Bookstore: Rock Island County and City Histories

Moline City of Mills by David R. Collins, Rich J. Johnson and Bessie J. Pierce

With more than 200 historic photographs, Moline: City of Mills offers an overview of this dynamic river town located on the southern shore of the mighty Mississippi River. This book helps to celebrate 150 years of Moline's history, beginning with its incorporation in 1848. The city's history is closely tied to the Mississippi River. The name Moline comes from the French word moulin, meaning mill. The river, together with some famous entrepreneurs, helped industry flourish in Moline. John Deere and his steel plow turned the city into the agricultural implement center of the world.

B & W paperback with 128 pages (over 200 photographs)
Publication Information: Arcadia Publishing/ 2008

Price: $21.99

 

Rock Island: All American City by David Collins, Rich Johnson, and Bessie J. Pierce
Rock Island, Illinois, named All American City by Life magazine in 1955, is a mighty river town that prides itself on its leadership and sense of community. In every house on every street, there is a story to be told of how the residents came to be a part of this unique city. A few Rock Islanders can trace their roots back to the first white settlements of Farnhamsburg and Stephenson; fewer still go even further back than that, to the villages of Wappello and Keokuk and the Sauk warrior, Black Hawk. Discover how the Mississippi and Rock Rivers helped to shape the lives of area residents and how they have shaped its course; meet some of Rock Island's first families, including the Weyerhaeusers and Denkmanns, who arrived in Rock Island with little more than a dream and left their legacy in the areas landscape, architecture, and culture.

B & W paperback with 128 pages (over 200 photographs)
Publication Information: Arcadia Publishing/ 1999



Rock Island County by David T. Coopman

The history of Rock Island County, once known as the farm implement capital of the world, 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 county's formation. 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.

B & W paperback with 127 pages (over 200 photographs)
Publication Information: Arcadia Publishing/ 2008

Price $19.99




Rock Island County: "Where the River Runs West" Vol. 2 by The Dispatch and the Rock Island Argus

This book is a collection of photographs and capitions submitted by Rock Island County residents, business, and organizations
to the Dispatch and the Rock Island Argus for publication in a photographic history of our county. 

B & W paperback with156 pages (over 325 photographs)
Publication Information: The Brandt Compnay/ The Dispatch and the Rock Island Argus/ 2004

Price: $24.99