Madison County History
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OPENING OF THE ALTON RAILROAD BRIDGE – MAY 01, 1894
Plans for a railroad bridge in Alton across the Mississippi River
began as early as 1884. The Central Missouri Railroad wanted a
bridge to cross from the St. Charles area through Alton, in order to
transport freight to and from the West. In 1886, Henry Guest McPike,
one of the directors of the Central Missouri Railroad, presented to
the Alton citizens that the first mortgage bonds in the amount of
$11,000,000 were obtained, with $1,000,000 set aside for the bridge.
A possible extension of the railroad bridge to include a wagon
bridge was discussed, but in the end the wagon bridge was not
approved. The St. Louis & Kansas City Air Line and the Central
Missouri Railroad consolidated, and planned to build railroad
bridges at Alton, Illinois, and Bellefontaine, MIssouri, and
continue the railroad to Kansas City. The plans for the Alton bridge
included a draw span, which would allow steamboats on the
Mississippi River to pass through.
Work commenced on the bridges in February 1889. The contractor was
Mr. J. E. Willard. The railroad bridge in Alton would be constructed
just west of the foot of Langdon Street. At times, high water
delayed construction, but when possible, it was "full steam ahead."
In March 1892, a fleet of barges arrived in Alton with derricks,
material, houses for blacksmith shops, etc. A large number of
workmen arrived, and teams of horses were put to work grading the
land. Stone arrived by railcars from Bedford, Indiana, with each
stone cut at the quarry and marked to indicate its position in the
pier. The stone work on pier No. 10 on Bayliss Island was completed
on September 20, 1892. A large number of horses and mules arrived,
along with plows, scrapers, and other graders. They were taken
across the river to the Missouri shore, where the men put up tents,
log cabins. and stables for animals. In January 1893, men working on
the Bellefontaine railroad bridge at the Missouri River discovered a
human skull at a depth of 110 feet, and was considered prehistoric.
By August 1893, the tracks were completed between the two bridges.
The iron work for the draw span on the Alton bridge began on New
Year's Day, 1894. In March 1894, steam whistles on the levee
announced to Alton citizens that the time was set for swinging the
draw span for the first time. A crowd gathered on the levee, and
viewed the big span with its traveling derrick, steam engine, and
crew of fifty men slowly swinging the span on its pivot pier.
(Click here to read more.)
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MADISON COUNTY ESTABLISHED
On
September 14, 1812, Madison County was established in the Illinois
Territory out of Randolph and St. Clair Counties, by proclamation of
the Governor of Illinois Territory, Ninian Edwards. It was named for
U. S. President James Madison, a friend of Edwards, and had a
population of 9,099 people. At the time of its formation, Madison
County included all of the modern State of Illinois north of St.
Louis, as well as all of Wisconsin, part of Minnesota, and
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
A meeting was held on April 5, 1813 at the home of Thomas
Kirkpatrick in Edwardsville, where appointed commissioners were to
report on their selection of a county seat. A meeting was held on
January 14, 1814, where the court ordered the sheriff to notify the
commissioners appointed by law to fix the place for the public
buildings (courthouse and jail) for Madison County. The county seat
was established in the town of Edwardsville, with the first public
building – the jail – being erected in 1814. The first county
courthouse was erected in Edwardsville in 1817.
During the period 1819 to 1849, Madison County was reduced in area
to its present size, about 760 square miles. All of the public lands
had become the property of individuals and had been converted into
thousands of productive farms. New towns and villages were
established, such as Collinsville, Highland, Marine, Venice,
Monticello [Godfrey], Troy, and Alton.
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QUICK LINKS
Confederate Cemetery (North Alton)
Western Military Academy (Upper Alton)
Shurtleff College (Upper Alton)
Monticello Ladies Seminary (Godfrey)
Illinois State Penitentiary in Alton (1833-1860)
Federal Military Prison at Alton (1861-1865)
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