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The Quad Cities is a region of five cities (originally Tri-Cities, later four, see History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf (the fifth to be included) in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline (the fourth to be included) in northwestern Illinois.
In addition to the industrial buildings, the commercial buildings historically housed stores, a bank, an opera house, and a fraternal society. Bonaparte's commercial area was built on the riverfront to take advantage of the riverboats that were important for commerce when the town was founded in the 1830s.
This prompted the bloodless Honey War, with Iowa resisting the effort. The Supreme Court was to ultimately decide in State of Missouri v. State of Iowa, 48 U.S. 660 (1849), that Iowa's southern boundary was the foot of the rapids at modern day Keokuk (although accepting the Sullivan Line for the rest of the border from about 20 miles (32 km) west).
The area becomes more densely populated as it nears the city of Vincennes at mile 441. Founded by the French about 1720, Vincennes is the oldest European settlement in Indiana, and among the oldest in the American Midwest. The city is sited on a strategic bend in the river that allowed it to control river traffic. [23]
Much of the greater City of Des Moines area was mined. Boone and What Cheer were important in the late 19th century. In the 20th century, the most important mines were farther south around Albia, Centerville, Lucas and Oskaloosa. Iowa coal tends to be too high in sulfur for modern applications, and the last commercial mine closed in 1994. [14]
The river continues to flow in a southeastern direction away from Des Moines, flowing directly into the Mississippi River. The Des Moines River forms a short portion of Iowa's border with Missouri between Lee County, Iowa and Clark County, Missouri. The city of Des Moines, Iowa, was named for the river.
The current Government Bridge, the fourth crossing of the Mississippi in the area, was built in 1896 at the same location and used the same piers as the 1872 structure. A twin double-deck bridge which carries rail (top level) and road traffic (bottom level), it has two train tracks to eliminate what had become a rail-traffic bottleneck.
Lock and Dam No. 15 is a lock and dam located on the Upper Mississippi River.It spans the river between Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa.Lock and Dam 15 is the largest roller dam in the world, its dam is 1,203 feet (366.7 m) long and consists of nine 109 feet (33.2 m) non-submersible, non-overflow roller gates and two 109 feet (33.2 m) non-submersible overflow roller gates.