Clifton (Terrace), Illinois, Newspaper Clippings
Madison County ILGenWeb Coordinator - Beverly Bauser
EARLY HISTORY OF CLIFTON (TERRACE)
CLIFTON STEAM MILL
Source: Alton Telegraph, May 25, 1836
The owner of the Clifton Steam Flour and Saw Mill, being
desirous of engaging in other pursuits, would dispose of the
same on liberal terms. The above mill is situated on the
Mississippi, 4 miles above Alton at a good landing where logs
can be received as convenient as of any other mill on the river.
The quantity of land attached may be from 10 to 50 acres to suit
the purchaser. Refer to William Martin, Esq., Attorney at Law,
Alton, or to the subscriber on the premises. D. Tolman.
CLIFTON
Source: Alton Telegraph, March 8, 1837
The town
of Clifton is situated on the East bank of the Mississippi
river, four miles above Alton, in Madison county, Illinois. The
surface of ground upon which the town is located is much more
regular and better adapted for improvement than Alton. The lots
were surveyed and plated in the Fall of 1836, previous to which
time the property, on account of some difficulties, was beyond
the reach of speculators. Clifton, at all stages of water, has a
good natural steamboat landing, and it can be improved and
extended at a very small expense. Its means of communication
with the back country are unsurpassed, scarcely equaled by any
other point between the American Bottom and the mouth of the
Illinois river. Its advantages for building are not common to
new towns. A steam saw mill has been in successful operation of
the premises for three years. The neighboring country affords a
supply of excellent timber, limestone of the best quality is at
hand, and an extensive bed of free stone, a quarry of which has
been for some time nocued(?), and large quantities exported to
St. Louis, is on the premises. This stone is of a superior kind
and is in demand at 37 1/2 cents per cubic feet. Beds of stone
coal, of an excellent quality, with a strain of from five to
eight feet, are in the vicinity and owned by the proprietors. An
extensive steam flouring mill is erected on the premises and in
full operation. The situation of Clifton is healthy, and having
an abundant supply of excellent spring water, it is believed it
will continue to be so. The proprietors know not a point on the
river that can compete with Clifton in the quantity and
excellence of the spring water. An aqueduct for the conveyance
of the water through the town has been contracted for and is now
in progress towards completion - its elevation is eighty feet
above the high water mark of the river. These are a portion of
the advantages possessed by Clifton. It may not be improper,
however, to say that the route of the Cumberland road, as
surveyed in 1820, passed but half a mile North of this place.
But should the National road strike the river at Alton, we
submit to the judgment of all to say whether there is not a
strong probability of its taking the northern bank of the
Mississippi on its way to a point opposite to Portage de Sioux,
which it must make in preference to the Missouri bottom. The
distance is shorter and would be greatly less expensive in
construction. Although Clifton was laid off but last fall, it
already comprises, besides the improvements named, one store, a
school house, ten dwelling houses, a blacksmith's shop, and a
population of 67 persons. The proprietors will be liberal to
these who may locate at Alton - to such persons lots will be
given gratuitously on condition of making permanent improvements
upon the property, and they pledge themselves to give a large
portion of the proceeds of actual sales to the improvement of
the streets and of the landing. To emigrants who find lots at
St. Louis and Alton too high for their means, we beg to remember
that lots can be had at Clifton, only 4 miles above Alton, for
nothing but an obligation to improve them. A plat of the town
can be seen at the Piasa House, Alton. For further particulars,
apply to the undersigned. Hail Mason, Monticello, and D. Tolman,
Clifton; Proprietors.
ALTON LUMBER COMPANY BUYS TOLMAN'S CLIFTON MILLS
Source:
Alton Telegraph, April 12, 1837
The Alton Lumber Company,
having purchased the above establishment, give notice to the
farmers and other citizens of the vicinity that they have set
apart Wednesday and Friday nights for the purpose of grinding
grain for the accommodation of the neighborhood, at which times
they intend running the mill whenever there shall be 20 bushels
in the mill to commence with. They also give notice to the
citizens of Alton and its vicinity that they intend carrying on
the lumber sawing business. To the utmost extent that the mill
is capable of, and as they intend pursuing a regular system in
their business, and will not enter into contracts beyond what
they can reasonable calculate on accomplishing, they hope to be
able punctually to comply with their engagements. Orders left at
the Mill or with William P. Jones, carpenter, Lower Alton, will
be promptly attended to.
