Miles Augustus Collins was born in Albany, New York on September 1, 1832. When he was four years old his family moved to a farm near Blanford, Massachusetts where he was raised. He remained there until 1854 when he moved to Scott County, Iowa where he joined his father as a carpenter. After a year he started farming and started the first cheese factory in the county. They were also among the first cheesemakers in the state of Iowa. He owned several farms and became quite adept at real estate. He moved to his final farm in 1860. On June 15, 1870, he married Amy Wilson, who was a widow. Together they raised six children. He died in his home on June 5, 1908. The Collins family continued to own the house until 1963 when it was sold to the Davenport Park Board for their use. They had a stipulation that the remaining sisters could live in the house rent free until their deaths. Beginning in 1977 the Davenport Parks and Recreation Department in a joint venture with the Center for Active Seniors, Inc. used the house as a senior center. Over the years it has also housed a senior activity center, a place with recreational programming for special needs people, and as a summer youth activities center. On May 2, 2015 the house opened as the Southeast Iowa Senior Information Hub, a resource center for senior citizens and their families. Information that the center provides includes "health care, Social Security, transportation, finances and senior housing that ranges from private to assisted living." They also provide monthly programs centered on the concerns of seniors. The Davenport Parks and Recreation Department, volunteers and in-kind donations from local businesses renovated the house and brought it up to the standards required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Architecture
The house was originally a three-bay, square structure. Several additions were made to the structure over the years. The pantry, kitchen, and dining room were added to the back of the house in 1870. The full porch was added to the front of the house in 1908, and the sleeping porch was added to the west side in 1916. The two-story frame structure is essentially Classical Revivalin style. It features Greek Revival derivative window hoods and a latticework belvedere on top of the hipped roof. The house is situated on the edge of Garfield Park along the Duck Creek Parkway. A handicap ramp and a new porch were added to the rear of the house when it was renovated into a senior resource center.
