Alton, Illinois: See Antiques, Ghosts, and the Piasa Bird

Alton is a home to antique shops, ghosts which include that of one of the local antique dealers, the ruins of a prison for Confederate soldiers, stops on the Underground Railroad, the Piasa Bird, and a riverboat casino. It is also a possible place to view eagles that winter over in the area or the monument honoring Abolitionist publisher Elijah P. Lovejoy, whose 1836 death while defending his press demonstrated that a white man would willingly die for black freedom.

In short, Alton is doing a big business in tourism these days.

There's no lack of manufacturing going on, but the city has no shortage, either, of tourist sites and tourism-oriented businesses.

Antique Shops

Antique shops line Broadway downtown, bringing in shoppers from throughout the greater St Louis area and points even farther away. You can while away a Sunday afternoon visiting one shop after another.

Ghost Tours

The ghost seen in one of the antique shops along Broadway is that of one-time antique dealer Sam Thames. If your taste runs beyonding antiques or you just want a change of pace, you can sign up for one of the evening ghost tours based on Troy Taylor's book, "Haunted Illinois" and booked through the website, Alton Hauntings.com. You'll visit the haunted Mineral Springs Hotel, currently a mini-mall for antique dealers. Or you'll be led to the former Meridian Coffee House with its ghost, once picked up on video camera though no one ever saw it. Or Len might pauses at the remains of the Alton Penitentiary, closed prior to the Civil War due to the terrible conditions there, and reopened for the increasing number of Confederate POWs. Some people have seen the ghostly forms of the soldiers in that area, usually not realizing who the men in ragged clothes are until they disappear. And there's the story of an acquaintance of mine, antique dealer Sam Thames, who died more than 20 years ago and who apparently is still seen in the shop that was once his.

Piasa Bird

The Piasa Bird is the adopted symbol of Alton.  The Piasa was first seen by Pere Marquette in his journey down the Mississippi in 1673. It was a painting, actually of two bird-like figures, on the bluffs near present-day Alton. Stories down through the years indicated the original Piasa had been a man-eater, killed by a local Indian band. His image was painted on the bluffs as a tribute to the chief who came up with a scheme to kill the beast. Another interpretation is that the two figures represented a disturbance in the deep that made the waters of the Mississippi River at Alton rough.

In any case, one of the bird figures eroded away and the remaining Piasa was quarried ayway later, as Mark Twain would note in his writings, replaced eventually on the bluffs by local artists. It's now become a symbol of Alton The latest incarnation is pretty near where it was originally located, perched above and between two cave entrances. I've written more about the Piasa elsewhere on AC.

Other Points of Interest

Alton is also home to a riverboat gambling casino at the waterfront. At the SIU Dental Campus is a life-size statue of Robert Wadlow, the tallest man in medical history and a student at the dental campus's original tenant, Shurtleff College. Wadlow died in 1921 at age 21 of an infection.

A statue, prominent on the bluffs of Alton as you approach from Missouri, marks the cemetery where Elijah P. Lovejoy is buried. Lovejoy was an Abolitionist publisher, killed while protecting his printing press from pro-slavery rioters in 1836 and a key event in the gathering Civil War. It demonstrated graphically to those who doubted that a white man was willing to die defending the end of slavery.

During the winter, bird-watchers can enjoy the eagles that visit while the waters where they feed up north are frozen over. On the opposite end of the Clark Bridge spanning the Mississippi is a nature preserve where the eagles can be easily observed.

For information on related topics check out my Gather group, http://illinoisroadtrip.gather.com/.