History of Alton, Illinois, USA

Alton, a city and river port of Madison county, Illinois, on the Mississippi river, 21 miles above St. Louis, 3 miles above the mouth of the Missouri, and 70 miles 8. S. W. from Springfield. It has a favorable position for trade, and its landing is one of the best 1 on the river. A railroad has been completed from this place to Springfield, and two others are in coarse of construction, which will connect it with Jacksonville, and with Terre Haute, Indiana. Alton contained but few houses until the penitentiary was located here in 1832, since which it has increased rapidly. It has wide streets, several public squares, and a large space along the margin of the river reserved for a public landing and promenade. It contains about 6 churches, a lyceum, a theological seminary, and a news paper office. Upper Alton, 1 1/ 2 or 2 miles to the E., is the seat of Shurtleff College, under the direction of the Baptists. Large quarries of fine limestone have been opened near Alton, and stone coal and...

Chicago, Saturday, April 18. A destructive conflagration occurred at Alton, Ill. On Thursday, destroying the planing Mill of MORRISON & BEAL, the Methodist Church parsonage house, and doing great damage to the WAVERLEY HOTEL, Piazza house, and the warehouse of HOLLISTER & COFFER. Total loss was $50,000.

Louisville, Ky., Tuesday,. Feb. 18. FLACKENECKER'S grocery-store, and three or four adjoining buildings in Alton, Ill., were burned on Sunday night. The loss is about $15,000. The insurance has not been ascertained.

Alton, Ill., May 25. - This city was struck last night by a tornado, which burst from the southwest, sweeping across the river with terrific fury. Several large buildings on the river front were damaged, some of them seriously. Among them were the National Mills, the Roller Mills, J. A. RYERIE'S grocery store, HAWLEY'S warehouse, the DRURY - WADE Company's hardware store, the DRUMMOND - RANDALL, tobacco facctory, and the Illinois Glass Works. The most serious damage was to RYERIE'S store, the third story being wrecked and half the roof taken off. Wooden awnings, fences, and shade trees were blown down in all directions. Three freight cars on the Chicago and Alton siding were blown off, blocking the main track. The minor losses throughout the city aggregate a large amount, and it is feared the damage in the lowlands across the river was serious. Large planks and timbers were carried a long distance. Several pieces of stone coping on the fire wall of the Roller Mill, each weighing 400...

9 Killed, 12 Injured, and a Large Number Will Die.

ALTON, Ills., Jan. 21. - Nine persons killed outright, 12 fatally injured and nearly a hundred, more or less, seriously hurt, is the appalling result of a series of accidents at Alton Junction to-day. An open switch on the Big Four main track was the cause of the disaster. The southwestern limited ran through the switch into the freight train standing on the sideing and Engineer Web Ross of the limited, was instantly killed. The wreck took fire and while a crowd was watching the spectacle, an oil tank-car exploded with terrible force, eveloping the spectators in a sheet of burning oil. Eight of them were instantly killed and scores were frightfully burned, a dozen of whom at least will die...

There are besides not less than 70 people more or lss severely scalded, who will be laid up for weeks.

Alton Juntion, or Wann, is loacted 2 miles east of this city, and is a watering master and feeding station for the Cleveland,...

Alton, all'ton, a handsome city and river port of Madison co., Ill., on the Mississippi River, 8 miles above the mouth of the Missouri, 25 miles above St. Louis, and 257 miles S.S.W. of Chicago. Lat. 38° 20' N. It is the south west terminus of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, and is on the Chicago, Burlington Quincy and the Springfield, Alton & St. Louis Railroads. It is situated on a high limestone bluff, which rises about 200 feet above the river, and is built on hilly or uneven ground. It contains a Roman Catholic cathedral, a high school, 15 churches, a Catholic hospital, a convent, an academy, 2 national banks, a city hall, and a public library. Two daily and 3 weekly newspapers are published here. Alton is the seat of a Catholic bishop. It has 5 large flouring-mills, a woollen-factory, a manufactory of church organs, and several glass-factories, machine-shops, brick-yards, saw-mills, planing-mills, &c., and manufactures of lime, cement, cigars, crackers, farming implements,...

ALTON, Ill., July 10 (Associated Press) — Nine persons were killed and twenty-five injured in an explosion this afternoon in the metallic shell department of the Western Cartridge Company plant at East Alton.

Three of the dead are women — Miss Anna Gorman of Alton, Miss Ruth Green of East Alton and Miss Hazel Young of Rockford. The men were William Brummer of East Alton, Frank Bennes of Alton, Russell Reyburn of Brownstown, III., Charles Hawkln of Alton and Howard Hunter of Alton. Two of those injured will die, it is feared, while several others are said to be in a serious condition.

The most seriously-injured are Mrs. Bessie Jenkins and Mrs. Minnie Wagner, for whose recovery little hope was held out tonight.

The cause of the explosion has not been ascertained. It occurred in a fireproof structure in which about fifty employees, mostly women, were extracting powder from cartridges.

Fire followed the explosion, but was soon extinguished. Today's explosion was said to have...