American
River Trails Traveling along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to Little Rock
Arkansas Memphis Tennessee Kansas City Missouri Alton Illinois Dubuque Iowa and
Alexandria Minnesota
Little
Rock
and the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum Little Rock is a cultural, economic,
government, and transportation center within Arkansas and the South located on
the south bank of the Arkansas River in Central Arkansas. Fourche Creek
and Rock Creek run through the city, and flow into the river.
Little Rock is an Intermodal River Port with a
large Industrial Business Complex
Memphis
Tennessee
and the Mississippi River Museum Memphis is a city with a rich and
eclectic history: Home of the Blues, Birthplace of Rock ’n’ Roll, BBQ Pork
Capital of the World; it began with the Native Americans who settled on the
Fourth Chickasaw Bluff, then onto Hernando De Soto, the Civil War, yellow
fever, the blues and rock ‘n’ roll music.
A Display of Fine Art history-making Music and a
Celebration of American Heritage and Culture
Mud
Island River Park by day, take the monorail, which boasts some of
the city’s best views, over to the Mississippi River Museum, where you can
check out genuine Civil War garb and gunboat reproductions. By night, catch a
live performance at the Amphitheater with the Memphis skyline as your backdrop
and the rolling river at your back. The Mississippi River Museum traces
the evolution of transportation on the river from the earliest canoes through
the golden age of steamboats and modern diesel towboats efficient
transportation and the economic impact of river transportation played a vital
role in the development of trade routes and the growth of river cities.
Kansas
City
was founded in the 1830s as a Missouri River port at its confluence with the
Kansas River. The City Market, bordering the Missouri River, contains one of
the country's largest and longest lasting public farmers' markets in the nation
with several unique shops and restaurants.
An Inland Port on the Missouri River KC is the 2nd
Largest Rail and 3rd Trucking Hub in America
The
Arabia Steamboat Museum is a time capsule of life on the American
frontier in the mid-nineteenth century and an opportunity to experience the
everyday objects that made life possible for pioneers in the 1800s. It
contains the largest single collection of pre-Civil War artifacts in the world.
The Arabia Steamboat Museum has been a popular
Kansas City attraction for over 20 years
Alton
Illinois
and the National Great Rivers Museum Alton is located 25 Miles north of St.
Louis amid the confluence of three navigable rivers, the Mississippi, the
Illinois and the Missouri, as a river trading and industrial town. The Great
Rivers Region is accessible from six interstates, an international airport and
an Amtrak station.
River Trails where Great Rivers Converge with Great
Moments in History at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center
Grafton’s riverfront was packed
with manufacturing companies, mills, quarries, loading docks, and riverboat
traffic in the 1800s. Today, it is a tourist destination with its specialty
shops and wineries.
Architecture
Trails
many blocks of housing in Alton were built in the Victorian Queen Anne style
during the prosperous period in the river city's history at the top of the hill
in the commercial area, several stone churches and city hall.
The
National Great Rivers Museum and Melvin Price Locks & Dam feature the
importance of the river system to America’s economy from her grand history and
cultural significance, to her ecological importance and role as a
transportation corridor.
The
Mississippi River, over 2,200 miles long, is the second longest
river in the United States and the third largest river basin in the world,
exceeded in size only by the Amazon and Congo basins. The central portion of
the river is known as the Middle Mississippi, a 300-mile reach from Saverton,
MO, to Cairo, IL. Further defining the Middle Mississippi are the confluences
of three major tributaries, the Illinois, the Missouri and the Ohio Rivers.
The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 marked the opening of the West, and river settlements began to grow. In 1817, the first steamboat arrived in St. Louis and the population soared. Steamboat arrivals had increased more than a thousand-fold by 1858, turning the river into a superhighway.
The Corps of Engineers continually examines the biological impact of the navigational structures on the river’s ecosystem, balancing navigational needs with those of the environment.
The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 marked the opening of the West, and river settlements began to grow. In 1817, the first steamboat arrived in St. Louis and the population soared. Steamboat arrivals had increased more than a thousand-fold by 1858, turning the river into a superhighway.
The Corps of Engineers continually examines the biological impact of the navigational structures on the river’s ecosystem, balancing navigational needs with those of the environment.
The
National Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque is located along the Mississippi
River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin. It serves as the main
commercial, industrial, educational, and cultural center for the Tri-State
Area. One of the few cities in Iowa with hills, it is also a tourist
destination featuring unique architecture and river views.
A Center for Culture with Five Institutions of
Higher Learning
Downtown
Dubuque
is the center of the city's transportation and commercial sectors, and
functions as the hub to the various outlying districts and neighborhoods. An
area of special note is the Port of Dubuque which has seen a massive amount of
new investment and new construction.
Alexandria Minnesota and the Legacy of the Lakes
Museum
The
Village of Alexandria was settled in 1858. The form of the name
alludes to Alexandria, Egypt, a center of learning and civilization. W.E. Hicks
was pivotal to the early development of the town. He purchased the townsite in
1868 and established a mill, hotel, newspaper, and store. He donated property
for a courthouse, jail, and two churches: Methodist and Congregational.
The
Legacy of the Lakes Museum, originally known as the Minnesota Lakes
Maritime Museum, promotes lake traditions and legacies as well as preserve
Minnesota history.
Minnesota is home to skilled
watercraft builders since Native Americans first fashioned birch bark canoes
hundreds of years ago. The museum boasts the most complete collection of
Minnesota-made boats from Larson to our own Alexandria Boat Works.
