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Welcome
to the Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway Area, where
the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois Rivers meet. Here you'll find
magnificent
limestone bluffs, forested parks and wildlife areas, real river towns,
ferries that ply the rivers, and friendly and gracious people.
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MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Jersey County Victorian
Festival
Labor Day Weekend
August 30 - September 31, 2008
Jerseyville, Illinois
Centered around the Colonel William H. Fulkerson Farmstead, The Jersey
County Victorian Festival is designed to promote the educational, historical
and cultural aspects of Jersey County's agricultural history. Highlights
include a large Civil War battle reenactment, a Civil War era fashion show,
recreations of the Gettysburg Address, and a James Gang stagecoach robbery.
The event also features a large collection of antique farm equipment,
historical demonstrations, antiques and arts and crafts vendors, sutlers, and a lot of good
old-fashioned fun!
Click
here for more information...
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UPCOMING EVENT

Annual Olden Days Festival
August 23 - August 24, 2008
Jersey County, Illinois
Held “under the windmill” in Jersey County between Grafton and Jerseyville,
the Olden Days Festival is an event sponsored by the Tri-County Antique
Club. The club is dedicated to preserving the area's agricultural heritage
by restoring and preserving old machinery and showing future generations how
“Grandma and Grandpa used to live.” The festival features a display of
antique engines and tractors, threshing and sawmills demonstrations, and
kid’s activities, There will be a garden tractor pull and an antique tractor
pull on Saturday and a car show and tractor rodeo on Sunday. There will be
plenty of live entertainment and food and refreshments. The affordable
admission price is $3 for adults with kids 12 and under admitted for free
because this is a family oriented event.
Click
here for more information...
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The Scenic Byway begins near the towns of Hartford and Wood River.
This is Lewis & Clark country with a new interpretive site in Hartford and
two replicas of the Corps of Discovery's winter camp in the area. To the north is the historic town of
Alton, rich in history with
monuments and attractions to the Civil War. The city is a major antique
center with over fifty antique shops.
The Sam Vadalabene Bike
Trail, a twenty mile paved trail, parallels the Great River Road beneath towering limestone
bluffs and past the picturesque
towns of Elsah and Grafton. Elsah is one of only a handful of
communities in the country to be
placed in its entirety on the National Register of Historic Places.
Grafton, the "Winter Home of the
Bald Eagle," is becoming an attraction of its own with its
shops, restaurants, seasonal events, and river
ferries. Just north of Grafton is Pere
Marquette State Park with a wealth of recreational activities
including hiking trails, fishing, boating, horseback riding, and
interpretative programs.
Farther
north travelers can cross the Illinois River on a free
ferry operated by the state of Illinois to the village of Kampsville, home
to the Center of American Archeology, which researches the remains of
Native American habitation as far back as 8,000 B.C.
The
region contains areas
of interest not directly adjacent to the Scenic Byway. West of Grafton and
Pere Marquette is Calhoun County. Situated on a peninsula, Calhoun County
is almost an island and has retained the unique charm of a small but
active agricultural community. Its rural villages and peach and apple
orchards are serviced by four river ferries that cross the Mississippi and
Illinois rivers. To the northeast is Jerseyville with its 19th century courthouse
and the antique shops in its historic downtown district. Every year the
town hosts the annual Jersey County Victorian Festival
on Labor Day weekend at the historic Hazel Dell farm. Southeast of the Byway is southern
Madison County, home to Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, Horseshoe Lake
State Park, several
historic museums and numerous historic sites.
Whatever your interest, you’re
sure to find it in the Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway area. At greatriverroad.com
our commitment is to provide visitors with the most complete and up to date information on
the attractions, events, and things to do in the area.
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