Rail service through Davenport was being discussed and planned to start in 1842. Up to this point, however, the
Mississippi River had never been crossed by a bridge anywhere. That was accomplished by 1856 when the first railroad bridge was built between Davenport and
Rock Island, Illinois, and the city's rail history began. By 1895 several rail lines already passed through Davenport when Frank Blair organized the
Davenport, Rock Island and North Western Railway (DRI & NW). In five years the company completed its route to
Clinton, Iowa and the
Crescent Bridge (1899) across the Mississippi between Davenport and Rock Island. The bridge is downstream from the site of the first railroad bridge that crossed the river. In 1901, the DRI & NW was purchased by the
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad and the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CBQ). The Milwaukee Road already operated in Davenport while the CBQ did not, this purchase brought its operations to the city. The three railroads each had a station in Davenport and in 1916 plans were made to build a
union station on the riverfront. They were revised in 1923 and the following year the DRI & NW and its parent companies built Union Station on the levee grounds. After
World War II passenger service started to fade until it was discontinued in the 1950s. The building eventually became a
Trailways bus station. The main floor of the station was used as a visitor center from the 1990s to 2017. The upper floors and the freight house are office space. A $450,000 renovation of the facility was completed in 2009. It is the only passenger train station remaining in Davenport. ==Architecture==