A Q-C century reviewed

Quad-Citians who were alive then can tell you exactly where they were when they heard the news of the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, what they were doing when the first man walked on the moon in 1969 and what effect the flood of 1993 had on their lives.

In January 1900, local rivers and canals were freezing, and the important business of ice-cutting was getting under way. The opening of Rock Island's Cresent Bridge gave the area a second rail crossing across the Mississippi. Local government investigated bids from potential telephone franchises. The Secretary of War sought a $500,000 appropriation to modernize facilities at the Arsenal, and maximize its output.

Over the course of the next 99 years, Quad-Citians would be caught up in events that swept the nation -- two world wars, Prohibition and Depression.

They would marvel at the advance of powered flight from the sand dunes of North Carolina to the rocky expanses of the Sea of Tranquility.

They would fight the war in Vietnam, and debate the morality of the stuggle on the streets of the Quad-Cities.

Not all of the area's struggles were played out on the national stage.

The Quad-Cities endured a ``record'' flood in 1965, topped only by the ``record'' flood of 1993. The farm machinery manufacturing dynamo that was built over the first three-quarters of the century collapsed in the '70s, changing the economy and the identity of the Quad-Cities forever.

In their rebirth, the Quad-Cities have returned to the river. Gaming boats re-energized the communities, spawning the development of entertainment and tourist facilities along both shores.

The following is a timeline of major Quad-Cities events of the 20th century:

1902: East Moline incorporated as a village on Dec. 23.

1903: Leon (Bix) Beiderbecke is born in Davenport.

1904: 2,000 people gather in Rock Island's Market Square to see People's Power Co. demonstrate the new gas stove.

1907: Village of Silvis incorporated.

1908: The Velie Carriage Co. in Moline begins production of automobiles. It makes between 75,000 and 100,000 cars in 20 years.

1912: Rock Island buys first police motorcycle.

1914: Rock Island chapter of Rotary Club organized and Moline City Hall built.

1915: Tri-City Symphony organized.

1918: Employment at the Rock Island Arsenal reaches 13,400 by the end of World War I.

1919: Streetcar workers and telephone employees in Rock Island go on strike.

1922: WOC -- ``Wonders of Chiropractic'' -- radio is established in Davenport, the first radio station west of the Mississippi River and the first in the Tri-Cities.

1923: Servus Rubber opens for business.

1925: Gangster John Looney is convicted of the murder of saloon keeper Bill Gabel, bringing to an end an era of vice and lawlessness in Rock Island.

1926: Regularly scheduled air service begins at the Moline Airport, with mail flights to Chicago, Kansas City and Dallas.

1927: Black Hawk State Park established.

1928: Ground broken for Moline's Scottish Rite Cathedral.

1930: East Moline's new high school opens. Later renamed North Campus of United Township, it closed in 1991.

1931-33: Lock and Dam 15 built.

1934: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers moves into Clock Tower building on Arsenal Island.

1935: Memorial Bridge between Moline and Bettendorf dedicated.

1936: The average weekly wage for Moline power company employees is $38. Local trucking companies pay $12 per week.

1937: New armory opens on Rock Island riverfront and new Rock Island High School at 14th Street and 25th Avenue is dedicated.

1940: Rock Island Centennial Bridge opens July 12.

1943: Arsenal Courts completed in Rock Island.

1944: Employment at the Rock Island Arsenal reaches an all-time high of 18,675 during World War II.

1949: Alleman High School dedicated.

1954: The Rock Island post office is built in Spencer Square.

1955: Life magazine names Rock Island the ``All Amercian City.''

1957: Former Rock Island home of John and Susanne Hauberg is opened to the public as Hauberg Center.

1958: New Moline High School building opens.

1961: Augustana College celebrates centennial.

1965: The Mississippi River flood breaks records with a Rock Island crest of 22.48 feet on April 28.

1967: Modern Woodmen opens new building on Rock Island riverfront and Augustana Seminary moves to Chicago.

1968: Project NOW begins operations.

1969: The Small Newspaper Group of Kankakee purchased The Moline Dispatch.

1970: Rock Island flood wall constructed and Black Hawk College leaves old Moline High School building and moves to current campus.

1972: Franciscan Medical Center opens in Rock Island and Moline opens its new emergency center.

1974: Ground broken for Martin Luther King Center, Rock Island.

1976: Construction on Rock Island's downtown Great River Plaza begins.

1978: Villa de Chantal in Rock Island closes.

1979: Enclosed elevated walkway between Lutheran and Moline Public hospitals completed.

1980: Rock Island Lines ceases operations.

1984: Tenneco buys International Harvester and McCabes Department Store, Rock Island, closes.

1985: New Rock Island County Jail opens.

1986: The Small Newspaper Group, publishers of The Daily Dispatch, purchases The Rock Island Argus.

1986: Farmall plant in Rock Island closes.

1987: J I Case announces closing.

1991: Bettendorf's Diamond Lady and Davenport's President bring riverboat gambling to the Quad-Cities, both opening April 1.

1993: The Mississippi River sets a new record with a crest in the Quad-Cities of 22.63 feet on July 9 and the Mark of the Quad Cities opens.

1994: Montgomery Elevator sold to Kone Corp. of Finland.

1995: Lady Luck Casino drops anchor in Bettendorf.

1997: John Deere Commons opens in Moline.

1998: Quad-City Botanical Center opens in Rock Island and Moline celebrates its 150th anniversary.