Rather than telling you how to spend very moment of your trip, I offer a few suggestions to help you think about the variety of ways to experience the Mississippi Valley. The posts in this section identify a theme and offer ideas for things to do that follow that theme. I’ve provided more detail on these
I just published another article in Big River magazine, this one about the legacy of Depression-era public works projects along the Upper Mississippi River. Head to their website for info on where you can buy the magazine.
Dubuque, Iowa is blessed with an impressive collection of beautiful, historic churches.
Although the Quad Cities region today includes a city named Milan, there was an earlier town of the same name in a different location. The first Milan was platted in 1837 into 30 blocks and adjoined the village of Hampton, which was platted a year later. This Milan included the area once known as Well's Ferry; Block #1 was the
Henry McNeal, courtesy of Rock Island County Historical Society Canadian Henry McNeal and Kentuckian Joel Thomspon arrived in the winter of 1827-1828. They settled on land next to the Mississippi River in an area that was technically off-limits at that time, which technically made them squatters. McNeal built a cabin where the Village of Hampton's Soldier’s Memorial
Lucius Wells In 1827, Lucius Wells built a cabin about a mile north of where Henry McNeal would settle in the following year. Wells began ferry service to Iowa in 1829; his horse-powered boat had room for two teams of horses and two wagons. Lucius also built a sawmill a couple of years later. The
