The history of Rock Island County, once known as the afarm implement capital of the world, a starts well before that industry sprung up on the Mississippi River at a point where the river runs east to west. Fur trading, farming, mining, milling, and lumber all played a key role in the countyas formation. As the railroad moved west, the first rail bridge over the Mississippi at Rock Island created a transportation hub and furthered the areaas process of industrialization. This volume of vintage pictures looks at the county from the early 1800s, prior to its creation, through the mid-1960s. It illustrates the rich rural influence of the settlements, villages, and townships; the development of the cities and their industries, businesses, and educational and cultural centers; and how the people who worked the fields and factories made use of and enjoyed their leisure time.
David Benton Sears could be considered the father of Moline, Illinois. It was upon his land that Moline was platted in 1843. It was because of his brush dam on the Mississippi River between the Moline shore and Rock Island--known today as Arsenal Island--that significant industry began to develop. Grain and lumber mills were the first, but farm implement and related factories soon found prominence after John Deere moved his plow-making business here in 1848. It would not be long before immigrants, particularly the Swedish, Belgian, and German, were drawn to Moline for the jobs and opportunities and added to the growing and prosperous population. Legendary Locals of Moline tells the known and not-so-well-known stories of many of the early and the more-recent individuals who have contributed to the fabric of the community, both locally and nationally. Historical and current photographs illustrate those who affected business and industry, culture, academia, public service, organizations and philanthropies, and sports and entertainment.
Beginning in 1922, Davenport's WOC has charted an impressive list of broadcasting firsts: the first licensed commercial radio station west of the Mississippi River; first station to establish logging, the practice of recording program schedules down to the minute and second; the use of time signals at the beginning of programs; first to build and use audio mixing controls that allowed multiple microphone usage; first to broadcast from a state legislature; and first to broadcast programming meant specifically for children. WOC-TV was the first television station in Iowa on the air when it began regular programming in 1949. This volume of images presents an overview to the history, facilities, programming, and technology of the WOC stations and provides a glimpse at the stations today, as new ownership carries on an outstanding tradition in Quad City broadcasting.
The history of Rock Island County, once known as the afarm implement capital of the world, a starts well before that industry sprung up on the Mississippi River at a point where the river runs east to west. Fur trading, farming, mining, milling, and lumber all played a key role in the countyas formation. As the railroad moved west, the first rail bridge over the Mississippi at Rock Island created a transportation hub and furthered the areaas process of industrialization. This volume of vintage pictures looks at the county from the early 1800s, prior to its creation, through the mid-1960s. It illustrates the rich rural influence of the settlements, villages, and townships; the development of the cities and their industries, businesses, and educational and cultural centers; and how the people who worked the fields and factories made use of and enjoyed their leisure time.
In 1922, three men were so captivated with flying they leased 30 acres of cow pasture south of Moline to serve as a landing field. Other early aviators and barnstormers began using Franing Field, and it soon became known as Moline Airport. The field hosted the Ford Reliability Tour four times, served as part of the original New York to Dallas airmail route, had passenger service as early as 1927, became one of Illinois's largest Works Progress Administration projects, weathered financial struggles and a battle with neighboring Davenport, Iowa, over which community would possess the area's commercial airport, and has enjoyed constant growth and updates for both airline and general aviation traffic. This collection of historical photographs and images will present the people, planes, events, and development of that former pastureland into today's modern Quad City International Airport, the third largest airport for passenger traffic in the state of Illinois.
David Benton Sears could be considered the father of Moline, Illinois. It was upon his land that Moline was platted in 1843. It was because of his brush dam on the Mississippi River between the Moline shore and Rock Island--known today as Arsenal Island--that significant industry began to develop. Grain and lumber mills were the first, but farm implement and related factories soon found prominence after John Deere moved his plow-making business here in 1848. It would not be long before immigrants, particularly the Swedish, Belgian, and German, were drawn to Moline for the jobs and opportunities and added to the growing and prosperous population. Legendary Locals of Moline tells the known and not-so-well-known stories of many of the early and the more-recent individuals who have contributed to the fabric of the community, both locally and nationally. Historical and current photographs illustrate those who affected business and industry, culture, academia, public service, organizations and philanthropies, and sports and entertainment.
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