Alton, Illinois The Clark Bridge, connecting Alton to West Alton, Missouri Location of Alton inside Illinois Location of Alton inside Illinois Wikimedia Commons: Alton, Illinois Alton is a town/city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about 15 miles (24 km) north of St.
Although Alton once was burgeoning faster than its sister town/city of St.
Many blocks of housing in Alton were assembled in the Victorian Queen Anne style; they represent a prosperous reconstructionin the river city's history.
The Alton region was home to Native Americans for thousands of years before the 19th-century beginning by European Americans of the undivided city.
Alton was advanced as a river town in 1818 by Rufus Easton, who titled it after his son.
Alton is positioned amid the confluence of three momentous navigable rivers: the Illinois, the Mississippi, and the Missouri.
Alton interval into a river trading town with an industrialized character.
Once the site of a several brick factories, Alton has an unusually high number of streets still paved in brick.
The lower levels of Alton are subject to floods, many of which have inundated the historic downtown area.
Escaped slaves would cross the Mississippi to seek shelter in Alton, and proceed to safer places through stations of the Underground Railroad.
Historic Alton home His Alton home, the Lyman Trumbull House, is a National Historic Monument.
On October 15, 1858, Alton was the site of the seventh Lincoln-Douglas debate.
A memorial at the site in downtown Alton features oversized statues of Lincoln and Douglas, as they would have appeared amid the debate.
Just 2 weeks into the American Civil War, Alton played an meaningful part in the continuing Camp Jackson Affair, which in large part led to the eviction of Missouri Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson from office.
The first penitentiary in Illinois was assembled in Alton.
A Confederate mass grave on the north side of Alton holds many of the dead from the epidemic and a memorial marks the site.
Robert Pershing Wadlow, listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's tallest documented man at 8 feet 11.1 inches tall, 2,72 m, is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in the region known as Upper Alton.
The Sisters of St Francis of the Martyr St George have their American province motherhouse in Alton.
In 1937 two commercial fishermen from Alton caught a bull shark in the Mississippi River.
In 1954, the town/city of Alton was titled as one of the three finalists for the locale of the new United States Air Force Academy.
Because of Alton's locale at the Mississippi River, the Great Flood of 1993 with its high water level caused harsh damage to the city.
Louis, donated funds to help the citizens of Alton.
The initial bridge connecting Alton with West Alton, Missouri, was a two-lane (one in each direction) bridge that had turn into a hazard for motorists and a hindrance for emergency vehicles.
Alton is positioned at 38 54 2 N 90 9 35 W (38.900438, -90.159844). This is on the Mississippi River above the mouth of the Missouri River.
Most of Alton is positioned on bluffs overlooking the river valley.
The Meeting of the Great Rivers National Scenic Byway runs along the Alton riverfront.
A monument and observatory tower, Confluence Tower, positioned next to the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers in neighboring Hartford, IL, has been constructed to furnish an overview of the Great Rivers area.
Also on the river at Alton is Lock and Dam 26, the newest and busiest lock and dam complex on the chief channel of the Mississippi River.
On the Missouri side is the Audubon Center at Riverlands, which is one of the best places in the world to view birds, as it lies near where the Mississippi Flyway merges the flight paths of the Mississippi, Illinois and Missouri rivers.
According to the 2010 census, Alton has a total region of 16.736 square miles (43.35 km2), of which 15.47 square miles (40.07 km2) (or 92.44%) is territory and 1.266 square miles (3.28 km2) (or 7.56%) is water. The Great River Road in Illinois north of Alton, looking south.
Laclede Steel established primary steel manufacturing operations in the town. Restructuring in the trade in the mid-20th century forced Alton to problematic a new future.
It was also the home to once-thriving, but now defunct industries such as the Owens-Illinois Glass Bottle Works, Alton Box Board Company (a manufacturer of all types of cardboard boxes for all types of uses), and various others.
Alton has transitioned into a prominent tourist and antique destination, building on tradition tourism.
Alton's locale and history make it a prominent destination for antique shopping, touring historic areas, and gambling aboard the Argosy Casino.
Other Greater Alton attractions include Alton Marina; nine golf courses, including Spencer T.
