Post House (Alton, Illinois)

The Piasa ( PY-ə-saw) or Piasa Bird is a creature from Native American mythology depicted in one of two murals painted by Native Americans on cliffsides above the Mississippi River. Its original location was at the end of a chain of limestone bluffs in Madison County, Illinois, at present-day Alton, Illinois. The original Piasa illustration no longer exists; a newer 20th-century version, based partly on 19th-century sketches and lithographs, has been placed on a bluff in Alton, Illinois, several hundred yards upstream from its origin. The limestone rock quality is unsuited for holding an image, and the painting must be regularly restored. The original site of the painting was on lithographic limestone, which was quarried away in the late 1870s by the Mississippi Lime Company.

The Christian Hill Historic District is a historic district and neighborhood in Alton, Illinois. The district is located west of Alton's central business district on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. A primarily residential area, the district includes 274 buildings, of which 266 are contributing buildings to its historic character. Development in the district began in the 1830s; in addition to residential development, the Illinois State Prison was constructed in the neighborhood in 1833. While Alton's economy declined during the Panic of 1837, development in the district continued through the early 20th century, and Christian Hill became a desirable neighborhood for Alton residents. The hill acquired its name from, Saints Peter and Paul Church, a Catholic church built in the 1850s which was the cathedral of the Diocese of Alton until the diocese moved to Springfield.The historic district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 22, 1978.

The Alton Gas & Electric Power House is a former hydroelectric power plant at 700 W. Broadway in Alton, Illinois.

The Alton Chapter House is a historic building located at 509 Beacon St. in Alton, Illinois. The building was constructed between 1909 and 1910 as a meetinghouse for Alton's chapter of the American Woman's League. The American Woman's League was a political and social organization founded by magazine publisher Edward Gardner Lewis in 1908. The organization was created to promote feminist causes, particularly the women's suffrage movement; Lewis also intended for the organization to promote and sell his women's magazines. Lewis commissioned the St. Louis architectural firm of Helfensteller, Hirsch & Watson to design five classes of buildings which the League would use as meetinghouses. The Alton Chapter House is an example of a Class II building, which was designed for clubs with 60 to 100 members. The building was designed in the Prairie School style and cost $2,500. After the club disbanded, the building was converted to a private home.The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 28, 1980. It is one of nine American Woman's League chapter houses on the National Register in Illinois.

McPike Mansion, or Mount Lookout, is a mansion in Alton, which is part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Illinois. Built in 1869 by Henry Guest McPike (1825–1910), it is situated on Alby Street on a site of 15 acres (61,000 m2), one of the highest points in Alton, which was called Mount Lookout.

The Guertler House is a historic house located at 101 Blair St. in Alton, Illinois. Stonemason Ignaz Bruch built the house in 1854. Bruch, who immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1846, was a prominent Illinois stonemason who constructed buildings in cities ranging from Chicago to St. Louis, Missouri. The Guertler House is a Federal building with three bays. The front door and windows have a pointed arch design, while the second story of the house's west side has a single Gothic arch window.The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 30, 1974.

The Alton Military Prison was a prison located in Alton, Illinois, built in 1833 as the first state penitentiary in Illinois and closed in 1857. During the American Civil War, the prison was reopened in 1862 to accommodate the growing population of Confederate prisoners of war and ceased to be prison at the end of the war in 1865. The prison building was demolished not long after the Civil War. All that remains of the former prison site is a section of ruin wall that is maintained by the State of Illinois as an historic site. The prison site is included in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

The Hotel Stratford is a historic hotel located at 229 Market St. in Alton, Illinois. The hotel, originally known as the Illini Hotel, opened in 1909. St. Louis architectural firm Barnett, Haynes & Barnett designed the hotel in the Classical Revival style. The five-story brick building features brick quoins, limestone bands and window sills, terra cotta ornamentation, and a cantilevered cornice. The hotel opened a rooftop garden in 1910 and a reception room in 1912, and it became one of many hotels which drew conventions to Alton; a contemporary newspaper account described the building as part of the "greatest improvement in property in the city of Alton". In 1925, new owner E. J. Lockyer renamed the hotel to its current name. The hotel is the only hotel built in Alton before 1950 that is still in operation.The hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 27, 2000.

Marquette Catholic High School is a private, Catholic high school in Alton, Illinois. It is located in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.

Alton Little Theater, founded in 1933, is a non-profit community theater located in Alton, Illinois. Dorothy Colonius, a local English teacher, along with other educators and their students worked to create a community theater in Alton. Dorothy became the permanent artistic director and pushed for a permanent home for the theater. [1] Alton Little Theater (ALT) is the oldest live theater in Illinois run continuous shows. [2] ALT traditionally produces five shows a year from September to May. As of the start of their 89th season in 2022, they have had over 500 productions. ALT regularly receives nominations for Arts For Life awards, most recently garnering several nominations (and two wins) for their 2009 production of Radio Gals.

The Haskell Playhouse is a children's playhouse located in Haskell Park in Alton, Illinois. Dr. William Abraham Haskell, a physician and one of the wealthiest residents of Alton, commissioned the playhouse as a present for his daughter Lucy's fifth birthday in 1885. Architect Lucas Pfeiffenberger designed the playhouse in the Queen Anne style. The house's design features a raised front porch with a projecting entrance, diagonal stickwork on the porch and first floor, and fishscale shingles on the second-story gable ends. An ornamental iron fence with a small spire tops the house's hipped roof. Lucy Haskell died of diphtheria four years after her playhouse was built, and by 1916 her mother Florence (Hayner) Haskell was the only surviving Haskell still living in Alton. Florence demolished the family's home that year but kept the playhouse as a memorial to her daughter; she donated the land to the city to serve as a memorial park.The playhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 30, 1974.

Lyman Trumbull House is a house significant for its association with former U.S. Senator from Illinois Lyman Trumbull. The house is located in the historic Middletown neighborhood in Alton, Illinois. Senator Trumbull was best known for being a co-author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The house was built around 1849, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1975. Senator Trumbull lived in this house from 1849 to 1863, according to the documentation provided in the National Historic Landmark application. The house is a 1+1⁄2-story red brick, gable-roofed residence with limestone foundation. It was originally rectangular-shaped, but late in the 19th century an addition was built on the rear of the house, transforming it into an "L" shaped residence. There are three gabled dormers protruding from the front roof, one on the rear of the original house, and one on the northern elevation of the roof on the addition. Adorning the front of the house is a centrally-located one-bay entrance porch supported by two fluted pilasters, all made of wood. Turned balusters flank the porch and the several wooden steps that lead to a brick walkway surrounding the dwelling. An entrance to the basement is located underneath the porch. The chief front entrance to the Trumbull House is a single door with side lights and semi-elliptical fanlight. On the south side of the house is a second basement entrance, and it is sheltered by a pedimented portico supported by two Doric columns.