| River's Edge Homepage | Settlement
& Industry Location by the river's edge has always been a draw for settlement. The Native Americans were first to know of the abundance provided by the river and European settlers quickly realized the prosperity that the Mississippi River brings as well. Seven years after the opening of the Black Hawk purchase more than twenty towns had grown on both sides of the Mississippi (American Mosaic 11). Steamboats led the way for the settlement. They
brought migration northward and soon towns with steamboat stops, flourmills, and lumber
mills developed. The Mississippi River location was also ideal for transportation of
goods. The Quad Cities became a center for industry. They became a the heart of farm
implement production, led by the well-known John Deere company. |
A
hierarchy of settlement appeared in the Quad Cities even in these early years. A kind of
"hill vs. valley" mentality arose with regards to where people chose to live.
For example, mill workers lived in boarding houses and cottages that were near the river
and the mills. Meanwhilem, the owners of the mills chose bluff sites where they
built large, stately homes (Svendsen 28). This mentality exists even today. The mansion
pictured to the right is just one of a stretch of large homes overlooking the river in
Davenport. Neighborhoods "below the hill" in Moline and Rock Island in most
cases are not as affluent as those perched on the bluffs. The "hill vs. valley"
mindset still prevails.