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Keokuk IA10
Where today and history meet The city of Keokuk has long been associated with thriving commerce and transportation before it was incorporated in 1847. The location of the Des Moines Rapids in the Mississippi River made it necessary for steamboats to unload passengers and freight and arrange for portage around the rapids. Packets, excursion boats, tows, and rafts navigated up and down the river stopping at Keokuk along their way. Many businesses flourished at the foot of these rapids making the settlement a major stopping off point for people and products continuing up the river or being transferred to prairie schooners taht transported goods to interior areas. Most of the earlier commerce was carried on around the "levee", at the foot of Main and Johnson Streets, and in an area called "Rat Row." At this time the city had not expanded up the timber covered bluffs above the river. Another natural barrier was the Mississippi River itself and attempting crossing from east to west was sometimes hazardous. The ferry "Salina" was one of the local boats that carried passengers as well as freight across to the opposite banks. In the winter crossings were made on the ice with sledges and sleighs. Consequently, in 1866 the Keokuk & Hamilton Mississippi River Bridge Co. was formed with the construction beginning in 1869 and continuing for two years until April of 1871. This was the first combination roadway and railway bridge built across the Mississippi River. The construction contract was awarded to the Keystone Bridge Company of Pittsburgh which was one of Andrew Carnegie's first business ventures at a cost of $850,000. The new "Iron bridge" furnished another link for commerce between east and west and for freight and immigration. It was said that this bridge was one of the wonders of the nineteenth century - at least to the people of Keokuk. The total length of the bridge was 3800 feet and accommodated railroad cars, horse and wagon teams, and foot passengers. Keokuk was the terminus of five different railroads: The Toledo, Wabash & Western, The Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw, The Keokuk & St. Louis, The Keokuk & St. Paul, and The Des Moines Valley Railroad. A locomotive named the "Iowa" was the first to cross the Keokuk - Hamilton Bridge on April 19, 1871. The bridge was opened to the public on June 14, 1871.
In 1916, the bridge remodeling project was completed adding an elevated roadway that accommodated wagons, automobiles and pedestrians. Today, the old iron bridge is used for rail traffic on the lower level and while the upper road is used for an observation deck allowing one of the finest views of Lock and Dam #19, the Keokuk hydro-electric plant, the Geo. M. Verity Riverboat museum and the Keokuk Union Depot.
A Sesquicentennial Mural IA5
In 1997 Keokuk marked its Sesquicentennial with a year-long celebration. The celebration included a heritage mural design contest cosponsored by Main Street Keokuk, Inc. and the Keokuk Arts center. The winning entry was submitted by local artist, Rickelle Nelson. The 10 x 36-foot mural was painted by Keokuk artist, Glen Myers. The mural depicts a visual narrative of noteworthy persons in Keokuk's history as well as the importance of area industry and agriculture. The Mississippi River with Lock and Dam 19 serves as the central focal point. This Bronze marker is inscribed with the names of those who made substantial contributions toward the mural project.
History along the Mississippi Parkway MO373
CANTON MISSOURI "most westerly Missouri town on Mississippi Bank" Founded May 30, 1830 ----- CULVER-STOCKTON First Coeducational College West of Mississippi. Overlooks River Bluffs. Established 1853 ----- FEDERAL LOCK and DAM NO. 20. Completed May, 1934 ----- HOME TOWN OF James S. Green Senator 1857 - 1861 Feb. 28, 1817 - Jan. 19, 1870 ----- Frederick C. Hibbard Noted Sculptor June 15, 1861 - Dec. 12, 1950 ----- James T. Lloyd Congressman 1897 - 1917 Aug. 28, - April 3, 1944 ----- This section of the GREAT RIVER ROAD OF MID-AMERICA Developed in co-operation with NATIONAL PARK SERVICE U. S. BUREAU PUBLIC ROADS MISSOURI HIGHWAY COMMISSION And TOWN OF CANTON OFFICIALLY DEDICATED BY GOVERNOR PHIL M. DONNELLY March 10, 1956.
