Rock Island is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

Rock Island County Rock Island County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois, bounded on the west by the Mississippi River. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 147,546. Its county seat is Rock Island; its largest city is neighboring ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is now called Arsenal Island. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 census. Located on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

, it is one of the

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of cities (originally four, see History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are t ...

, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities has a population of about 380,000. The city is home to

Rock Island Arsenal The Rock Island Arsenal comprises , located on Arsenal Island, originally known as Rock Island, on the Mississippi River between the cities of Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois. It lies within the state of Illinois. Rock Island ...

, the largest government-owned weapons manufacturing arsenal in the US, which employs 6,000 people. The Rock Island–Milan School District, Rockridge School District (southwest portion of city) along with private schools, serve the city. The District (Downtown Rock Island) has art galleries and theaters, nightclubs and coffee shops, and restaurants of all flavors. Golf courses, parks, a casino, botanical center, marina, historic tours, bike paths, and festivals offer entertainment opportunities.

History

European-American Settlement

The original portion of what is now known as Rock Island was called Farnhamsburg – after the original two homes were built by Colonel

George Davenport Colonel George Davenport, born George William King (1783 – July 4, 1845), was a 19th-century English-American sailor, frontiersman, fur trader, merchant, postmaster, US Army soldier, Indian agent, and city planner. A prominent and well-known ...

and

Russell Farnham Russel Farnham (1784 – October 23, 1832) was an American frontiersman, explorer, and fur trader. An agent of John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company, he oversaw fur trading in the Great Lakes region throughout the 1810s and 1820s. A member of ...

in 1826. Davenport and Farnham were business partners, trading with the local Native Americans. The original city plat was filed on July 10, 1835, and was named Stephenson. It was renamed Rock Island in March 1841. This area has been a fortuitous place first for settlement and then for steamboat traffic, bridges, and railroads.

Railroads and development

The

Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At the end ...

(RI) was founded here in 1851, known informally as the

Rock Island Line "Rock Island Line" is an American folk song. Ostensibly about the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, it appeared as a folk song as early as 1929. The first recorded performance of "Rock Island Line" was by inmates of the Arkansas Cummins ...

; over the next century, the railroad grew to serve fourteen states but ended in bankruptcy in 1980. As part of later nineteenth-century development, two first-class hotels: the Harper House (built by

Ben Harper Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...

and opened in February 1871) and the Rock Island House were built in town. The Rock Island Arsenal has manufactured military equipment and ordnance for the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

since the 1880s. The

Rock Island Southern Railway The Rock Island Southern Railway, or RIS, was one of the most unusual interurban systems in the United States. It consisted of two distinct divisions, each with its own unique operating parameters. It provided passenger service to the western Ill ...

was an

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 ...

line that ran from Rock Island to

Monmouth, Illinois Monmouth is a city in and the county seat of Warren County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,902 at the 2020 census, down from 9,444 in 2010. It is the home of Monmouth College and contains Monmouth Park, Harmon Park, North Park, Warf ...

, then onward to

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...

. It was built between 1906 and 1910. A portion of the trackage, from Rock Island to Preemption, Illinois, was shared with the CRI&P line that served the coal mines in Cable, Illinois, and

Sherrard, Illinois Sherrard is a village in Mercer County, Illinois, United States. The population was 692 at the 2020 census. Sherrard is home to the Sherrard Junior / Senior High School, home of the Sherrard Tigers. Geography Sherrard is located at (41.318470, ...

. The line finally folded in 1952.