CEMENTS WORKS AT CLIFTON
Source: Alton Telegraph, March 13
& 27, 1874
The cement works now being erected at Clifton will
be an extensive establishment, and do an immense business. A
large amount of capital is being invested in buildings, kilns,
etc. Owing to the immense deposits of cement rock in the
vicinity, its manufacture into commercial forms will soon expand
into one of our most important industries.
Several
gentlemen of Louisville, Kentucky, who had long been engaged in
the manufacture of cement, became apprised of the superior
deposits of cement rock at Clifton, directly on the bank of the
river, three miles above Alton, and made a careful examination
of the locality. The rock was found to exist in great
quantities. They had specimens critically analyzed, which after
being subjected to the tests, were found superior to the
celebrated Louisville cement rock. Being satisfied with the
quality, the capitalists referred to purchased the Allen
property at Clifton, where the deposits outcropped, embracing a
tract of 105 acres. Aside from its commercial value, this
property is one of the most delightful and romantic residence
sites on the river, rising from the banks into lofty bluffs,
which overlook the country for many miles. The cement rock
outcrops at the base of the bluff and also along the slope of
the riverfront. A company was organized under the named of “St.
Louis Cement Company,” with the following as officers: W. A.
Hauser, President; A. Bondurant, Secretary; J. D. Bondurant,
Superintendent. These gentlemen, with Mr. Charles V. Shreve, own
the entire stock.
The erection of mills and kilns was
commenced last fall, and prosecuted with vigor through the
winter, and on March 25, the mills commenced operations, though
not fully completed. The works are on an extensive scale, and
have been erected at heavy expense. The mills are erected at the
base of the bluff, immediately on the riverfront, about three
rods from the bank. The site was chosen with admirable judgment.
It combines excellent facilities for manufacturing economically,
with the best of arrangements for shipping directly upon
steamers by means of a slide. No drayage is employed, either for
the raw material or the manufactured product, which is a great
saving at the start. The mill is a substantial frame structure,
three stories high; dimensions 32x38 feet. Surrounding the mill
are several minor buildings – blacksmith shop, storage rooms,
shelter sheds, etc. A few yards west of the mill are the kilns,
which are splendid specimens of mechanical skill. They rest upon
the solid rock, a niche for them having been blasted out of the
bluff wall. Their base is built of substantial hewn masonry.
Upon this rises the kilns, built of fire brick, on the most
approved principles. They are nearly oval in shape, thirty-four
feet in height, center diameter twelve feet, upper eight feet,
lower thirty inches. The kilns are encased in huge, hollow
cylinders of 3 16-inch boiler iron, with a diameter of 171/2
feet. The space left between the kilns and the iron is filled
with earth. The appearance of these huge grim, black towers,
vomiting forth fire and smoke in the rural solitude, with the
romantic and beautiful bluffs towering above, seems incongruous
in the extreme. They might well be mistaken for the smokestacks
of the Plutonian regions. But to return.
An iron tramway,
about two feet gauge and 500 feet in length, leads from the
kilns to the quarry, where the cement rock is now being taken
out. The rock being quarried is unquestionably of superior
quality, in fact, purer than any yet discovered in the country.
And at this quarry, the work of cement manufacture commences.
