The City of Walcott was originally platted in 1854. The first passenger train route west of the Mississippi River started in 1855 and helped Walcott grow. William Walcott, who was a director of Chicago and Rock Island Railroad, donated $500 in 1855 for the construction of a school building, with the stipulation that the fledgling town along the railroad tracks near Davenport be named after him.

Long before Walcott was even a vision to William Walcott, it was a great expanse of open prairie inhabited by the Kaskaskia Indians. The Kaskaskias were later driven out of the Quad Cities area by the renegade Mesquaki tribe. This tribe, a splinter of the Canadian Iorquois, was America’s largest Indian nation. In 1857, much of the Walcott land was sold for as low as 75 cents an acre, enabling many German and Scotch-Irish immigrants to settle in the area. The Walcott Savings Bank was organized in 1894 with a capital stock of $30,000. On April 1, 1904, the Farmers Savings Bank began business with a capital stock of $25,000. In 1911, Walcott was declared the richest town in the USA in consideration of the bank deposits for its population of 300, according to Dunn & Co. in the Bankers’ Journal of New York. During the depression year of 1931, the two banks were consolidated and Walcott Trust and Savings Bank was formed. The original town was expanded in 1962 to include Highway 6. Additional ground was annexed in 1973 to include the Interstate 80 interchange area and the French and Hecht Building, which currently houses FirstCo Inc.

In the early 1990’s, quadrants adjacent to and near the Interstate 80 interchanged were also annexed in. The annexation of the area near Interstate 80 has increased the area’s valuation significantly. Many businesses, including the World’s Largest Truckstop, Iowa 80 Truckstop, is located within city limits. In 1997, Walcott joined in a sister city partnership with Bredenbek, Germany. Bredenbek is located in northern Germany.

Walcott has five parks with various amenities! Throughout the summer, Little League and the Tri-County Men’s Fastpitch Softball League utilize Victory and Wescott Parks. Games can usually be found at both parks most nights throughout the week. The small city of Walcott is also home to a church, cemetery, library, in addition to a preschool and an elementary school (k-8). Students in grades 9-12 attend West High School in Davenport. The city also possesses a handful of local eateries within city limits.

Walcott’s interchange on Interstate 80 is home to an enormous complex of restaurants, motels and truck stops, including the Iowa 80 truck stop which is the world’s largest.