Rock Island is one of those towns that pops up in nostalgic culture over and over, but not a lot of people know where it is or much about it. It's almost mythical in a way, due especially to the Rock Island Line, a real train route, short for the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, memorialized in the folk song of the same name. But Rock Island's story is steeped in real history — especially the actual Rock Island, the largest island on the Mississippi River, for which the town is named.
This week, the island now known as Arsenal Island in Rock Island, Illinois.
Tombstone
The Jell-O Gallery Museum
Wild Blueberry Land
The London Bridge
Buc-ee's
Dr Pepper
Wall Drug
Evel Knievel
Alaska and the Aurora Borealis
The West Baden Springs Hotel
America's Strangest Graves
Mark Twain's Hannibal
Jack Daniel's Distillery
America's First Bank Robbery
Lizzie Borden
Radio City Music Hall
The Mall of America
Carhenge
The Library of Congress
Graceland
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