Edgewater

A large piece of land below the bluff and east of Riverside Park was owned by Bailey Davenport, son of early Rock Island settler George Davenport. It was not until after Bailey’s death in 1890 that Moline’s urban development proceeded in this direction. Soon residential plats were filling up (including one called “East Moline” between 48th and 52nd streets that became part of Moline). Just after the turn of the century the trolley was extended through this area to a brand-new village of East Moline, Moline’s manufacturing suburb.

A variety of businesses appeared along the trolley line, and 4th Avenue. By 1950 this street had become a classic “automobile row”—like those found in every city at the time—which included numerous used car lots. Even today, that auto row is quite visible, with well over a dozen used car lots remaining, some of them more than fifty years old.

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