Bridges

Due to its geography, Rock Island has a rich history of bridge building, including the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi (now gone), an unusual two-track railroad bridge, and the largest

roller dam A Roller dam is a type of hydro-control device specially designed to mitigate erosion. They are most often used to divert water for irrigation but the largest and most notable examples are used to ease river navigation. The world's first roller ...

in the world. The first railroad bridge across the Mississippi River was built between Arsenal Island and Davenport in 1856. Many steamboat pilots felt that the bridge had been intentionally positioned to make it hard for them to navigate, and this conflict reflected a larger rivalry: St. Louis and its steamboats against Chicago and its railroads. Tweet, Roald D. The Quad Cities: An American mosaic. East Hall Press. 1996. Two weeks after the bridge opened, the steamboat '' Effie Afton'' collided with the bridge, caught fire, and damaged the bridge. The owner of the ''Effie Afton'' sued the bridge company for damages, and

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

was one of the lawyers who defended the railroad. This test case was appealed to the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

, which ruled in favor of the railroad in 1872. Although the original bridge is long gone, a monument exists on Arsenal Island marking the Illinois side. On the Iowa side, the bridge was located near where 4th and Federal streets intersect with River Drive. Rock Island System Map

The Lock and Dam No. 15 and the

Government Bridge The Government Bridge or Arsenal Bridge spans the Mississippi River, connecting Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa. The Iowa Interstate Railroad uses the upper deck of the bridge for its ex-Chicago and Rock Island Railroad route between C ...

are located just southwest of the site of the first bridge. The Government Bridge, completed in 1896, is notable for having two sets of railroad tracks above the car lanes. There are only two bridges in the world with this feature. Three other bridges span the river between Rock Island and Davenport. The

Crescent Rail Bridge The Crescent Bridge carries a rail line across the Mississippi River between Davenport, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois. It was formerly owned by the Davenport, Rock Island and North Western Railway, a joint subsidiary of the Chicago, Burling ...

is a railroad-only bridge, completed in 1899. The Centennial Bridge was completed in 1940 for autos only. The newest bridge is the Interstate 280 bridge, completed in 1973. Lock and Dam No. 15, completed in 1934 as a federal

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

(WPA) project during the Great Depression, is the largest

in the world. The dam is designed for navigation, not flood control. During flood season, the rollers are raised, unleashing the full flow of the water. On the south side of the city, overlooked by the

Black Hawk State Historic Site The Black Hawk State Historic Site, in Rock Island, Illinois, is adjacent to the historic site of the village of Saukenuk, the home of a band of Native Americans of the Sauk nation. It includes the John Hauberg Museum of Native American Life. T ...

, are auto and railroad crossings of the Rock River to

Milan, Illinois Milan ( ) is a village in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,099 at the 2010 census. The village is located near the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. History The village is on the Rock River in northwest Illinois ...

. This set of bridges also crosses the historic Hennepin Canal and Sears Dam (this was named after the entrepreneur David B. Sears, who previously built the Sears Dam between Arsenal Island and Moline.) In 2007 a new bridge was completed between 3rd Street Moline/southeast Rock Island and Milan. It expedites the trip to Milan, the airport, and points south on

U.S. Route 67 U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues ...

Geography

Rock Island is located at (41.489083, -90.573154). According to the 2010 census, Rock Island has a total area of , of which (or 94.28%) is land and (5.72%) is water.

Climate

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race''

2010 Census

In 2000

Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

, there were 39,684 people, 16,148 households, and 9,543 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 17,542 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 77.13%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 17.17%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.28% Native American, 0.75%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.07%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 2.41% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 2.19% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 5.90% of the population. There were 16,148 households, out of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.2% were married couples living together, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.9% were non-families. 34.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.97. The city's population was spread out, with 23.0% under the age of 18, 13.1% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $34,729, and the median income for a family was $45,127. Males had a median income of $32,815 versus $23,378 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $19,202. About 10.9% of families and 14.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 22.5% of those under age 18 and 8.4% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Largest employers

According to the city's 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the largest employers in the city are:

Development

Construction will begin in April 2017 for a new Rock Island County courthouse. The 46,000 square foot building will have three stories that house four courtrooms, judges offices, a law library, and both the Circuit Clerk and States Attorneys offices. The $28 million project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2018. The old courthouse is expected to be torn down upon completion of the new building.

Education

The majority of the city is served by the Rock Island–Milan School District with portions of the southwest area falling under the Rockridge School District. The Rock Island–Milan School District is currently home to 13 public schools, with one high school, two junior high schools, nine elementary schools, and one alternative education center. Several private schools also serve Rock Island, including Jordan Catholic Elementary School and Alleman Catholic High School.

