU Credit Union). Originally, the depth of the underpass was within inches of the level of the nearby Squaw Creek. This fact accounted for frequent flooding of the underpass in its early years. The drainage has since been changed to help prevent flooding. Additionally, the depth has been changed and the street widened in a number of reconstructions. Note the art students, sitting on the sidewalk in the left of the photograph, sketching the underpass.