Elsah

Elsah was built into a ravine along Askew Creek at the base of the bluffs. It’s easy to miss as you zip by on the highway but take time to slow down and detour through the narrow streets. Tucked tightly into a small valley, you’ll feel like you are walking the streets of a 19th-century village when you visit Elsah, with its modest but well-built collection of buildings in a variety of architectural styles.

Information on Elsah is available through Great Rivers & Routes (Alton: 200 Piasa St.; 618.465.6676).

Around 1847, Addison Greene built a home here and made a living by selling cordwood to passing steamboats; folks called this spot Jersey Landing. Six years later, General James Semple, a US Senator from Illinois with Scottish roots, bought the land and moved in. He offered free plots of land in town, which he called Elsah, to anyone who agreed to buy stone from his quarry. The town’s name might be derived from Ailsa Craig, which is a rocky island off the southwest coast of Scotland and is one of just two places with the right kind of rock to make curling stones.

The town soon had the usual mills, plus a distillery. For a brief time, Elsah was a busy port for shipping local agricultural products to markets down river. The town was also a site of much speculation, briefly, when railroad baron Jay Gould unveiled plans to build a bridge across the Mississippi River at Elsah. Alas, Gould was merely using the threat of building a bridge as leverage to drive down the cost of the Eads Bridge at St. Louis, which he was trying to buy. After he closed on the Eads Bridge, there was no more talk of a bridge at Elsah.

Because of the limitations of its geography, Elsah didn’t get much bigger beyond that initial burst of settlement. The townsfolk have lived through many floods, the worst in 1993, but rebuilt and moved on each time. Elsah today is a quiet village that is home to just under 700 people.

The Village of Elsah Museum (26 Lasalle St.; 618.374.1059) has a modest collection of exhibits that document the town’s history from its founding in the 1850s to today. It’s generally open Saturdays and Sundays from 1-4 (April through October).

The Elsah General Store (22 Lasalle St.; 618.556.0709; Sa,Su 1-4 from April to Oct.) brings back to life the feel of a small-town store from the past.

Principia College (1 Front Gate Rd.; 618.374.2131) sits atop a bluff above Elsah. The college was founded in 1898 and built above Elsah in the 1930s by Christian Scientists, who still make up all of the student body. If you want to take a quick drive around campus to check out the architecture, you may do so, but there are strict rules about when and how you are allowed to do so. The James K. Schmidt Gallery (Voney Art Studio; 1 Maybeck Place) is a small gallery on campus that hosts exhibitions throughout the year.

The Sam Vadalabene Bike Trail passes through Elsah running parallel to the Great River Road.

Elsah’s Home for the Holidays (December) is the best time to tour the historic homes of Elsah, plus you get to see them all dressed up for the holidays.

The Green Tree Inn (15 Mill St.; 618.374.2821) has five cozy rooms, plus one room that is available specifically for people traveling with pets.

The Maple Leaf Cottage Inn (12 Selma St.; 618.374.1684) rents five adorable rooms, plus the two-bedroom Buggy Shop House.

Heading upriver? Check out Chautaugua.

Heading downriver? Check out Godfrey.

©Dean Klinkenberg, 2016