High schools

* Alleman High School *

Rock Island High School Rock Island High School, also known as "Rocky", is a public four-year high school located in Rock Island, Illinois, United States. Rocky is within the Rock Island–Milan School District 41, and the school colors are crimson and gold. Administrat ...

Rockridge High School Rockridge High School, or RHS, is a public eight-year high school located at 14110 134th Avenue West in Taylor Ridge, Illinois, an unincorporated area in Rock Island County, Illinois, in the Midwestern United States. RHS is part of Rockridge Comm ...

(

Taylor Ridge, Illinois Taylor Ridge is a census-designated place (CDP) in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. Taylor Ridge is located at the junction of Illinois Route 94 and Illinois Route 192, north of Reynolds. Taylor Ridge has a post office with ZIP cod ...

)

Colleges

* Augustana College * Bible Missionary Institute

Former schools

Villa de Chantal Catholic school closed in 1978, and the building was destroyed by fire in 2005. Schools that were closed and demolished include Franklin Junior High School, Central Junior High School, Lincoln Elementary School, and Audubon Elementary School.

Points of interest

* Augustana College (Illinois) * Bally's Quad Cities Casino & Hotel *

* Broadway Historic District * Chippiannock Cemetery * Hauberg Civic Center * Longview Park Conservatory and Gardens *

Quad City Botanical Center The Quad City Botanical Center is a set of botanical gardens located next to the Mississippi River at 2525 4th Avenue, Rock Island, Illinois. It is open daily except major holidays; an admission fee is charged. The center opened on June 20, 1998. ...

* Rock Island Public Library * The Historic Rock Island Courthouse *

is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

* The District * Boetje's Mustard Factory Rock Island, Illinois is the site of the Quad City Hindu Temple, a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

shrine dedicated chiefly to the deity ''

Venkateswara Venkateswara, also known by various other names, is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu. Venkateswara is the presiding deity of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, located in Tirupati, Sri Balaji District, Andhra Pradesh, India. Etymology Venkates ...

''. The temple opened in 2007. Prior to its construction, Hindu worshippers had to travel to

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

or Peoria to participate in Hindu festivals and worship.

Cultural organizations

* Ballet Quad Cities * Genesius Guild * The Quad City Symphony Orchestra plays part of its Masterworks Series' concerts at Centennial Hall on the Augustana College campus. * Quad City Arts

Sports

The first football game in what was to become the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

was played at Rock Island's Douglas Field in September, 1920. It was hosted by the Rock Island Independents (1907–1926), who were a charter NFL franchise in 1920. The

Rock Island Islanders The Rock Island Islanders was the primary name of the minor league baseball teams based in Rock Island, Illinois, one of the Quad Cities, between 1892 and 1937. Rock Island teams played as members of the Illinois–Iowa League (1892), Western Ass ...

were a minor league baseball team that played for 37 seasons between 1901 and 1948. The Islanders played at Douglas Park and were affiliates of the Cincinnati Reds and

Philadelphia A's The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakl ...

. The Rock Island Legion Post 200 baseball team won the 4th State Championship in its history in 2011 in Galesburg, Illinois. Post 200 would finish 4th that year in the Great Lakes Regional. Karters flock to Rock Island every year for the prestigiou
Rock Island Grand Prix
on Labor Day weekend, which attracts competitors from across the United States and the world. With exception to 1997, when the annual race was canceled due to legal liability issues, the Rock Island Grand Prix has been held every year since 1994. Rock Island High School has won state championships in basketball, girls and boys track, softball, and wrestling. Additionally the football and basketball programs are perennial powerhouses. Rock Island Public Schools Stadium has an artificial surface and has a seating capacity of over 15,000.

Media

Rock Island is the location of television station

WHBF-TV WHBF-TV (channel 4) is a television station licensed to Rock Island, Illinois, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Quad Cities area. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Burlington, Iowa–licensed CW owned-and-opera ...

