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

Searching for the Headwaters of the Mississippi River

While we settled on the name Mississippi by the mid-eighteenth century, we were still trying to define what body of water that name applied to—specifically, just where the river we called Mississippi began. This wasn’t just an act of intellectual curiosity. At the end of the eighteenth century, border disputes between the U. S.

By |2024-02-26T18:37:19-05:00August 29th, 2018|About the Mississippi Valley|Comments Off on Searching for the Headwaters of the Mississippi River

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

Pike Station

Population (2010) Unincorporated Introduction Pike Station sprung up near the foot of the bridge that connects Louisiana, Missouri with rural Illinois,  a small community that is even smaller today than it used to be. The first bridge crossed here in 1873. Before there was a bridge, there was a

By |2022-07-10T18:43:15-05:00February 12th, 2016|Illinois|Comments Off on Pike Station

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