Before European settlers came to inhabit the Quad Cities, the confluence of rivers had attracted many varying cultures ofindigenous peoples, who used the waterways and riverbanks for their settlements for thousands of years. At the time of European encounter, it was a home and principal trading place of theSauk and Fox tribes of Native Americans. Saukenuk was the principal village of the Sauk tribe and birthplace of its 19th-centurywar chief,Black Hawk. In 1832, Sauk chiefKeokuk and GeneralWinfield Scott signed a treaty in Davenport after the US defeated the Sauk and their allies in theBlack Hawk War. The treaty resulted in the Native Americans ceding 6 million acres (24,000 km2) of land to the United States in exchange for a much smaller reservation elsewhere.Black Hawk State Historic Site in Rock Island preserves part of historic Saukenuk and is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.
The history of urban settlements in the Quad Cities was stimulated byriverboat traffic. For 14 miles (23 km) betweenLeClaire, Iowa, and Rock Island, the Mississippi River flowed across a series of finger-like rock projections protruding from either bank. These rapids were difficult for steamboats to traverse. As demand for river-based transportation increased along the upper Mississippi, the navigability of the river throughout the "Rock Island Rapids" became a greater concern. Over time, a minor industry grew up in the area to meet the steamboats' needs. Boat crews needed rest areas to stop before encountering the rapids, places to hire expertpilots such as Phillip Suiter, who was the first licensed pilot on the upper Mississippi River, to guide the boat through the rocky waters, or, when the water was low, places where goods could be removed and transported by wagon on land past the rapids.[9] Today, the rocks are submerged six feet underwater by a lake formed by two locks and dams.
As theIndustrial Revolution developed in the United States, many enterprising industrialists looked to the Mississippi River as a promising source of power generation. The combination of energy and easy access to river transportation attracted entrepreneurs and industrialists to the Quad Cities for development. In 1848,John Deere moved his plough business to Moline. His business was incorporated in 1868.John Deere is the largest employer today in the Quad Cities.
The first railroad bridge built across theMississippi River connected Davenport and Rock Island in 1856.[10] It was built by theRock Island Railroad Company and replaced the slow seasonal ferry service and winterice bridges as the primary modes of transportation across the river. Steamboaters saw the nationwide railroads as a threat to their business. On May 6, 1856, just weeks after completion of the bridge, an angry steamboater crashed theEffie Afton into it. John Hurd, the owner of theEffie Afton, filed a lawsuit against the Rock Island Railroad Company inHurd v. Rock Island Bridge Company. The Rock Island Railroad Company selectedAbraham Lincoln as their trial lawyer and won after he took the case to theUS Supreme Court. Expert riverboat pilot Phillip Suiter was one of his witnesses. It was a pivotal trial in Lincoln's career.[5]
After theCivil War, the region began to gain a common identity. The river towns that were thoughtfully planned and competently led flourished, while other settlements, usually get-rich-quick schemes for speculators, failed to pan out. ByWorld War I, the towns of Davenport, Rock Island, and Moline had begun to style themselves as the "Tri-Cities", a cluster of three more-or-less equally-sized river communities growing around the small bend of the Mississippi River where it flows west. But with the growth ofRock Island County, during the 1930s the term "Quad Cities" came into vogue, as East Moline was given "equal status". Despite the fact that the region had earned the name "Quad Cities", theNational Basketball League and then theNational Basketball Association had a franchise in Moline, Illinois, from 1946 to 1951 called the "Tri-Cities Blackhawks". Then, with the opening of anAlcoa (nowArconic) plant east of Davenport in 1948, the town of Bettendorf underwent so much growth that many people in the community discussed the adoption of the name "Quint Cities",[11] but by this time, the name "Quad Cities" had become known well beyond the area, and "Quint Cities" never caught on, despite the efforts of WOC-TV (nowKWQC-TV) and others. Consequently, when Bettendorf passed East Moline in size, there was some debate about whether Bettendorf had "displaced" East Moline. Instead, local officials, such as the Chamber of Commerce,[12] have chosen an inclusive approach, maintaining the name "Quad Cities" yet including all five cities.[13]
Beginning in the late 1970s, economic conditions caused major industrial restructuring, which disrupted the basis of the region's economy. The major companies, agricultural manufacturers, ceased or scaled back operations in the Quad Cities. Factories which closed includedInternational Harvester (Navistar) in Rock Island andCase IH in Bettendorf. Moline-basedJohn Deere cut its labor headcount by one half. Later in the 1980s,Caterpillar Inc. closed its factories at Mount Joy and Bettendorf.
Since the 1990s, the Quad Cities governments, businesses, non-profits and residents have worked hard to redevelop the region. They have achieved national attention for their accomplishments.
