By B.J. Smith
For Iowa.com
A beautiful day looking out over the Mississippi River from the I-74 bridge in Scott County / Photo courtesy of the Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau
Sitting on the big, big bend where the Mississippi River runs west instead of south, the 465-square-mile Scott County is dominated by the historic river cities of Bettendorf and Davenport. That’s roughly half* of the Quad Cities (the other half, of course, being on the other side of that great waterway).
There are other river towns, too – including LeClaire, Buffalo and Princeton – and even another scenic river. The Wapsipinicon
meanders along to form much of Scott County’s northern boundary. With all that riverfront, you might naturally expect to find some gambling and you would, indeed.
Davenport, the county seat, offers a diverse mix of entertainment – musical and otherwise – including the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival and Bix 7 Race.
Bettendorf is just upstream along the Great River Road. (It was known as Lillienthal until the Bettendorf brothers came along.) The city offers lots of attractions of its own. Among the most notable are the Isle of Capri Casino, the Family Museum, and the scenic Duck Creek Recreational Trail.
Up out of the Mississippi River valley and away from the bigger cities, Scott County is fertile farm county and smaller communities ranging in size from about 4,000 people in Eldridge to just a few hundred. In addition to crop and livestock production, the county is well known for agricultural and industrial equipment manufacturing. The many small lakes, parks and public use areas in Scott County are popular for fishing, swimming, camping, hiking and other outdoor activities.
* While the area is called the “Quad” Cities, there are actually five cities instead of four. But who’s counting?
Sources: City of Bettendorf, City of Davenport, Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau, Scott County
Photos provided by Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau
Cities in Scott County
Bettendorf pop. 31258
Blue Grass pop. 1169
Buffalo pop. 1321
Davenport pop. 98359
Dixon pop. 276
Donahue pop. 293
Durant pop. 1677
Eldridge pop. 4807
Le Claire pop. 2868
Long Grove pop. 597
McCausland pop. 299
New Liberty pop. 121
Panorama Park pop. 131
Princeton pop. 946
Riverdale pop. 653
Walcott pop. 1528
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