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Davenport, Iowa
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Davenport, Iowa
Davenport (US: /ˈdævənpɔːrt/ DA-vən-port) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 census, making it Iowa's third-most populous city, after Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. Together with Bettendorf, Iowa; Rock Island, Illinois; Moline, Illinois and Davenport is one of the four Quad Cities in Iowa and Illinois. It is the largest city in the Quad Cities area, which has a metropolitan area population of 384,324 and a combined statistical area population of 474,019.
Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836, by Antoine Le Claire and named for his friend, George Davenport. From 1860 until 1980, Davenport enjoyed a long period of industrial and population growth, averaging yearly increases of about 760 people. Over that period, Davenport industries were diverse, from manufacturing locomotives, a major meat-packing plant, a Caterpillar loader plant, a historic movie-projector plant, to car and truck wheel manufacture. These and other industries left, and since 1980, population growth has been flat, hovering around 100,000 over the past 40 years.
The city is prone to frequent flooding due to its location on the Mississippi River and the city's resistance to building a modern levee, unlike its sister cities. Davenport's flood wall dates from 1919, while Rock Island's higher flood wall dates from 1970 and Bettendorf's from the 1980s. The latter two protected their respective downtowns during the 2019 flood. The history and historical costs of proposed levee projects were summarized in 2023 by the local paper after Davenport received national media attention for the 2019 flood.
There are two main universities: St. Ambrose University and Palmer College of Chiropractic, where the first chiropractic adjustment took place. Several annual music festivals take place in Davenport, including the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, the Mississippi Valley Fair, and the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival. An internationally known 7-mile (11 km) foot race, called the Bix 7, is run during the festival. The city has a Class A minor-league baseball team, the Quad Cities River Bandits. Davenport has 50 plus parks and facilities, as well as more than 20 miles (32 km) of recreational paths for biking or walking.
Three interstates (I-80, I-74 and I-280) and two major United States Highways serve the city. Davenport has seen steady population growth since its incorporation. National economic difficulties in the 1980s resulted in job and population losses.
The land was originally inhabited by the Sauk, Meskwaki (Fox), and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Native American tribes. France laid claim to this territory as part of its New France and Illinois Country in the 18th century. Its traders and missionaries came to the area from Canada (Quebec), but it did not have many settlers here. After losing to Great Britain in the Seven Years' War, France ceded its territory east of the Mississippi River to the British and transferred the lands to the west to Spain.
In 1803, France regained and sold its holdings in North America west of the Mississippi River to the United States under the Louisiana Purchase. Lieutenant Zebulon Pike was the first United States representative to officially visit the Upper Mississippi River area. On August 27, 1805, Pike camped on the present-day site of Davenport.
In 1832, a group of Sauk, Meskwaki, and Kickapoo people were defeated by the United States in the Black Hawk War. The United States government concluded the Black Hawk Purchase, sometimes called the Forty-Mile Strip or Scott's Purchase, by which the US acquired lands in what is now eastern Iowa. The purchase was made for $640,000 on September 21, 1832, and contained an area of some 6 million acres (24,000 km2), at a price equivalent to 11 cents/acre ($26/km2). Although named after the defeated chief Black Hawk, he was being held prisoner by the US. Sauk chief Keokuk, who had remained neutral in the war, signed off on the purchase. It was made on the site of present-day Davenport. Army General Winfield Scott and Governor of Illinois, John Reynolds, acted on behalf of the United States, with Antoine Le Claire, a mixed-race (Métis) man, serving as translator. He later was credited with founding Davenport.
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Davenport, Iowa
Davenport (US: /ˈdævənpɔːrt/ DA-vən-port) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 census, making it Iowa's third-most populous city, after Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. Together with Bettendorf, Iowa; Rock Island, Illinois; Moline, Illinois and Davenport is one of the four Quad Cities in Iowa and Illinois. It is the largest city in the Quad Cities area, which has a metropolitan area population of 384,324 and a combined statistical area population of 474,019.
Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836, by Antoine Le Claire and named for his friend, George Davenport. From 1860 until 1980, Davenport enjoyed a long period of industrial and population growth, averaging yearly increases of about 760 people. Over that period, Davenport industries were diverse, from manufacturing locomotives, a major meat-packing plant, a Caterpillar loader plant, a historic movie-projector plant, to car and truck wheel manufacture. These and other industries left, and since 1980, population growth has been flat, hovering around 100,000 over the past 40 years.
The city is prone to frequent flooding due to its location on the Mississippi River and the city's resistance to building a modern levee, unlike its sister cities. Davenport's flood wall dates from 1919, while Rock Island's higher flood wall dates from 1970 and Bettendorf's from the 1980s. The latter two protected their respective downtowns during the 2019 flood. The history and historical costs of proposed levee projects were summarized in 2023 by the local paper after Davenport received national media attention for the 2019 flood.
There are two main universities: St. Ambrose University and Palmer College of Chiropractic, where the first chiropractic adjustment took place. Several annual music festivals take place in Davenport, including the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, the Mississippi Valley Fair, and the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival. An internationally known 7-mile (11 km) foot race, called the Bix 7, is run during the festival. The city has a Class A minor-league baseball team, the Quad Cities River Bandits. Davenport has 50 plus parks and facilities, as well as more than 20 miles (32 km) of recreational paths for biking or walking.
Three interstates (I-80, I-74 and I-280) and two major United States Highways serve the city. Davenport has seen steady population growth since its incorporation. National economic difficulties in the 1980s resulted in job and population losses.
The land was originally inhabited by the Sauk, Meskwaki (Fox), and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Native American tribes. France laid claim to this territory as part of its New France and Illinois Country in the 18th century. Its traders and missionaries came to the area from Canada (Quebec), but it did not have many settlers here. After losing to Great Britain in the Seven Years' War, France ceded its territory east of the Mississippi River to the British and transferred the lands to the west to Spain.
In 1803, France regained and sold its holdings in North America west of the Mississippi River to the United States under the Louisiana Purchase. Lieutenant Zebulon Pike was the first United States representative to officially visit the Upper Mississippi River area. On August 27, 1805, Pike camped on the present-day site of Davenport.
In 1832, a group of Sauk, Meskwaki, and Kickapoo people were defeated by the United States in the Black Hawk War. The United States government concluded the Black Hawk Purchase, sometimes called the Forty-Mile Strip or Scott's Purchase, by which the US acquired lands in what is now eastern Iowa. The purchase was made for $640,000 on September 21, 1832, and contained an area of some 6 million acres (24,000 km2), at a price equivalent to 11 cents/acre ($26/km2). Although named after the defeated chief Black Hawk, he was being held prisoner by the US. Sauk chief Keokuk, who had remained neutral in the war, signed off on the purchase. It was made on the site of present-day Davenport. Army General Winfield Scott and Governor of Illinois, John Reynolds, acted on behalf of the United States, with Antoine Le Claire, a mixed-race (Métis) man, serving as translator. He later was credited with founding Davenport.
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