1955 Map of Alton

About this map

Industrial expansion along the Mississippi River and Missouri River confluence defines this mid-century landscape. Major infrastructure like Lock and Dam No 26 and the Clark Bridge (Toll) facilitate heavy commerce, while the massive Oil Refinery at Roxana and Wood River illustrates the region's role as a refining hub. The map shows the dense urban corridors of Alton and East Alton giving way to the educational and rural institutional grounds of Monticello College and the St Louis State Training Sch in Missouri. Numerous islands and sloughs, such as Maple Island and Cora Island Chute, dominate the river valley before the modern stabilization of the floodplains. To the north, the terrain transitions into the agricultural uplands of Fosterburg and Godfrey, marked by scattered one-room schools like Mason Sch and Bockstruck Sch.