Moline Travel Guide, Illinois

Moline is a city in the Rock Island County in the US state of Illinois. One of the Quad Cities of the Mid-Mississippi Valley region of the United States, Moline is culturally and economically strong. With an international airport, shopping malls, educational institutes, key businesses and industries, Moline is every bit a modern city, which has long surpassed its recognition as a ‘City of Mills’ (this is what the French word ‘Moulin’ from which the name is derived means).

Statistics

Area: 40.9 sq km

Population: 43,016

Language: English

Currency: USD

Architecture

There is no dearth of big massive houses, towering apartment buildings and commercial structures in Moline; however, they do not totally encompass the architecture of the place. Moline, rather presents a more comprehensive picture – if on one end of the spectrum you find a place of worship like the Scottish Rite Cathedral (a Gothic Revival style cathedral built in 1930), you also find numerous factories/production set-ups as well as tourism and entertainment complexes like John Deere Commons. Again, it is not just the old mansions (say the John Deere House, the Ball House or the Atkinson-Peek House) that are among the architectural landmarks of the area; rather it is an all-inclusive list and even a former hotel (LeClaire Apartments) and fire-stations (3rd Avenue River Drive and 4th Avenue Fire Stations). Among the most recent structures in the area are the Southpark Mall and the Wireless Center (better known as the Mark of the Quad-Cities).

Economy and Infrastructure

With Deere & Company remaining the agricultural machineries sector, Moline’s economy was largely depended on the farm implement industry. Following the farmland crisis on 1980s, a number of Deere & Company’s plants were closed down and Moline’s economy suffered severely. Moline’s resurged as an economic force in the 1990s and this time the focus was on the services and tourism sector. Present-day Moline (especially the downtown area) has many shopping plazas and entertainment centers to entice tourists.

The city of Moline is an example of good urban planning. The local governance takes care of the residents and assures them the bare essentials of day-to-day existence like electricity, water supply, garbage collection, waste recycling, etc. Moline has a public school system managed by the Moline School District 40 and there are a number of higher education facilities including the Western Illinois University. The Moline area is served by four interstate highways – Interstate 74, Interstate 80, Interstate 88 and Interstate 280; it is also home to the Quad City International Airport.

People and Culture

The Moline area has been settled time and again. The initial settlements were that of Native American tribes (the Sauk and Fox Indians) who were evicted by the European settlers. The Mexicans are the most recent immigrants. These hosts of settlers carried their rich cultural heritage with them to their new homeland and so Moline represents a wonderful cosmopolitan culture.

The people take keen interest in various art forms and the city has its own music/theater guilds. The Quad City Music Guild, the area’s music guild stages musical shows year-round.

Apart from religious festivities, the Moline-people take part in a number of events. Various Quad events - Taste of the Quad Cities, the Race for Cure and the Quad City Marathon - are hosted in Moline downtown. Other important events include the Rolle Bolle tournament and the annual Greek Festival.