The Bluff Stairway from the top down to the riverside terrace area.
The Bluff Stairway in winter, 1942.
In June, 1933, as part of WPA and RFC loans and grants, the then Keokuk and Hamilton Bridge Company donated to the city of Keokuk steps that had led from the old bridge to Water Street. This steel staircase was installed on the bluff at Rand Park directly opposite the Chief Keokuk statue. At the base on the riverfront was a small terraced area for picnicking.
Bill Wolf of Keokuk reminisced, "I remember when the steps down the bluff were new, maybe a WPA project. How many times 'my gang' and I used them is countless; that's how we got down (more easily) to the tracks where we would place pennies on the rails so that an oncoming train could flatten them!"
My older brothers remembered the remnants of stone BBQs and picnic tables that still existed at the base in the early 1960s.
As of 2009 the stairway is long gone and the riverfront picnic area completely overgrown.
The Bluff Stairway in winter, 1942.
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