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Reported phenomena — as catalogued
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Three-Hour Motorcoach Through Alton's Most Haunted Sites
301 Piasa Street, Alton, IL 62002
Research updated July 2026
Age
Children 10+ preferred; younger children at parental discretion. No toddlers, infants, or strollers.
Cost
$$$
$46 per person.
Access
Limited Access
Motorcoach transit with brief on-foot stops at exterior locations
Equipment
Photos OK
Mississippi River Heritage · Lincoln–Douglas Debate Site · American Hauntings Headquarters
Alton, Illinois, sits on Mississippi River bluffs about 25 miles north of St. Louis and carries a documented 19th-century record that includes the seventh and final Lincoln–Douglas debate, the Alton Military Prison's Civil War smallpox epidemic, the 1837 murder of abolitionist publisher Elijah P. Lovejoy, and a long industrial history along the riverfront. Author Troy Taylor's 1996 book 'Haunted Alton' compiled the city's reported paranormal claims alongside its archival history, and the book serves as the foundation for the tour's narrative.
The Alton Hauntings tour operation, run by American Hauntings, departs from the American Oddities Museum at 301 Piasa Street. The bus tour was developed as a complement to the company's walking tour and visits exterior sites that fall outside the walkable downtown radius — bluff cemeteries, historic homes, and outlying institutional locations. Tours are seasonal, running primarily on October Saturday evenings.
American Hauntings also operates extended programming including overnight investigations at out-of-town partner venues such as Edinburgh Manor and the Peoria State Hospital. The company is headquartered in Alton at the same address.
Sources
The Alton Haunted History Bus Tour does not centralize a single site's folklore. Instead, the operator structures the route as a survey of documented paranormal accounts across the wider Alton area, drawing from Troy Taylor's published research and from reports submitted by venue owners along the route.
Frequently visited stops include the Mineral Springs Hotel — a 1909 hotel building reused as an antique mall, where shopkeepers and visitors have reported apparitions of figures in early-20th-century clothing on the basement and mezzanine levels. The McPike Mansion, an 1869 Italianate residence on Alby Street, has produced an extensive set of reported phenomena dating to the 1990s, including an apparition identified by tour material as Henry McPike. The route also references the Alton Military Prison site, where smallpox claimed thousands of Confederate prisoners during the Civil War.
Reports across these locations cluster around apparitions, phantom voices, and intermittent EMF anomalies during evening visits. American Hauntings' tour materials present these accounts as documented reports rather than confirmations, emphasizing eyewitness testimony and historical context rather than performative spectacle.
Media Appearances
A three-hour motorcoach tour of haunted Alton locations the operator describes as 'sites you can't see during our walking tour,' with guests disembarking throughout the evening for narrated visits. The tour is operated by American Hauntings and based on Troy Taylor's book 'Haunted Alton.'
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Chicago, IL
Chicago Hauntings Ghost Tours, now operated under the American Ghost Walks brand, runs evening walking and bus tours through Chicago's Loop, Lincoln Park, and southwest suburbs. The company's flagship Original Chicago Hauntings Tour departs Saturday evenings from the Congress Plaza Hotel.
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