Blood, Trauma, and Biohazard Cleanup in East Moline, IL

East Moline is a city in Rock Island County on the Mississippi River, one of the five Quad Cities at the confluence of the Rock and Mississippi rivers.

The area's first settlement was Watertown, platted in 1856 east of present 19th Street; Watertown's residents voted to annex it to East Moline in 1914.

In 1895 the East Moline Company land syndicate platted the town site with plans for a harbor, parks, schools, and a library, but its heavily promoted lot sale drew a crowd of 8,000 to 10,000 people and sold only about five of roughly 2,000 lots, stalling development for years.

East Moline incorporated as a village in February 1903 and as a city in April 1907, growing from fewer than 300 residents in 1900 to 2,665 in 1910 as factories arrived.

Deere & Company put down roots in 1900 when the Union Malleable Iron Company began operations as the city's first large factory.

East Moline is home to the John Deere Harvester Works, one of the largest combine factories in the world, with about 90 acres under roof; dating to 1912, it is the city's largest employer, with about 1,750 workers.

East Moline's population was 21,374 at the 2020 census, with about 8,600 households in recent Census Bureau estimates.

The city's official 2000 census count of 20,333 was later found to have mistakenly excluded the roughly 1,098 residents of the East Moline Correctional Center, which had been credited to the village of Oak Grove; the corrected 2000 population was 21,431.

Empire Park, one of East Moline's most popular parks with a wooden playground and picnic pavilions, sits along the Great River Trail, which runs from Rock Island to Savanna as part of the Mississippi River Trail.

Campbell's Island State Memorial in East Moline marks the site of an 1814 battle during the War of 1812 between U.S. troops under Lieutenant John Campbell and Sauk and Fox fighters under Black Hawk.