. Until 1963, WHBF was one of only two television stations in the Quad Cities area. (The other is WOC-TV on the Iowa side of the river.) Rock Island was also the longtime former home of WHBF-TV's former sister radio stations, WHBF and WHBF-FM, although it does remain the licensed city of those stations. Also,

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

member station

WVIK WVIK (90.3 FM) is the flagship National Public Radio station for the Quad Cities region of eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois. It is based in Rock Island, Illinois, and licensed to and owned by Augustana College. The studios are located on Au ...

is licensed to and located in Rock Island on the campus of Augustana College, and WGVV-LP, which is also licensed to the city of Rock Island. Rock Island is the home base for

NOAA Weather Radio NOAA Weather Radio NWR; also known as NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards is an automated 24-hour network of VHF FM weather radio stations in the United States (U.S.) that broadcast weather information directly from a nearby National Weather Servi ...

WXJ-73, the Quad Cities' area NWR station, programmed by the National Weather Service in Davenport.

Film, theater, and literary references

* '' Around the World in Eighty Days'' ( Jules Verne, 1873) has

Phileas Fogg Phileas Fogg () is the protagonist in the 1872 Jules Verne novel ''Around the World in Eighty Days''. Inspirations for the character were the American entrepreneur George Francis Train and American writer and adventurer William Perry Fogg. ...

crossing the Mississippi River at Rock Island. * The song "

" was first recorded in 1934. Its many recorded versions include ones by

John Lomax John Avery Lomax (September 23, 1867 – January 26, 1948) was an American teacher, a pioneering musicologist, and a folklorist who did much for the preservation of American folk music. He was the father of Alan Lomax, John Lomax Jr. and Bess Lo ...

Lonnie Donegan Anthony James Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002), known as Lonnie Donegan, was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the " King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scot ...

, Johnny Cash and

Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, pop, rock and roll, folk, swing, and country music. He started his career as a songwriter for Connie ...

. A version is sung by

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolade ...

in his film of Darin's life, '' Beyond the Sea''. * In the 1936

Margaret Mitchell Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (November 8, 1900 – August 16, 1949) was an American novelist and journalist. Mitchell wrote only one novel, published during her lifetime, the American Civil War-era novel '' Gone with the Wind'', for which she wo ...

novel ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind may also refer to: Music * ''Gone with the Wind'' ...

'',

Ashley Wilkes George Ashley Wilkes is a fictional character in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel '' Gone with the Wind'' and the 1939 film of the same name. The character also appears in the 1991 book '' Scarlett'', a sequel to ''Gone with the Wind'' written by ...

was imprisoned on Arsenal Island during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. * '' Rock Island Trail'' (1950), starring

Forrest Tucker Forrest Meredith Tucker (February 12, 1919 – October 25, 1986) was an American actor in both movies and television who appeared in nearly a hundred films. Tucker worked as a vaudeville straight man at the age of fifteen. A mentor provided fund ...

, was a

Republic Studios Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...

production related to the building of the Rock Island Railroad across the Mississippi River. * The opening 'railroad train' number in

Meredith Willson Robert Reiniger Meredith Willson (May 18, 1902 – June 15, 1984) was an American flutist, composer, conductor, musical arranger, bandleader, playwright, and writer. He is perhaps best known for writing the book, music, and lyrics for the 19 ...

's ''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments ...

'' (1957) is titled "Rock Island", although the words "Rock Island" never appear in the song. The song takes place on a train journey from Brighton, Illinois to the (fictional) River City, Iowa, and the title suggests the journey includes the train's crossing though Rock Island. * Rock Island is one of the markers of the outer edge of the range of Project X in Ayn Rand's novel '' Atlas Shrugged''. * Rock Island is mentioned several times in Jack Kerouac's book '' On the Road''. Sal (Jack Kerouac) says that it was in Rock Island "for the first time in my life that I saw my beloved Mississippi River dry in the summer haze." * ''Rock Island Line'' is the title of a 1975 novel by David Rhodes. * In the 1977 episode "Breaker, Breaker" of '' Good Times'', where Nathan Bookman hides a CB radio in the Evans' apartment, during a scene where Willona Woods gets on the CB with a man who says he's coming back into Chicago from "that Rock Island town" and wanted to know if she and Millicent "Penny" Gordon Woods could meet up. *

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respecti ...

are from Rock Island. * In the 1996 film '' Hard Eight'', John, played by

John C. Reilly John Christopher Reilly (born May 24, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, musician, producer, and writer. After his film debut in ''Casualties of War'' (1989), he gained exposure through his supporting roles in '' Days of Thunder'' (1990), '' ...