Examples of revitalization and rebirth include:
Davenport's River Renaissance (a downtown revitalization project that includes a river music history center), an ag-tech venture capital campus, and theFigge Art Museum opened or were completed during the first decade of the 21st century.
Moline has invested in what was once a robust downtown. The "John Deere Commons" and theVibrant Arena at The MARK (formerly "The MARK of the Quad Cities", the "iWireless Center", and the "TaxSlayer Center") both opened during the 1990s.
In 2007, Davenport and Rock Island competed for and won the title of "most livable small city" from theNational Council of Mayors, based upon an unfunded proposal called RiverVision.
In 2008 Bettendorf was ranked byCNN[14] as one of the ten best places to buy a house in the United States.
In 2010, the Quad Cities were named "the most affordable metro" byForbes magazine.[15]
In 2012, Davenport housing market ranked second in the nation beating the housing bubble, due to its lack of foreclosures and their low unemployment.[16]
In 2012, theQuad Cities Metropolitan Area was ranked among the fastest-growing areas in the nation in the growth of high-tech jobs.[17]
In 2012, the Quad Cities were named the "2012 All American City"
In 2013, Modern Woodman Park was voted the best minor league ballpark in America.[18]
Over the years, several communities in the Quad Cities region have proposed or performed mergers. As it grew, Davenport annexed the communities of Rockingham, Nahant, Probstei, East Davenport, Oakdale, Cawiezeel, Blackhawk, Mt. Joy, Green Tree, and others. Bettendorf annexed portions of Pleasant Valley in the 1970s. In 1987, Rock Island, Moline, East Moline, Milan, Carbon Cliff, Hampton, Coal Valley and Silvis considered a super-city merger which would have seen the Illinois cities become the second-largest city in the state,[19] but the proposal ultimately failed. Moline and East Moline considered a merger in 1997.[20] That same year, Green Rock and Colona did merge.[21] Bettendorf and Riverdale also considered a merger.
The Quad Cities area is distinctive because the Mississippi River flows from east to west as it passes through the heart of the area; the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf are located due north of Rock Island and Moline, respectively.
According to the2010 United States census Count, the metropolitan area grew to 471,551.[27] As of the 2000 census, a total of 96,495 households and 60,535 families resided in the area.
Theracial makeup of the area is 90.6% White (410,861), 3.7% Black or African American (27,757), 0.6% American Indian and Alaskan Native (1,255), 1.0% Asian (6,624), 0.03% Pacific Islander (156), and 2.0% from two or more races (11,929). 7.1% of the population is Hispanic or Latino of any race (37,070).[28] The predominant ethnicities in the Quad Cities are of northern European descent, includingGerman,Irish, andEnglish, as wellScandinavian (MostlySwedish andNorwegian) andDutch. The primaryminority groups in the area areAfrican-Americans, which in Davenport make up the third largest black population in the state of Iowa, a communitydating back to the 1830s when Iowa was afree territory. Many of the metro area's African-American residents have roots in the Southern and Border states of the U.S., including Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia. The most significant Asian-American populations areSouth Asian andVietnamese American.[29][30][31][32]
According to resources,Christianity is the largest religion practiced in the area. However, the two states have a different population of Christian groups. In Davenport and Bettendorf,Catholics make up an 18.5% plurality, butProtestants with 15.1%Mainline and 11.6%Evangelical make up large minorities as well. TheBlack Protestants on the Iowa side comes in at 1.2%. On the Illinois side, between Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline, Catholicism is less prevalent at 12.4%, and at 12.5% Evangelical and 11.0% Mainline have smaller declines.[citation needed]
TheJewish population is about 500–600, which is down from about 1,800–2,000 in the 1950s and 1960s.[33]
TheQuad Cities metropolitan area, more formally known as theDavenport–Moline–Rock Island Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), is the metropolitan area associated with the Quad Cities in theU.S. states ofIowa andIllinois. The Davenport–Moline–Rock Island MSA consists of four counties –Scott County inIowa andHenry,Mercer, andRock Island counties inIllinois – and had an estimated population of 384,324 as of 2020.
Figge Art Museum, Davenport, formerly the Davenport Museum of Art, designed by British architectDavid Chipperfield and opened in 2005. Its holdings include extensive collections of Haitian, colonial Mexican and Midwestern art, particularly pieces byThomas Hart Benton,Marvin Cone andGrant Wood, and personal effects from Wood's estate.
Government Bridge, a double-decked bridge adjacent toLock and Dam 15, carrying motor and rail traffic between Arsenal Island and Davenport. The 1896 truss bridge, about 1,950 feet long, includes a 360-degree swing span over the twin locks. It connects to the Illinois side of the river via theRock Island Viaduct.
Iowa 80 Truck Stop – the world's largest truck stop is along Interstate 80 nearWalcott, Iowa, west of Davenport.
