Davenport Guide

Davenport Real Estate

Introduction

Davenport, Iowa is the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, and one of the Quad Cities (along with Bettendorf , Iowa; Moline, Illinois; and Rock Island, Illinois) which function as autonomously managed but collaborative municipalities. In one of the rare instances of cooperative calling in the U.S., the telephone systems make all calls within the metro area local calls, with only seven digits required for dialing, despite a state line and two area codes (563 in Iowa and 309 in Illinois).

Heartland Landscape

Chiropractic medicine was developed in Davenport by Daniel David Palmer and the city remains the home of the Palmer Chiropractic College.

The downtown area is fronted by the Mississippi River. Davenport is the only riverfront city on the Mississippi with a population of more than twenty thousand that does not have a levee or a floodwall. The city prefers its easy access to the river and surprising vistas of the river. Located at a bend in the river, Davenport is one of the few places where the Mississippi runs on an east-west axis, instead of a north-south. It is also one of the few spots where the usually placid river has rapids. Even if the people of Davenport were willing to sacrifice some of the local beauty, the Army Corps of Engineers has determined that it would be impossible to protect the city with a levee. New construction on the floodplain is now required to be elevated above the hundred year flood level (the height to which the worst flood in a hundred year period is expected to rise). Such major buildings as the John O’Donnell Stadium and the Figge Art Museum downtown are in compliance with this requirement.

The first rail connection across the Mississippi River was completed at Davenport in 1856. Shortly thereafter, an angry boat captain who feared business competition from the railroads rammed the bridge with a steamboat. The boat’s owner sued the Rock Island Railroad, and the already important case became destined for a place in history when the railroad chose a young Abraham Lincoln as its legal counsel. It was Mr. Lincoln’s first legal case.

Although tornados are common in Iowa and Illinois, no tornado has ever touched down inside the city limits of Davenport. Some people believe that the area remains protected by a blessing dating from the time when the Sauk and Fox Native American tribes lived there.

Davenport is a young and racially and ethnically diverse city, especially as compared to Iowa state averages. Residents of Davenport tend to enjoy slightly higher levels of education and professional accomplishment than their counterparts elsewhere in the state.