Located in the Quad Cities metro area, Riverdale is the home to over 400 residents and the country’s largest aluminum rolling mill. The Arconic Davenport Works was opened in 1948 and currently employs more than 2,000 people and ships product worldwide.
Riverdale is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. The population was 405 at the 2010 census.
Arconic has an aluminum rolling mill in Riverdale that employs approximately 2,000 people. The city is surrounded on three sides by the city of Bettendorf, and on the fourth by the Mississippi River. Riverdale is part of the Quad Cities metropolitan area.
In 1912, Iowana Dairy Farms was established by Col. G. W. French in what is today the city of Riverdale. French’s herd of Holstein cattle became one of the largest and most outstanding in the United States. After the death of Col. French, Glenn Moore took over part of the operation as Iowana Milk Farm, and G. Decker French operated the other part of the operation as Iowana Holstein Farm. The Aluminum Company of America, (ALCOA), moved to the area in 1946. By the middle of 1948 the new plant’s construction was finished and operations began in 1949.
The city of Riverdale was incorporated December 27, 1950. After a three-year incorporation challenge by the city of Bettendorf, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld the incorporation and the city of Riverdale was granted its independence on February 10, 1953.
Riverdale is part of the Quad Cities community. The area was originally called the Tri-Cities which included Moline, Rock Island, and Davenport. Later the name was changed to the Quad Cities with the addition of East Moline. Today the Quad Cities community consists of the larger cities of Davenport, Iowa; Bettendorf, Iowa; Moline, Illinois; Rock Island, Illinois; and East Moline, Illinois, as well as surrounding smaller cities Eldridge, Long Grove, Park View, Blue Grass, Buffalo, Walcott, Maysville, Mount Joy, Pleasant Valley, LeClaire, Panorama Park, and Riverdale in Iowa and Silvis, Milan, Hampton, Carbon Cliff, Port Byron, Andalusia, Coal Valley, and Colona in Illinois. The Quad Cities has a total population of over 380,000 people.
There are several distinct neighborhoods in Riverdale:
- Belmont Road – There are two clusters of homes along Belmont Road: one is directly adjacent to Pleasant Valley High School and the other is near the intersection of Belmont Road and Valley Drive (Old Hwy 67).
- Fenno Hill – This neighborhood consists of homes along Fenno Drive, Fenno Road and Valley Drive (Old Hwy 67) near the eastern edge of the community.
- Haven’s Acres – This neighborhood consists of homes along Bellingham Street, Kensington Street, Wisteria Lane and Sycamore Lane. The neighborhood includes two parks, Peggy’s Park (and playground) and Van Gundy Park.
- Manor Hill – This neighborhood consists of homes along Manor Drive, Circle Drive, Fieldcrest Road, Windsor Drive, and Elmhurst Lane. The area features Volunteer Park and Bicentennial Park and lies directly west of the Belmont Road Campus of Eastern Iowa Community College.
- Woods Estates – This neighborhood is located on the site of the historic Welch Farm, one of the original farms in the area. The land for the development was purchased in 2017. Development of the site began in 2018 and the first homes were occupied in 2020. The neighborhood is located along the western border of the community.
