Searstown Illinois

David Sears was one of the founders of Moline. In 1838 he built a dam between Arsenal Island and the Moline mainland (across Sylvan Slough)  and opened a mill. He eventually became a major landowner on Arsenal Island, at least until the federal government purchased his holdings in 1865. Sears used the money buy land south of

By |2016-10-21T15:29:32-05:00April 10th, 2009|Ghost Towns|Comments Off on Searstown Illinois

Quad Cities Overview

Introduction Welcome to the Quad Cities, where the Mississippi River flows from east to west—to get from Iowa to Illinois you have to go south! The Quad Cities consist of the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf and the Illinois cities of Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline. Yes, around here “Quad” actually

By |2022-06-09T15:02:16-05:00April 10th, 2009|Quad Cities Regional Overview|Comments Off on Quad Cities Overview

Election Day Special

In honor of Election Day, I offer three short stories of nineteenth century political games in Mississippi River towns. As new areas were settled, communities fought contentious political battles over the location of the county seat, like these places did. Enjoy! Rock Island County (Illinois) In 1833, Hampton and rival Farnhamsburg (now Rock Island) competed

By |2016-10-21T15:29:33-05:00November 4th, 2008|Historical shorts|2 Comments

Whimsy, Midwestern Style

In North Dakota, artist Gary Greff built monumental metal sculptures and placed them along a desolate county road that connects the village of Regent with the rest of the world via Interstate 94. He dubbed this 30 mile stretch of road The Enchanted Highway. Even if you don’t see the magic in his creations,

By |2018-12-28T15:51:53-05:00September 11th, 2008|Blogging the Great River Road|1 Comment

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