 The site was thought to be the area where the large city of the area would develop as it was located near the Rock Island Rapids and near the bridge which spanned the Columbia River for the Great Northern Railway.Despite these strategic advantages, the large city in the area would become Wenatchee, just seven miles upriver from the site of present-day Rock Island.In 1893, however, the completion of that first bridge across the Columbia marked the downfall of Rock Island.