Canton MO368
Here on the Mississippi, where wooded hills rise above the plains along the river, Edward White, Robert Sinclair, and Isaac Bland founded Canton, probably named for Canton, Ohio, in February of 1830. On the pioneer Salt River Trail, the town by 1860 was a thriving river port and trade center for the upper Salt River Country. A rival town, Tully, laid out adjacent to Canton, 1834, declined after the flood of 1851 and disappeared when Federal Lock and Dam No. 20 were built in the 1930's. During the Civil War, the countryside suffered from raids and recruiting sorties by Confederate and Union troops. In the period after the war, Canton recovered its economic standing with the coming of the St. Louis, Keokuk, and Northwestern R.R. (now Burlington) in 1871. Culver-Stockton College, founded by the Disciples of Christ here, 1853, as Christian University, is famed for having the first college charter in Missouri to assure equal education to men and women. The present name, adopted, 1917, honors Mary E. Culver and R.H. Stockton, school benefactors. Canton is the first town founded in the fertile Mississippi River county organized in 1833 and named for Meriwether Lewis. Settled by Southern pioneers as early as 1819, Lewis County lies in territory ceded the U.S. by Iowa, Sac, and Fox tribes, 1824. Westward is Monticello, the seat of Lewis County, laid out on the North Fabius, 1833. La Grange, south on the Mississippi, early river port and meat packing town, was laid out in April, 1830, near the mouth of the Wyaconda where Godfrey Le Seur is said to have had a trading post by 1795. Baptist Hannibal-La Grange College was chartered there as La Grange College, 1859. Sculptor Frederick C. Hibbard (1881-1950) was born in Canton, and here lived editor Jesse W. Barrett, a founder of Mo. Press Assn., 1867; Union Gen. David Moore; and Jurist David Wagner. James S. Green, noted U.S. Senator, 1857-61, and Confederate Gen. Martin E. Green lived near Monticello, and southwest in the county was the home of Confederate Col. Joseph C. Porter. In La Grange, for a time, lived Thomas Riley Marshall, U.S. Vice President, 1913-21.
Smallpox Island MO99
A monument that honors the 233 confederate prisoners of war and 16 civilians who died of the disease on the vanished island. The crack of Enfield muskets and the strains of "Dixie" were heard during a memorial to Confederate prisoners who died of smallpox on a Mississippi River island that washed away long ago. The occasion was the dedication of a stone monument across the river from Alton, Illinois. The site, only a few feet from a preserved piece of the old Alton Dam, [upper left of photo] is on-or near- what was known as Smallpox Island during the Civil War. Nowadays, the site is part of the Lincoln Shields Recreation Area, alongside a new Clark Bridge. Over the years, the island blended into the Missouri bank and eventually disappeared beneath Alton Lake. The island was used as quarantine for Confederates who contracted smallpox while imprisoned in Alton, which housed captured rebels during the most of the Civil War. The monument names 233 soldiers and 16 civilians, including one woman, who died on the island and were buried in its trench graves. The Army Corps of Engineers completed the monument. The memorial slipped easily into the $970 million budget for the new Melvin Price Lock and Dam 26 just below Alton. Federal law required the corps to commemorate historical sites in the path of its heavy work. Don Huber, Alton Township Supervisor said, "We need to pay proper respects for this unrecognized cemetery. The consequence of fighting for the South is secondary. They fought for a cause they thought was honorable, and they died a miserable death." The site of the old penitentiary is just uphill from the big ConAgra elevators in downtown Alton. The state closed it in 1860, but the Union Army reopened it on Feb.9,1862. The first case of smallpox among the prisoners was discovered eight months later. In August 1863, guards began rowing sick prisoners across the river to Sunflower Island, which soon earned its new name. The prison housed 11,764 Confederate prisoners, plus a few secessionist-sympathizing civilians and lawbreaking Union soldiers, during its three-year run as a POW camp. About 1,800 of them died and were buried in trenches at a cemetery on Rozier Street in North Alton. An unknown number were rowed to wooden shelters on Smallpox Island. Those who died were buried at the downstream end of the 14-acre island. In 1935, workers digging for the original Alton Dam hit a mass grave. A young reporter for the Alton Telegraph, went over to investigate and found skulls and other bones. His report under the headline, "Island Yields Skeletons of Prison Dead", ran on July 23, 1935. Flooded by Alton Lake, the site was once again largely forgotten.
Dams on the Mississippi WI76
Lock and Dam No.8 at Genoa, 679.2 miles above the mouth of the Ohio River, is set on a foundation of sand, gravel and broken rock. It has a 1l0-foot-wide chamber and an II-foot lift from the lower to the upper pool. Construction of the dam cost $6,702,500 and affected 18,591 acres of land. In May 1937, the battery of fifteen gates closed and the Genoa Dam opened for navigation. This dam is one of 26 locks and dams built by the United States Government to improve transportation from Minneapolis to the mouth of the Missouri River. The project, approved by Congressional Act on August 30, 1935, was largely completed by 1938. In the next fifteen years river traffic increased from 458 to 2,636 million tons.
