1976: Eldridge sues Cat over annexation request

Feb. 11, 1976: The City of Eldridge filed a $50 million lawsuit against Caterpillar and the City of Davenport over the company’s request to annex into Davenport. The suit alleged that Caterpillar conspired with Davenport to deprive Eldridge of the exclusive jurisdiction to annex land where the plant was located in Mount Joy. The suit also said that Caterpillar undermined the 10-year moratorium agreement between the cities on annexation, and that a sewer agreement between Davenport and the company in 1966 “provided unfair inducements for the plant to annex to Davenport.”