The B.J. Palmer House, is located on the Brady Street Hill in Davenport, Iowa

Davenport, Iowa

Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is on the campus of Palmer College of Chiropractic

Palmer College of Chiropractic

Palmer College of Chiropractic is a chiropractic school located in Davenport, Iowa. It was established in 1897 by Daniel David Palmer and is considered "The Fountainhead" as it was the first school of chiropractic in the world. For many years, Palmer College of Chiropractic was the world's largest...

 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 since 1984.

B.J. Palmer

Bartlett Joshua Palmer (1882–1961) was the son of Daniel David Palmer

Daniel David Palmer

Daniel David Palmer or D.D. Palmer was the founder of chiropractic. Palmer was born in Pickering, near Toronto, Canada. While working as a magnetic healer in Davenport, Iowa, United States he encountered a janitor, Harvey Lillard, whose hearing was impaired...

 who established the practice of chiropractic. B.J. Palmer convinced his father to establish a school of chiropractic in Davenport. In the first decade of the 20th century B.J. Palmer purchased the mansions built by J.C. Duncan W.D. Petersen and Thomas Barron on the top of Brady Street for the school. He served the college as its president and is credited with the development of chiropractic. In 1922 he bought a small radio station in Rock Island, Illinois

Rock Island, Illinois

Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...

 and moved it to a studio near the school’s campus and it became WOC. It was the second commercial radio station in the United States and the first west of the Mississippi River.

Architecture

The Palmer Mansion was built in the Second Empire style in 1874 by Louis C. Dessaint. Palmer acquired the property in 1915. In 1924 he started to build a garden along the north side of the house that he called A Little Bit O’ Heaven. It was largely a collection of artwork and artifacts that Palmer and his wife, Mabel, collected on their trips to Asia and Europe. Part of the collection was also kept in the house. The site contained what Palmer claimed was the smallest chapel in the world, it was eight feet square, and thousands of people wed there. For a small fee the public was allowed to visit the site. It was one of the most popular attractions in Davenport. After Palmer’s death in 1961 A Little Bit O’ Heaven started to decline and it was closed to the public in 1981. It was dismantled in 1983 and some of the pieces were relocated to the Putnam Museum

Putnam Museum and IMAX Theater

The Putnam Museum and IMAX Theatre is a museum of history and natural science in Davenport, Iowa, United States. The museum was founded in 1867, and was one of the first museums west of the Mississippi River. It houses 160,000 historical artifacts and specimens...

in Davenport. The courtyard became a patio for students. The house, partially obscured by an addition to the front, remains a part of Palmer College today.