New London MO19
New London, renowned for its handsome courthouse, was founded 1819, on the route of the historic Salt River Road by William Jamison. By1820, it became the seat of a newly organized county named for Daniel M. Ralls, local legislator. Settled mainly by Ky. and Va. pioneers, attracted by the area's salt licks and other resources, Ralls County was once part of the northeast frontier settlement in Spanish Upper Louisiana. Near New London at the present Spalding Springs, Maturin Bouvet had a salt factory in 1792. Indians harassed and finally killed him at his depot on the Mississippi in 1800. Chas. Freemon Delauriere (called Freemore), worked two salt licks in the area, 1799. Sac and Fox tribes ceded the region in 1804. In the War of 1812, Rangers and Winnebagoes engaged in combat, July 4, 1813, near Fort Mason, a stockade at what is now Saverton. The courthouse, Ralls County's third, was built, 1858, by Francis Kidwell with Chapel Carstarphen as superintendent, for $18,000. Wings were added, 1936. Missouri buildings at 1939 New York and San Francisco World's Fairs were copies of the courthouse facade. New London serves a county devoted to limestone industry and diversified farming. The high school here was first in Missouri to give a course in Vocational Agriculture, 1917, and one of the State's biggest cement plants is at Ilasco. Salt River, called Auhaha by the Indians, flows through Ralls County. The river is associated with the expression of chagrin, "Up Salt River." In the Civil War, skirmishes and raids put a stop to growth of town and county. Mark Twain's brief Civil War service was with pro-Southern troops of Ralls County. New London benefited when the St. Louis and Hannibal R.R. was completed to here, 1876. Other county towns include Severton, laid out in 1819, on the Mississippi. Near there is Federal Lock and Dam No. 22, opened, 1938. Southwest at Perry, laid out in 1866, is the Mark Twain Research Foundation. Buildings of Van Rensselaer (Presbyterian) Academy, opened, 1851, are north of here. Educator Henry J. Waters (1865-1925) was born in Center. Over 400 Indian village campsites have been found in Ralls and two major Indian trails ran through the county.
Confederate Monument - Civil War Prisoners MO96
Listed here are the names of the officers, enlisted men, and conscripts of the Armies of the Confederate States of America who died of smallpox near this spot between Aug 1, 1863 and Mar 31, 1865. These soldiers had each contracted the disease while being held as prisoners of war at the Federal military prison located across the Mississippi River in Alton, Illinois. Once infected with this highly contagious disease, prisoners were transported to a temporary hospital located on a small island formerly located immediately upstream of this monument. There, each of these men stoically succumbed to the effects of the disease. For 70 years following the war between the states, the precise location of these soldiers graves was unknown. Then in 1935, a portion of the cemetery was inadvertenly discovered during construction of the original lock and dam 26. Today, the remains of these southern patriots rest beneath the regulation pool of the Melvin Price Lock and Dam. This monument is dedicated to their sacrifice and memory. The Alton Prison was originally opened in 1833 as the first Illinois State Penitentiary. It remained in service until 1860 when a new facility was built in Joliet on February 9, 1862. The vacant structure reopened as the Alton Federal Military Prison. During the next three years at least 11,764 Confederate Soldiers were held in this facility. By all objective accounts, conditions in the prison were substandard. The mortality rate was high. Hot, humid summers and cold, damp winters undoubtedly contributed to the high death rate. Overcrowding, inadequate food and clothing, and unsanitary conditions further compounded the prisoners misery. Pneumonia and dysentery were common killers. But contagious diseases like smallpox and rubella were the most feared. The smallpox epidemic that began in late 1862, ultimately prompted prison officials to transfer the contagious prisoners to a temporary quarantine facility. A safe distance from civilian residents of Alton. Sampling of the Names:
Davis Island Rock & Dam PA408
Below this bridge was the first lock and dam built (1878-1885) on the Ohio River. This was the world's largest movable dam yet constructed, and included the world's first rolling lock gate and widest lock chamber. Built and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; replaced by the nearby Emsworth Locks and Dams in 1922.
Old Lock One - 760
The remains of Old Lock One are now submerged. Authorized by Congress in 1884, the Army Corps of Engineers began work on one of Alabama’s first locks in 1888. It was built upon Peg Leg Shoals, second of the “Falls of Tuscaloosa,” using local sandstone at a cost of $233,234. It was part of a 1.2-mile, 3-lock system that allowed passage over a series of shoals or waterfalls The opening of Old Lock One allowed access to the Warrior coalfields and shipment of coal, stone, iron, steel, lumber, cotton, and other products to distant markets. Also it was the site of a government boatyard. In later years it was renamed Lock Ten and remained in service until replaced by Oliver Lock and Dam in 1939. Location: Tuscaloosa County Display # 1 - 10 of 11 |