Before the reorientation of Route 6 through Bettendorf, the route shot through downtown Moline on Fifth Avenue. In the background it the fifteen-story Le Claire Hotel, built in 1924 and located on both paths of Route 6 through Moline. (March 1997 photo)

When Route 6 was reoriented through Moline in the late 1930s, this 1904 bridge Rock River Bridge was replaced with a new one. Both were high bridges, to accommodate traffic on the little-used Hennepin Canal that used the Rock River at this point and paralleled Route 6 from Moline to Mineral, Illinois. (1920s postcard)

The new, 1938, bridge over the Rock River at Moline had a distinctive Art Deco flavor in its design. The same bridge remains today, without the decorative touches. (1940’s photo)

Just south of the Rock River and north of the Moline (Now Quad City International) Airport was this motel. (1940s postcard)