Alton, IL – Mississippi River Lifestyle
Alton is inconspicuously nestled in Illinois’ river bend area, so named because it is the single point along the Mississippi River where the water flows South to North. Along the famous river lies the geographic gem of the area. America’s most scenic byway, the Great River Road, reaches its most dramatic point in Alton. The road is consumed by natural beauty on all sides – the eternal Mississippi to your left, the towering bluffs to your right. America’s majestic icon, the bald eagle, winters along Alton’s section of the river road. This stretch of Earth’s surface makes for particularly unforgettable hiking, biking or boating.
A half-hour drive outside of St. Louis, Alton was once a promising industrial river town back when commerce floated on steamboats not wireless networks. The proliferation of antiques shops in the downtown area is a testament to the town’s reluctance to let go of its history. For collectors of the past the town is a goldmine. But beware! Alton’s past is notoriously guarded by ghosts and spirits. Chicago ghost hunters recently confirmed perplexing paranormalities at the historic McPike Mansion, reinforcing Alton’s reputation as one of the most haunted small towns in America
Alton is full of the delightful, historical idiosyncrasies that make small towns so vivid and vital among our nation’s cultural landscape. In 1918 a man by the name of Robert Pershing Wadlow was born in Alton. Mr. Wadlow would grow to an neck-twisting 8’11” becoming the tallest individual in all of recorded history. A life-size statue of Wadlow is an unmissable photo-op, with most visitors coming up only to the gentle giant’s waist. Journalistic icon and martyr Elijah P. Lovejoy printed his abolitionist paper, The Alton Observer, from his downtown office during the 1830s. His contributions are honored by the Lovejoy monument rising above the humble Alton skyline.
Nineteenth century Illinois politician Stephen Douglas wanted to relocate the state capital to Alton. Opposing him was a lanky newcomer from Kentucky – Abraham Lincoln. In 1858 the two politicians staged a series of hotly contested debates culminating in Alton. A pair of statues in the Lincoln-Douglas Square commemorates these debates.
History covets the legendary cities that are carved by empires, but the peripheral towns that empires forget have a timeless universal enchantment all their own. Alton is one of many such places scattered across the globe. These towns are hidden jewels that belong to all of us. They are harder to find than Paris, and they don’t always register on modern maps, but they reward the ardent searcher with a solace and comfort that even the richest cities can’t afford. New York’s Broadway has plenty of sensations, but only on Alton’s Broadway can you watch time itself drown in the Mississippi River.