, says that they are staying in Rock Island, Illinois. * In the 2001 film ''

America's Sweethearts ''America's Sweethearts'' is a 2001 American romantic comedy film directed by Joe Roth and written by Billy Crystal and Peter Tolan. It stars Julia Roberts, Crystal, John Cusack and Catherine Zeta-Jones, with Hank Azaria, Stanley Tucci, Seth ...

'', Larry King takes a call from a viewer in Rock Island, Illinois. * Part of the film ''

Road to Perdition ''Road to Perdition'' is a 2002 American crime drama film directed by Sam Mendes. The screenplay was adapted by David Self from the graphic novel of the same name written by Max Allan Collins and illustrated by Richard Piers Rayner. The film ...

'' (2002) takes place in Rock Island. The first track of the soundtrack is entitled ''Rock Island''. The movie was based on the 1998 graphic novel, which was in turn based on the life of Rock Island gangster John Looney. * In the 2006 film '' Death of a President'', Al Claybon, the character behind the assassination of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, resided in Rock Island. * In the 2016 film ''

War Dogs Dogs in warfare have a very long history starting in ancient times. From being trained in combat, to their use as scouts, sentries, messengers, mercy dogs, and trackers, their uses have been varied and some continue to exist in modern military ...

'', the US military interviews main characters

David Packouz David Mordechai Packouz ( born February 16, 1982) is an American former arms dealer, musician and inventor. In 2005, Packouz joined Efraim Diveroli in Diveroli's arms company AEY Inc. By the end of 2006, the company had won 149 contracts wor ...

and

Efraim Diveroli Efraim Diveroli (born December 20, 1985) is an American former arms dealer and author. His company, AEY Inc., was a major weapons contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense. The U.S. government suspended AEY for violating its contract afte ...

at the Rock Island Arsenal.

Notable people

David Ackles David Thomas Ackles (February 20, 1937 – March 2, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, pianist, and child actor. He recorded four albums between 1968 and 1973. Describing Ackles' style in 2003, critic Colin McElligatt wrote, "An unlikely ...

, singer-songwriter, pianist, and child actor *

Eddie Albert Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005) was an American actor and activist. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; the first nomination came in 1954 for his performance in ''Roman Holiday'', ...

, Oscar-nominated actor and activist, known for television series, '' Green Acres'' and ''

Switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

'', and films * Black Hawk, leader and warrior of the Sauk American Indian tribe *

Ken Bowman Kenneth Brian Bowman (born December 15, 1942) is an American former professional football player. He played center in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, all with the Green Bay Packers. In his fourth NFL season in 1967, Bowman ...

, Ken Duncan and Herm Schneidman, players for NFL's Green Bay Packers *

, American frontiersman, trader, U.S. Army soldier, and Indian agent *

Steve Decker Stephen Michael Decker (born October 25, 1965) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played for four Major League Baseball teams from –, –, and . Coaching career Decker began his coaching career as a hitting coach for the ...

, catcher with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

, Colorado Rockies and

Anaheim Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

Frederick Denkmann Frederick Denkmann (April 8, 1821 – March 2, 1905) was an American lumber baron based in Rock Island, Illinois. He teamed up with his brother-in-law Friedrich Weyerhäuser and formed Weyerhäuser-Denkmann Lumber Company. Biography Early life ...

, lumber mogul and partner of

Friedrich Weyerhäuser Friedrich (Frederick) Weyerhäuser (November 21, 1834 – April 4, 1914), also spelled Weyerhaeuser, was a German-American timber mogul and founder of the Weyerhaeuser Company, which owns saw mills, paper factories, and other business enterprise ...

