Is Alton, Illinois America's Most Haunted Small Town?

The Atlas Obscura Podcast

This episode explores the haunted reputation of Alton, Illinois, a town shaped by the unpredictable Mississippi River. Through legends of ph

Key takeaways

The 'Phantom Riverboat' legend warns that hearing a whistle on a foggy morning predicts death within seven days.
Alton was home to the first penitentiary in Illinois, which suffered from extreme overcrowding and disease outbreaks.

Main topics

Haunted Alton
Mississippi River history

Notable quotes

Without history, we wouldn't have all our ghost stories.

Conclusion

The episode highlights how the intersection of paranormal lore and loc

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:14) There was always a story about a Phantom Riverboat that I always liked about how if you heard the whistle blow on a foggy morning, a riverboat whistle, but you never saw the boat, that it meant that someone who worked down on the docks was going to die within the next seven days. Speaker 2 (0:35) A lot of old waterfront towns really play up the quaint and cutesy factor, you know, with a brunch cruise on a steamboat or something like that. But in Alton, Illinois, the vibe is a little bit more Widow's Bay. Speaker 1 (0:49) Now, I don't know how this story got started. There are rumors that it got started because of a riverboat that disappeared one year, but nobody knows for sure. Speaker 2 (1:00) It makes sense. Alton is on the Mississippi River, which was the lifeblood of the city for much of its history. But the Mississippi is pretty unpredictable, and it was often dangerous. Shipwrecks were really common. One stretch of the river in southern Illinois was known as the graveyard because so many ships were lost there. Speaker 1 (1:19) The depths are always changing, and they didn't have depth finders and radar and GPS and things. And so, you know, people were... dying on a regular basis on that river. And that's a lot of stories. That's a lot of ghost stories. Speaker 2 (1:40) Today, Alton doesn't depend on the river quite like it used to, and shipwrecks are a lot less common. But ghost stories still rule. Speaker 1 (1:50) I will say we are the most haunted small town in the Midwest, absolutely. And one of the most haunted small towns in America, for sure. Speaker 2 (2:05) I'm Amanda McGowan, and this is Atlas Obscura, a celebration of the world's strange, incredible, and wondrous places. Today's episode was brought to you in partnership with Enjoy Illinois. And today we're going to Alton, which has been called the most haunted small town in America. It's a place where practically every building has its own ghost story. And bubbling underneath all this lore is the fascinating history of a town shaped by the wild and unpredictable waters of the Mississippi River. We'll explore some places with their own ghostly lore, and we'll learn how these stories are helping to keep the history of the city alive. Or should I say, undead. Speaker 1 (2:45) We love history. That's the thing. Without history, we wouldn't have all our ghost stories. Speaker 2 (2:57) Alton, Illinois has become a destination for fans of the eerie, creepy, and weird. It's home to one of the oldest Halloween parades in the country, which started back in 1916. And there's no shortage of allegedly haunted places. There's the old mill company where the owner can still be sensed checking up on his employees. There's the First Unitarian Church, which is haunted by a troubled minister from the past. Or the Mineral Springs Hotel, this old 1920s resort where the former guests never exactly check out, Speaker 1 (3:32) if you know what I mean. Speaker 2 (3:34) But one of Alton's most notorious sites is actually a little under the radar. It's a parking lot, right along the riverfront behind a row of industrial warehouse buildings. Speaker 1 (3:46) It can be an eerie spot at night. I still hear ghost stories. This Speaker 2 (3:51) is Troy Taylor. He's the author of Haunted Alton, the host of the American Hauntings podcast, and he also owns the American Oddities Museum in town. In Speaker 1 (4:00) fact, the very first ghost story... Anyone ever came into my bookstore to tell me was from a guy who did not know what the parking lot was and was walking his dog there one night and said that a man had approached him, was walking toward him, said he was dirty and torn up ragged clothes and everything was walking toward him. And his