River town

The Big Muddy (a nickname for the Mississippi River) flows along aside (at an average speed of 1.2 miles per hour) and great limestone bluffs tower over the road. This river town is at the confluence of three rivers—the Illinois, the Mississippi, and the Missouri rivers. It was established in 1818 as a hub for river traffic and founded in 1837, becoming famous for manufacturing and shipping; barges still ply the river. A good site to watch the river and its traffic is the Alton Riverfront Park. The city rises steeply from the riverfront; you’ll get a good workout climbing up to the town center. There you’ll find brick-lined streets, Victorian Queen Anne architecture, historic monuments to abolitionist Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, remains of a Confederate prison and cemetery, and a statue of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas on the site of their famous debate in 1858. Alton was considered as the home of the U.S. Air Force Academy but lost out to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1954. Paul Tibbets Jr., the pilot of the Enola Gay, lived in Alton. Birdwatchers and bikers will enjoy the Great River Road; bald eagles roost in the limestone bluffs in the winter. St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN) is in Alton, just four miles from the city. It has two runways—8,099 feet by 150 feet, and 6,500 feet by 100 feet.

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