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is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. The population was 32,445 at the 2008 census estimate. Bettendorf is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Davenport and the Illinois cities of Moline, East Moline and Rock Island.
Bettendorf lies in the original Wisconsin Territory, which was bought from the Sac and Fox Indians in the Black Hawk Purchase of 1832. The first white settlers established a village named Lillienthal, commemorating an early tavern and dance hall. The village of Gilbert developed alongside Lillienthal in 1858, honoring Elias Gilbert, who plotted the original site. At that time, the residents were predominantly German and were employed as farmers, skilled laborers, and small business owners. The two villages eventually combined to become the town of Gilbert.
Around 1900, William and Joseph Bettendorf were gifted of riverfront land on condition that they move their iron wagon business from Davenport to Gilbert. In 1903, the town of 440 citizens petitioned for incorporation, requesting to change the town's name to honor the brothers whose factory was a major influence in the early development of the city.
In the late 1940s, a site adjacent to Bettendorf, known as Riverdale, was chosen by the Aluminum Company of America (A.L.C.O.A.) to be the site of the world's largest aluminum rolling mill. This, and the attendant spin off developments from it, caused Bettendorf to enter a period of explosive growth in population which has sustained itself to the present day.
The first modern day riverboat casinos in the United States were launched in Bettendorf on April 1, 1991 by local businessman Bernard Goldstein who would go on to found Isle of Capri Casinos. Goldstein had operated Alter Companies which was a scrap metal, barge and towboat company operating on the river waterfront.