Alton

Population (2010) 27,891 Introduction Alton is a city with a layered history that is worth the time to explore. When you’re done, take a drive along the Mississippi River up to Grafton, which is one of the most scenic stretches of the Great River Road; it can be very

By |2022-07-14T19:40:27-05:00September 7th, 2018|Illinois|Comments Off on Alton

New Madrid

Population (2010) 3,127 Introduction New Madrid (pronounced MAD-rid) is best known for being at the epicenter of a powerful series of earthquakes, but it is also an old community along the Middle Mississippi that traces its roots back to the Spanish colonial days. Take some time to get to

By |2022-06-27T09:13:37-05:00August 29th, 2018|Missouri|Comments Off on New Madrid

Hannibal

Hannibal draws a lot of tourists eager to step into the world created by Mark Twain, which is a remarkable thing considering he wrote about a world that existed (more or less) 150 years ago. Hannibal has a lot of Twain to offer, but it's also an old river town worth getting to know on its own merits.

By |2022-06-26T16:20:55-05:00August 18th, 2018|Missouri|Comments Off on Hannibal

St. Louis

Population (2010) 319,305 Introduction St. Louis, my hometown, is a city with a long and layered history. Being in Flyover Country, we tend to make the national news only when something goes wrong. Sure, we have our problems, but so do plenty of other places. We are a big

By |2023-03-04T12:09:31-05:00August 17th, 2018|Missouri|Comments Off on St. Louis

Thomas Paquette’s Visions of the Mississippi River

Like many of us, painter Thomas Paquette had a simple idea that quickly grew out of control. His plan to paint the 72-mile stretch of the Mississippi River through the Twin Cities morphed into "Why not paint the whole river?" It took a while to explore the river and complete the paintings, but the

By |2018-04-18T14:20:44-05:00April 18th, 2018|About the Mississippi Valley|Comments Off on Thomas Paquette’s Visions of the Mississippi River

Title

Go to Top