As the plane taking me home rose and banked to the west, it crossed the Mississippi River. Just a few days before, this striking landscape held little meaning. Now, looking down, I recognized the great span of bridges connecting the Illinois towns of Rock Island and Moline with Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa—known collectively as the Quad Cities.
And there between them, flanked on either side by the forked channel of the mighty river, was one of America’s most historic military arsenals: Rock Island.
“You’re going where?” people had asked.
“The Quad Cities.”
“Where’s that?”
“Illinois and Iowa on the Mississippi River.”
“Why?”
Now, after some enlightening days of exploration—sampling food, visiting museums, and strolling the fireweed crimson shores of the river—I had the answer. There are a lot of reasons to visit the Quad Cities. During my visit, I also helped Moline celebrate its 150th birthday, and from the rooftop Skybar in Davenport, I watched the mighty paddlewheel American Queen make a stately entrance into port, evoking memories of Mark Twain and his journal of life on the Mississippi.
I have to admit that I thought “The Rock Island Line” was just a folk song. I had no idea there really was a Rock Island or that it had played such a significant role in American history. It was a railroad hub and prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate soldiers during the Civil War, and their graves here are separated from those of Union troops.
Its museum (currently under renovation) is the oldest of its kind after West Point, and the island first served as a fur-trading outpost established by the British-American sailor and frontiersman Col. George Davenport. The 1833 home where he was killed by robbers still stands and makes for a fascinating tour.
You can take a self-guided tour of Rock Island, but since it’s an active-duty military base, you'll need to check in first and get a government clearance card, which is good for a year.
Like most port and railroad cities on the Mississippi River, Davenport, Rock Island, Moline, and Bettendorf evolved from trading outposts and riverboat docks into major industrial manufacturing centers primarily focused on farm equipment.
One of the early innovators and industrial giants of the region was John Deere, a former blacksmith whose 1845 invention of the self-scourging steel plow changed the course of American agricultural history.
The Quad Cities became a manufacturing center for John “Nothing runs like a Deere” tractors, and any visit to Moline has to include a visit to the John Deere Museum, where you can actually sit in the high-tech cab of one of the company’s monster combines. It was here that I encountered John Deere himself (in the form of re-enactor Mischa Hooker), standing proudly next to his plow that broke the plains.
Like many of America’s industrial manufacturing centers, the Quad Cities have experienced hard times with plants closing and jobs lost. But through a concerted effort to create civic projects and the inspired creative reuse of abandoned spaces, a new incarnation of the Quad Cities’ downtown centers is emerging.
Scenic parklands and riverwalks abound, and there’s a thriving restaurant, cocktail, and craft brewery scene. Gathering spaces for outdoor festivals, a world-class art museum (the Figge) in Davenport, and an abundance of historic architecture—from Beaux Arts to ultramodern—complete the picture.
And then, there’s LeClaire, Iowa, about 25 miles upriver from Bettendorf. Unlike its industrial neighbors, LeClaire was home to the legendary river pilots of the Mississippi River who navigated paddlewheel steamers up and down what was then a dangerous section of rapids. What they left behind was a picturesque riverside community of stately captains’ homes, a quaint Main Street now dotted by antique shops, a craft distillery, and the Buffalo Bill Museum and River Pilot’s Pier.
