The Quad Cities Metropolitan Area is situated across four counties in Illinois and Iowa.

Construction began on May 1, 1903; the facilities eventually included a general stores department, repair shop, 45-stall roundhouse with a 90-foot turntable, and two large freight yards east and west.

This was rented to the workers at favorable rates, which were possible under an agreement with the town that meant the occupants paid no property taxes.

The Mexican section, with its own Mexican-run general stores and a Mexican-themed band, became known as La Yarda.

When the band waned, the railway-donated boxcars that had once housed its instruments were refurbished to create the Lady of Guadalupe church, dedicated on Easter Sunday in 1927.

In 1929 the no-property-tax agreement came to an end, and the city authorities evicted the railway workers.

The facility later was sold to National Railway Equipment, with the workshops remaining a maintenance and refurbishment hub for the wider North American railroad industry.

[10][11] The city is home to TPC Deere Run, a public golf course designed by former PGA Tour professional D.A.

[2] The name of the city's Second Street—a muddy two-block thoroughfare that was once home to Mexican immigrants who worked for the Rock Island Railroad—was changed in 1967 to Hero Street to honor people who lived on the two-block street and served in the U.S.

Their son, Frank, was a combat engineer assigned to help build the Ledo Road in Burma.

His older brother, Joe, assigned to the 41st Armored Infantry Division in Europe, was killed in April 1945, just days before the war ended.

The monument contains pictures and biographies of the eight-deceased veteran from Hero Street, the grotto displays the names of all war dead from Silvis.

[14] In 2015, Fourth Wall Films released a documentary, "Letters Home to Hero Street", by Emmy-nominated filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle.