5 Historic Stops on the Great River Road
Hit these diverse historic sites and museums on a road trip along the Mississippi.
Georgia Street Historic District
Louisiana, Missouri
The thoroughfares of the antebellum-style area that's on the National Register of Historic Places have been called some of the state's most intact Victorian streetscapes (georgiastreetindy.com).
National Great Rivers Museum
Alton, Illinois
Look below the literal and figurative surface with exhibits about the river valley's history and aquariums stocked with native species. Learn about locks on a guided tour (meetingoftherivers.org).
Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site
Collinsville, Illinois
Earthen mounds mark the ghostly footprint of a great Native American city that rose and mostly vanished before Columbus ever left Europe (cahokiamounds.org).
Courtesy of Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site
Kaskaskia Bell State Historic Site
Kaskaskia, Illinois
The "Liberty Bell of the West" was a gift from France's King Louis XV. It's housed in the only Illinois town west of the Mississippi. (An 1881 flood rerouted the river.) (greatriverroad.com).
New Madrid Historical Museum
New Madrid, Missouri
Learn how earthquakes along the town's famous fault line made the Mississippi briefly flow backward in 1811 and 1812. A seismograph shows activity today. (newmadridmuseum.com).
Read about a weekend getaway along the Great River Road from Hannibal, Missouri, to Memphis.