Pony Diehl Charles "Pony Diehl" Ray (possibly "Deal") was an Old West outlaw in the New Mexico Territory and Arizona Territory. He was accused by Wyatt Earp of having taken part in an attempt to kill his brother, Virgil Earp. Diehl was not tried due to a lac ...

, Wild West outlaw * Booker Edgerson, Buffalo Bills *

Lane Evans Lane Allen Evans (August 4, 1951 – November 5, 2014) was an American attorney and politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 until 2007, representing the 17th District of Illinois. Ev ...

, former United States Congressman (Illinois 17th District); born in Rock Island *

, one of the first settlers of the area, and a partner of

* Virginia Frederick, Illinois state representative *

Daniel G. Garnsey Daniel Greene Garnsey (June 17, 1779 – May 11, 1851) was an American politician from New York, Michigan and Illinois. Early life Garnsey was born in the part of the Town of Canaan, New York which is now New Lebanon on June 17, 1779. He was ...

, former U.S. Congressman *

Aaron H. Grout Aaron Hinman Grout (January 18, 1879 – December 29, 1966) was an American judge and political figure who served as Secretary of State of Vermont. Early life Grout was born in Rock Island, Illinois, on January 18, 1879. He was the son of Govern ...

, son of

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Josiah Grout and

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June Haver June Haver (born Beverly June Stovenour, June 10, 1926 – July 4, 2005) was an American film actress, singer, and dancer. Once groomed by 20th Century Fox to be "the next Betty Grable", Haver appeared in a string of musicals, but she never achie ...

, screen and radio actress; wife of actor Fred MacMurray *

Chase Hilgenbrinck Father Chase Michael Hilgenbrinck (born April 2, 1982) is an American retired soccer player who played as a defender. He is notable for walking away from his professional career to become a Catholic priest. Early life His parents, Mike (a reg ...

, former professional soccer player with the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...

Roger Imhof Frederick Roger Imhof (August 15, 1875 – April 15, 1958) was an American film actor, vaudeville, burlesque and circus performer, sketch writer, and songwriter. Early years Imhof was born in Rock Island, Illinois on April 15, 1875 to Nicholas ...

, actor and performer in motion pictures, vaudeville, burlesque and the circus * Jesse Johnson, musician, guitarist for group "The Time", as well as solo artist * Mark Johnson, Olympian and winningest wrestling coach at the University of Illinois *

Madison Keys Madison Keys (born February 17, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 7 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), a ranking she first achieved in October 2016. Keys has played in one Grand Sla ...

, professional tennis player *

Lou Kolls Louis Charles "Lou" Kolls (December 15, 1892 – February 23, 1941) was an American professional baseball umpire who worked in the American League from 1933 to 1940. Kolls umpired in one All-Star Game and one World Series. Kolls was released by th ...

, MLB umpire *

Kari Lake Kari Ann Lake ( ; born August 23, 1969) is an American former television news anchor who was the Republican nominee in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election. Beginning her media career in the early 1990s, Lake was the anchor for the Phoeni ...

, news reporter and politician in

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Helen Mack Helen Mack (born Helen McDougall; November 13, 1913 – August 13, 1986) was an American actress. She started her career as a child actress in silent films, moving to Broadway plays and touring one of the vaudeville circuits. Her greater succ ...

, screen and stage actress; born in Rock Island * Jerry Mansfield, NFL player * Elisabeth Maurus (aka

Lissie Elisabeth Corrin Maurus (born November 21, 1982), known as Lissie, is an American singer-songwriter. She released her debut EP, "Why You Runnin'", in November 2009. Her debut album, '' Catching a Tiger'', was released in June 2010. Her second st ...

), folk-rock singer and songwriter; born in Rock Island * Tim Moore, stage, screen and television actor; first black TV star * Don Nelson, forward and head coach with several NBA teams, most all-time wins as a head coach *

Greg Norton Gregory James Norton (born March 13, 1959) is an American musician, formerly of the band Hüsker Dü. Early life Norton was born in Davenport, Iowa, as this was the most local Catholic hospital to his family’s home in Rock Island, Illinois. He ...