Interstate 74 Bridge, formerly known as the "Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge", connecting Bettendorf and Moline. The twin suspension spans across the Mississippi River were built in 1935 and 1959 and adapted to carry Interstate 74 in the early 1970s. The twinned towers are a symbol of the two-state Quad Cities community. The bridge is set to be replaced with eight lanes.
The John Looney Mansion, designed and built in 1897 for the attorney, publisher and gangsterJohn Looney in Rock Island which still stands off 20th Street and 17th Avenue.
Lock and Dam No. 15, a 1,200-footroller dam with twin locks across the Mississippi River betweenArsenal Island and Davenport. The roller dam, billed as the longest of its type, maintains a pool upstream that allows river traffic to pass through the once notorious Rock Island Rapids.
Modern Woodmen Park, formerly John O'Donnell Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals' class high A affiliate, theQuad Cities River Bandits, on the Davenport riverfront. With the lights of Rock Island across the Mississippi and the Centennial Bridge looming just beyond the right-field fence, the park was named byUSA Today as one of 10 great places for a baseball pilgrimage. The ball park added a 110 ft. Ferris wheel before the start of the 2014 season.
Old Main, completed in 1888, the oldest building on the campus ofAugustana College. Located on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, its iconic and newly renovated dome was lighted as of October 2011.
RiverCenter/Adler Theatre, a convention and performing-arts complex in Davenport. The 2,400-seat Adler is the former RKO Orpheum Theater, which opened in 1931, designed byA.S. Graven of Chicago, whose projects included theDrake Hotel in Chicago and theParamount Theater in New York City. The theater was extensively renovated and expanded in 1984–86 and 2005.
River Music Experience, a performance, education and music-history venue in the Redstone Building, the former Petersen Harned Von Maur department store
Rock Island Arsenal, manufacturer of military equipment and ordnance since the 1880s, now the largest government-owned weapons manufacturing arsenal in the United States. The arsenal is located on Arsenal Island (formerly known as Rock Island) in the Mississippi River between Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois. Fort Armstrong was built there in 1816. During the civil war, the island held a Union prison camp for Confederate soldiers. The Federal-style home of ColonelGeorge Davenport, built in 1833–34, the oldest extant building in the Quad Cities, is on the north bank of the island.
Rock Island Centennial Bridge over the Mississippi River between downtown Davenport and Rock Island, completed in 1940 to commemorate Rock Island's 100th anniversary. The five arches of the 3,853-foot through-arch bridge often are used as a symbol of the Quad Cities.
Vibrant Arena at The MARK – a 12,000-seat arena in Moline (formerly The Mark of the Quad Cities, the iWireless Center, and the TaxSlayer Center).
Vander Veer Botanical Park is a 33-acre (130,000 m2) botanical garden in the Vander Veer Park Historic District of Davenport, Iowa. It is believed to be one of the first botanical parks west of the Mississippi River.[38]
TBK Bank Sports Complex, also known as the BettPlex, is a state-of-the-art sport and entertainment complex. Containing eight full-size volleyball and basketball courts. Four indoor and five outdoor sand volleyball courts, 10 lighted outdoor baseball and softball fields, the BettPlex is a 45 million dollar sporting facility that was created to host weekend sporting tournaments in the Quad Cities.
Western Illinois University-Quad Cities – The only public, four-year university in the Quad Cities region. The campus is located in Moline along the Mississippi Riverfront at the former site of the 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m2) John Deere Technical Site.
Since 1916, the region has supported theQuad City Symphony Orchestra, which presents a year-round schedule of concerts at the Adler Theatre in Davenport and Centennial Hall in Rock Island. The Handel Oratorio Society, dating to 1880, is the second-oldest organization of its kind in the nation and presents annual performances of "Messiah" along with another major work for choir and orchestra. The Augustana Choir, founded at Rock Island's Augustana College in 1934, is one of the nation's leading collegiate choruses. Major outdoor summer music festivals include the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival, Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, and River Roots Live.
The Quad Cities' three traditional community theaters –Playcrafters Barn Theatre (founded in 1920, comedies and dramas)[41] and Quad City Music Guild (1948, musicals) in Moline, andGenesius guild (1957, outdoor Shakespeare and Greek comedies and tragedies) in Rock Island – were joined in 1976 by Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, a professional dinner theater in downtown Rock Island's historic Fort Theatre. Ballet is performed atBallet Quad Cities.ComedySportz providesimprov comedy.Bluebox Limited is a Bettendorf-based film production company, and many outside productions companies have filmed movies in the Quad Cities in recent years.[42][43] Historic buildings and sites listed on state and theNational Register of Historic Places interpret the history of people's settlement and lives in the area.
