Grand Tower’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 4 old photos of Grand Tower. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Former names of this town include La Tour ("The Tower"), Jenkins Landing, Cochran's Woodyard Landing, and Evans' Landing.
The earliest inhabitants were a band of river pirates, who settled here after being driven off Spanish soil west of the Mississippi River, near the pirate ambush spot of Tower Rock. This outlaw settlement was destroyed by the United States Army dragoons in 1803. A subsequent settler was a man named Walker, who is the namesake of Walker Hill.
Grand Tower once hosted a Russian Orthodox Church. Other nearby southern Illinois villages with Orthodox churches included St. Mary's Russian Orthodox Church in Benld, Buckner, and Dowell.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Grand Tower’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Grand Tower’s history is told.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewAfter levee break 10 miles-Grand …, 1927: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Grand Tower
See all 3 →
Grand Tower, decade by decade
1990s
CommonsTower Rock Mississippi River low water October 20222022
CommonsGrand Tower, Illinois, United Methodist Church2015
CommonsGrand Tower, Illinois, Shawnee Elementary School, North2015
CommonsGrand Tower, Illinois, Front Street2015
CommonsGrand Tower, Illinois, First United Presbyterian Church2015
CommonsGrand Tower, Illinois, Devil's Backbone Park sign2015
CommonsGrand Tower Pipeline Bridge, view from Illinois highway 1662015
CommonsGrand Tower Energy Center, near Grand Tower, Illinois along…2015
CommonsGrand Tower Energy Center, near Grand Tower, Illinois along…20071 historic place in Grand Tower
1 place in Grand Tower is on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Where they are
When they were listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as After levee break 10 miles-Grand Tower, Ill (1927) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (2) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.