Grand Tower is a city in Jackson County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

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. The population was 605 at the 2010 census. The town gets its name from Tower Rock, a landmark island in the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

History

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 pirate A river pirate is a pirate who operates along a river. The term has been used to describe many different kinds of pirate groups who carry out riverine attacks in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, and South America. They are usually prosecuted ...

s, who settled here after being driven off Spanish soil west of the

, near the pirate ambush spot of Tower Rock. This

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill th ...

settlement was destroyed by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...

s in 1803. A subsequent settler was a man named Walker, who is the namesake of Walker Hill. Severe flooding struck the town in 1947.

Geography

Grand Tower is located in southwestern Jackson County at (37.632599, -89.501944). The city is bordered to the west by the Mississippi River, which forms the

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

–Illinois boundary. The northern edge of the city borders Shawnee National Forest.

Illinois Route 3 Illinois Route 3 (IL 3) is a major north–south arterial state highway in southwestern Illinois. It has its southern terminus at Cairo Junction (about north of Cairo) at the intersection of U.S. Route 51 (US 51) and Illinois Ro ...

runs through an eastern extension of the city limits, leading north (upriver) to

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, where the Chester Bridge crosses the Mississippi, and south to Illinois Route 146, which crosses the Mississippi to

Cape Girardeau, Missouri Cape Girardeau ( , french: Cap-Girardeau ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 39,540. The city is one of two principal citi ...

. There are no other road bridges over the Mississippi closer to Grand Tower. According to the 2010 census, Grand Tower has a total area of , of which (or 99.76%) is land and (or 0.24%) is water. Grand Tower Pipeline Bridge, view from Illinois highway 166

Grand Tower Pipeline Bridge, view from Illinois highway 166

Immediately to the south of the city is a small portion of Perry County, Missouri, which is known as " Grand Tower Island". The island's sole road connection terminates in Grand Tower. The Grand Tower Pipeline Bridge connects a natural gas pipeline across the Mississippi River between Wittenberg, Missouri and Grand Tower.

Economy

The Grand Tower Energy Center is a 478 megawatt combined cycle gas-fired facility which produces power for the region. It is owned by Ameren Energy Generating Company, or Genco.

Community

Shawnee Elementary School, North - Once a public school, now (since 2015) a private residence. A local post office with zip code 62942 provides mail service. Four churches, the First United Presbyterian Church, the Grand Tower United Methodist Church, First Baptist Church, and Light House Christian Assembly Church offer religious services. A work of

levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually earthen and that often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastli ...

s protects the community from flooding when the Mississippi River water levels rise. The Devil's Backbone Park, named after a limestone ridge which created a natural bottleneck in the Mississippi River, provided easy opportunity for river pirates to attack

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

s and barges. This park provides RV camping, playgrounds, picnic facilities, and a shower house.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, there were 624 people, 268 households, and 169 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 309 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.24%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 0.16%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.32% Native American, 0.64% from other races, and 0.64% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 0.96% of the population. There were 268 households, out of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% were non-families. 33.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.99. In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.1% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $27,135, and the median income for a family was $40,000. Males had a median income of $34,375 versus $23,750 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $14,525. About 11.3% of families and 20.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 29.4% of those under age 18 and 16.1% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Christine Brewer Christine Brewer (born October 26, 1955) is an American soprano opera singer. Biography Brewer grew up in the Mississippi River town of Grand Tower, Illinois. She attended McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois and concentrated on music educa ...

, opera singer *

Ike Morgan Isaac Morgan (June 28, 1871 – September 13, 1913) was a well-known newspaper illustrator for several big newspapers in Chicago and New York. Biography Morgan was labeled "well-educated" by newspaper colleagues. He was fluent in Latin and an ...

, illustrator

Popular culture

* The novel ''The River Between Us'', written by Richard Peck, was set in Grand Tower.

Gallery

File:Grand Tower, Illinois, United Methodist Church.jpg, United Methodist Church File:Grand Tower, Illinois, First United Presbyterian Church.jpg, First United Presbyterian Church File:Grand Tower Energy Center, near Grand Tower, Illinois along the Mississippi River from Illinois highway 157.JPG, Grand Tower Energy Center

References

External links

History of Grand TowerGrand Tower, Illinois History
at prairieghosts.com {{authority control Cities in Illinois Illinois populated places on the Mississippi River Cities in Jackson County, Illinois