Why Rock Island?
The Mississippi River was busy with steamer traffic; more than 1,000 steam boats docked in Rock Island in 1870. The first train had reached Rock Island in 1854, and the first train bridge across the Mississippi was completed in 1856, linking Rock Island and Davenport. The population in Rock Island had skyrocketed from 7,000 in 1852 to nearly 30,000 in 1870. More than 3,500 Scandinavians settled in Rock Island and Moline in the 1870s. Scandinavians were the largest ethnic group in the area, Germans a close second, and those from the British Isles a trifle fewer in third place. This location with both river and rail access was the hub that Paxton could never be. The site selected for campus was halfway between Moline and Rock Island, where a trolley ran past connecting the towns. The 16-acre plot was secured for $10,000. This “picturesque bluff land,” nestled among pastures, orchards, and barns, provided a place remote from town centers but with connections to a metropolitan area and eas