, former bassist of the hardcore punk band

Hüsker Dü Hüsker Dü () was an American punk rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist/vocalist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart. They first gained notabili ...

* Col. Gary Payton, astronaut *

Chasson Randle Chasson Randle (born February 5, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Grand Rapids Gold of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal. As a senior in 2014–15, he was considered one of the to ...

, basketball player and all-time leading scorer at Stanford *

Paul E. Rink Paul E. Rink (December 12, 1916 – June 15, 2000) was an American judge and politician. Paul E. Rink was born on a farm near Prophetstown, Illinois. He graduated from Erie High School in Erie, Illinois, and received his bachelor's degree from ...

, Illinois judge, lawyer, and politician * Harry Sage, catcher with the Toledo Maumees *

Bobby Schilling Robert Todd Schilling (January 23, 1964 – April 6, 2021) was an American businessman and politician who served as a U.S. Representative for from 2011 to 2013. Schilling was a member of the Republican Party. Schilling challenged incumbent Dem ...

, U.S. Congressman from

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Dred Scott Dred Scott (c. 1799 – September 17, 1858) was an enslaved African American man who, along with his wife, Harriet, unsuccessfully sued for freedom for themselves and their two daughters in the '' Dred Scott v. Sandford'' case of 1857, popula ...

, American slave who sued for his freedom * J. Clinton Searle, Illinois state representative and lawyer'Illinois Blue Book 1951-1952,' Biographical Sketch of Clinton Searle, pg. 212-213 * Michael H. Sexton, Minor League Baseball executive * Tom Sexton, shortstop with 19th century's Milwaukee Brewers * Thomas P. Sinnett, Illinois politician and lawyer * Charles A. Spring, Presbyterian leader and son of

Samuel Spring Rev. Samuel Spring (1746–1819) was an early American Revolutionary War chaplain and Congregationalist minister. Early life and education Spring was born in Uxbridge in the Massachusetts Colony on February 27, 1746. His father was John Spring ...

* Henry Strasak,

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(FBI) and

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(CIA) officer *

Lefty Taber Edward Timothy "Lefty" Taber (January 11, 1900 – November 5, 1983), was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played in and with the Philadelphia Phillies. He batted and threw left-handed. Taber had a 0–1 record, with a 10.80 ERA, in 9 games, ...

, pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies; born in Rock Island * Jason Tanamor, writer and author; part-time resident of Rock Island * Hiram Truesdale, lawyer and jurist *

Jonathan Tweet Jonathan Tweet (born 1965) is an American game designer who has been involved in the development of the role-playing games '' Ars Magica'', ''Everway'', '' Over the Edge'', '' Talislanta'', the third edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and '' 13th ...

game designer Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in ...

, author, blogger *

Samuel Rinnah Van Sant Samuel Rinnah Van Sant (May 11, 1844October 3, 1936) was an American politician who served in the Minnesota House of Representatives and as the 15th Governor of Minnesota. Early life Van Sant was born in Rock Island, Illinois, to John Wesley Va ...

, Civil War soldier, Governor of

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1901-05 * Henry Cantwell Wallace, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture 1921-24 *

, lumber mogul * Bill Zies, catcher with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

* Lester Ziffren, journalist and Hollywood screenwriter

References

Footnotes

General references

* Spencer, J. W. and Burrows, J. M. D., ''The Early Day of Rock Island and Davenport'' The Lakeside Press, 1942 * Tweet, Roald D., ''The Quad Cities: An America mosaic", East Hall Press, 1996 * Wickstrom, George W., ''The Town Crier'' J. W. Potter Company, 1948

External links

City website

QCOnline.com
– Rock Island Argus/Moline Dispatch Newspaper
''Quad-City Times''
* {{authority control Cities in Illinois Cities in Rock Island County, Illinois Illinois populated places on the Mississippi River County seats in Illinois Cities in the Quad Cities Populated places established in 1835 1835 establishments in Illinois