The Quad Cities is the 151st largestradio market in the United States.[44] It is ranked 97th byNielsen Media Research for the 2008–09 television season with 309,600 television households.[45]
The area is served by over 13 commercial radio stations, 8 non-commercial radio stations, 3low power FM radio stations, 8TV stations and 3 daily newspapers.
In 2012, the Mississippi Valley Fair that is held in Davenport served as the film location forRodney Atkins' music video "Just Wanna Rock N' Roll".
Also in 2012, thePBSFrontline documentaryPoor Kids was filmed in and around the Quad Cities showing poverty from a child's perspective.
Map of Tri-City Railway and Light Company, Davenport Iowa Rock Island Illinois Moline Illinois and East Moline Illinois c 1907
There are three transit operators in the Quad Cities with limited interconnection between them. Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit District (Quad Cities MetroLINK) serves the Illinois cities of Rock Island, Moline, East Moline, Milan, Silvis, Carbon Cliff, Hampton and Colona. It has 12 routes and a fleet of about 52 buses. It operates a river craft during summer months. In Iowa,Davenport Citibus has 10 fixed routes and operates 20 buses, seven days a week andBettendorf Transit operates three routes, Monday–Saturday, and has eight buses.
Amtrak currently does not serve the Quad Cities. The closest station is about 50 miles (80 km) away inGalesburg, Illinois. In 2008,United States SenatorsTom Harkin,Chuck Grassley,Dick Durbin, andBarack Obama sent a letter to Amtrak asking them to begin plans to bring rail service to the Quad Cities.[47] In October 2010, a $230 million federal fund was announced that will bring Amtrak service to the Quad Cities, with anew line running from Moline to Chicago. They hoped to have the line completed in 2015, and offer two round trips daily to Chicago.[48]
In December 2011, the federal government awarded $177 million in funding for theAmtrak connection. Budgetary and logistical issues have delayed the completion of all necessary track improvements, but the project is still in development.[49][50] The multi-modalMoline Q Station building was completed in early 2018, with the attached Westin Element hotel opening in February.[51] When the full project is completed, it will establish passenger rail through the Quad Cities, for the first time since the 1970s.
The Quad Cities is served by theQuad Cities International Airport, Illinois' third-busiest airport, located inMoline. The airport is marketed as a regional alternative to the larger airports in Chicago, nearly 200 miles (320 km) away. The smallerDavenport Municipal Airport is the home of the Quad City Air Show.
From 1907 to 1926, Rock Island was home to the NFL'sRock Island Independents. The franchise was a charter member of theNational Football League (NFL) in 1920. The first NFL game ever was played by the Independents atDouglas Park in September 1920. Football legendJim Thorpe was a member of the team in 1924.
After the 1950–51 basketball season, the team moved toMilwaukee, where they were renamed the Hawks. After additional moves toSt. Louis andAtlanta, the team is now theAtlanta Hawks.
Professional basketball returned to the Quad Cities during the 1980s and 1990s with the Quad City Thunder of theContinental Basketball Association. The CBA served as the NBA's premier developmental league and produced many highly regarded NBA stars. From 1987 through the 1992–93 season, the Thunder played at Wharton Field House in Moline. Starting with the 1993–94 season, the team played at The MARK of the Quad Cities (now theVibrant Arena at The MARK). After the CBA folded in 2001, the Thunder franchise ceased operations permanently. Vibrant Arena at The MARK occasionally hostsNCAA Division Icollege basketball conference tournaments as well asNBA andNHL exhibitions.
The Quad Cities has hosted minor league baseball teams since the Davenport Brown Stockings first played in 1878. TheRock Island Islanders andMoline Plowboys each fielded teams for many seasons. The Islanders began play in 1901 and played primarily atDouglas Park. The Plowboys were founded in 1914. Their home wasBrowning Field.
The Quad CitiesMarathon has run annually in late September since 1998. Roughly 400-500 participants race through the four cities, beginning and ending in Moline. The race weekend also offers a half marathon and a 5K as well as races for children. KenyanKiplangat Terer holds the men's record with a 2:14:04, run in 2013. KenyanDamaris Areba holds the woman's record at 2:30:29, from her 2022 win.[52]
The Quad City Raiders are a semi-professional minor league football team that was formed in 2011 to serve the Quad City area. The Raiders play in the MidStates Football League and have reached the semi-finals in the league playoffs each season.[55]
^Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the expected highest and lowest temperature readings at any point during the year or given month) calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020.
^Official precipitation records for the Quad Cities kept at the Weather Bureau Office (WBO) in Davenport, Iowa from July 1871 to December 1931, alternating between Quad City Int'l (KMLI) and the Davenport WBO from January 1932 to 17 February 1937, and remaining at KMLI since 18 February 1937. Temperature, snowfall, and snow depth records date to 1 January 1874, 1 August 1882, and 1 January 1901, respectively. For more information, seeThreadex
United States
Iowa
Illinois