During the migration seasons, Alton is a destination for birdwatchers along the Mississippi Flyway; winter visitors come to see the many bald eagles that roost on the Illinois limestone bluffs and feed on fish in the river.
Alton has been chose as a station stop on a line running from St.
Alton is home to the Jacoby Arts Center (JAC) (formerly the Madison County Arts Council), a not-for-profit organization that supports small-town arts and art education and is partially funded by the Illinois Arts Council.
The JAC is a county-wide arts center, serving 17 counties throughout south central Illinois, providing a enhance art loggia, art classes in a range of media for grownups and children, strong performing arts programming including a monthly live music performance, and an supply to the literary arts, through such programs as the "Poetry Out Loud" high school-level competition and support of the Alton Writers Guild.
Alton is also home to the Alton Symphony Orchestra (ASO).
The Alton high schools all offer theatrical productions throughout the school year as well.
Alton Children's Theater, established in 1958 by Solveig Sullivan, has provided live theater for kids through the years.
Alton has one daily newspaper, The Telegraph, formerly the Alton Evening Telegraph.
It is distributed to all inhabitants and is the locally owned journal for the Alton area.
It has served Alton and the encircling area for decades.
Named for the small-town bend in the Mississippi River, Riverbender is a portal serving small-town and nationwide news, classifieds, event calendars and Alton guides to restaurants, shopping and attractions with coupons.
In 2007 they were the first business to broadcast the Alton High Schools' sports games live on the website.
Alton High School is the new enhance school, complete with a three-court gymnasium and six tennis courts.
Based on 2006 precinct data, Alton Community Unit School District 11 enrollment stands at 6,480; the average number of teaching years in the precinct is 13.5; the high school graduation rate is 97.7%; Elementary Pupil-Teacher Ratio - 18.9; and Secondary Pupil-Teacher Ratio - 22.3.
The Alton High School has an award-winning math team and music program.
Alton High School offers an honors program.
The Alton Middle School is homed in the old Alton High School complex.
Alton Middle School serves grades 6-8.
Alton Middle School is the biggest middle school in Illinois, with approximately 1,500 students.
Alton was home to Shurtleff College from 1827 to 1957 and prominent military prep school Western Military Academy from 1879 to 1971.
A monument to 1354 Confederate soldiers who died in the Alton prison, at the North Alton Confederate Cemetery Lincoln dined here and may have stayed overnight when in Alton for his seventh debate with Stephen Douglas on October 15, 1858.
It has been the private residence of Edmond Beall, four-time mayor of Alton and state senator.
Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church; more than 150 years old, it served as the Cathedral of the Diocese of Alton under three bishops (1857 to 1923).
Argosy Casino Alton, owned by Penn National Gaming.
National Great Rivers Museum - includes daily tours of Melvin Price Locks and Dam, the newest and busiest lock and dam complex on the chief channel of the Mississippi River.
Alton Riverfront Amphitheater - in Alton's Riverfront Park, has views of the Mississippi River, Clark Bridge and Alton Marina Joseph Brown, miller, steamboat captain, mayor of Alton 1856-57, mayor of St.
Jonathan Russell Bullock, Rhode Island state legislator and US federal judge; served on the Alton town/city council.
Herb, merchant, mayor of Alton, Illinois State Senator Alton Township, Madison County, Illinois Francis Zabel, "Alton" in The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York 1907) Titular Episcopal See of Alton & Illinois Reach Settlement with Bankrupt Laclede Steel to Facilitate Clean-up & Reopening of Alton, Illinois Mill".
"Alton Symphony Orchestra Website".
"North Alton Confederate Cemetery".
Eliza Oddy, A Mississippi Diary: From St Paul, Minnesota to Alton, Illinois, October 1894 to May 1895.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alton, Illinois.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Alton, Illinois.
Official website for the City of Alton Lincoln and Freedom: Lincoln-Douglas Debate in Alton 1994 reenactment of Lincoln-Douglas Debate in Alton televised by C-SPAN (Debate preview and Debate review) IL-6, "North Alton Confederate Cemetery, 635 Rozier Street, North Alton, Madison County, IL", 14 photos, 2 photo caption pages
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