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
Population (2010) 4,405 Introduction France hasn't governed the Mississippi Valley for over 250 years, but their influence is still alive along the Mississippi River from St. Louis to Sainte Genevieve. Many of these communities pre-date the founding of New Orleans and have preserved impressive remnants of their earlier days.
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.
Mississippi today is full of contrasts and contradictions. Along the state's border defined by the Mississippi River, you'll find tall casinos rising above old cotton farms, vast agricultural lands carved out of the old bottomland forests, a rich musical heritage that arose from great poverty, and antebellum towns and plantations, some in better shape than
Flooding at St. Louis (photo taken Dec. 31, 2015). See more photos here. High water at St. Louis; Dec. 31, 2015
The Mississippi River creeps toward downtown Alton, Illinois (photo taken December 31, 2015). See more photos here. Flooding at Alton, IL