The face of the bluff is here laid bare, disclosing at the base
a vein of cement rock, eight feet thick, lying between strata of
hard limestone. The cement rock is of a dark grey color. It is
softer than limestone, but is quarried in much the same way. The
rock, as fast as quarried, is loaded into cars which are drawn
up the inclined tramway to the top of the kilns by means of a
stationary engine, which is supplied with steam from the mill
below. The cars, on arriving, are unloaded into the kilns and
returned to the quarry. The fuel used in burning is coal. The
method is as follows:
At the bottom of the kiln is placed
a quantity of wood. Upon this a layer of rock, then alternate
layers of coal and rock, until filled. The kilns are drawn twice
a day. The burned rock is then loaded in cars on another
tramway, and run into the third story of the mill, where is
located the great iron “crusher,” which resembles a huge coffee
mill. The rock is dumped into the “hopper,” and after being
reduced to about the size of corn by the crusher, passes down
into the second story, where are located two fine run of burrs,
four feet, seven one-half inches in diameter. The process of
pulverizing is completed by the burrs, and the cement then
passes through spouts to the first story, where it is received
directly into barrels, headed up, branded “Piasa Star,” and is
ready to be loaded onboard the steamer and shipped to its
destination.
The machinery in the mill is of the most
substantial character, and combines all the latest and most
valuable improvements. It is driven by a twenty-five horse power
engine. The mill will turn out 350 barrels per day, and the
capacity is to be still further increased. The entire works have
been put up in the most thorough and practical manner, and at
very heavy outlay of capital. The faith the company have in the
project is shown by the character of the work. The proprietors
are all practically acquainted with the business, possess large
resources, have a superior quality and a limitless quantity of
rock to work upon (enough to supply the West for 1,000 years),
and are bound to win success over any opposition. The mill now
employs thirty men, many of them old hands at the business. The
company intends erecting several tenement houses to accommodate
their employees, and the prospect now is that a thriving village
will soon take the place of the Rip Van Winkle suburb of
Clifton, formerly sacred to moonlight, romance, and the
sparkling Catawba.
NEWS FROM MELVILLE
Source: Alton Telegraph, December 33,
1874
We have had a lively time in this vicinity between the
Directors of the Clifton School district and the colored people.
There are over seventy colored children in the district, so the
very kind and accommodating directors thought they would build
the colored children a new schoolhouse, more convenient to them
than the one used by the white pupils. They also hired a
graduate for a teacher, as the colored folks complained last
year that their teacher was not so competent nor their house as
new as the one the white had. But the colored folks were not
satisfied, and entered suit, which was decided in favor of the
directors. Yet the colored parents keep their children at home,
while the school goes on at the expense of the district.
Clifton and Melville are improving fast. A post office has been
started at Melville.
CLIFTON - MONARCH OF THE MISSISSIPPI GONE –
GIANT
COTTONWOOD TREE OF SCOTCH JIMMY'S ISLAND FELLED
Source: Alton
Evening Telegraph, May 17, 1906
Louis Young, who resides upon
"Scotch Jimmie's Island" across from Clifton, has felled the
great, tall cottonwood tree on the north side of the island,
which has stood as a sentinel of direction to river men as long
as the oldest can remember. The Chicago Chronicle several years
ago printed a story of this tree, with measurements taken by a
government official from one of the government boats, and
showing it to be the largest tree in both height and girth in
the Mississippi Valley. The tree was struck by lightning three
years ago and had gradually died. One log was taken out of the
base of the tree, measuring seven feet, eight inches in diameter
on the large end. The stump of the great forest giant is large
enough to sit a dining table on comfortably. The tree was
undoubtedly many hundreds of years old, and towered no less than
seventy-five feet higher than the other trees on the island. For
many years when the crossing on the steamboats up and down the
river was on the Illinois river side of the island in the narrow
channel, the big tree was a valuable landmark to the steamboat
pilots. Before being injured by the stroke of lightning, the
tree had an abundance of foliage, and was visible for many miles
from up and down the river. It has for many years been one of
the sites of interest pointed out to passengers on the bluff
line trains. The bark on the tree was nearly three inches thick
in places, and was roughed and creased by the several hundred
years of time it had stood. The great giant stood on high
ground, and was seldom caught by the floods which washed out and
undermined so many of the trees on the island. For the past few
years the great limbs of the tree whitened by the burning sun,
rose above the forest on the big island, a scarred but silent
master of the great forest up and down this big valley. It was a
pity to have removed this tree, even though it was dead.