Alton, Illinois. City and Business guide.

Welcome to Alton, Illinois.

Alton is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States. The population was 30,496 at the 2000 census.

Photo by Drawings Of Light - Paul, September 2006
Alton was developed as a river town in 1818 by Rufus Easton, who named the town after his son. He ran a passenger ferry service across the Mississippi River to the opposite Missouri shore. Alton is located amid the confluence of three important navigable rivers: the Illinois, the Mississippi, and the Missouri. Alton grew into a matter-of-fact river town with an industrial character and its steep-sloped streets filled with silos, railroad tracks, brick commercial buildings. Many blocks of housing in Alton were built in the Victorian Queen Anne style, which marks a more successful period of the city's history. Alton is subject to floods.

North along the river the River Road stretches north to Grafton, a dramatic contrast between the high cliffs of the Illinois side to the broad, flat, green countryside of Portage des Sioux, Missouri. The Great River Road is a popular bicycle tour destination. Hidden in a notch of the cliff is the tiny town of Elsah, Illinois, once a down-and-dirty liquor-soaked tug-boater's retreat, now reborn as a quaint antique center with trimmed front lawns.

Alton's location and history make it a popular visit for antique shopping and gambling aboard the Alton Belle Casino. During the winter, many visitors from across the country come to Alton for birdwatching, as bald eagles tend to roost in the bluffs along the Mississippi.

During the Civil War, Alton was home to a Union prison, from which prisoners would attempt to escape and cross the Mississippi River back to the slave state of Missouri. Also, some of Alton's majestic historic homes played a part in assisting the Underground Railroad.

Alton was the hometown of Miles Davis, Robert Pershing Wadlow, the tallest human recorded to date, and Craig Hentrich, NFL two-time All-Pro Bowl punter. Alton is home to the Southern Illinois University Dental School.

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