Alton, a city and port of eutry of Illinois, U.S., on the left bank of the Mississippi River, 24 miles N. of St Louis, and 8 miles above the mouth of the Missouri. Laid out in 1817, and since 1868 the seat of a Catholic bishopric, it is a centre of commerce, and has a Baptist college (1836), several mills and manufactories, and an abundant supply of limestone. Pop. (1860) 6332; (1890) 10,294.
Alton
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 1: A to Beaufort, p. 199–200
Source scan(s): p. 0214, p. 0215