HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
+ 1 further entry on record
Walking and Bus Tours of America's Most Haunted Small Town
301 Piasa Street, Alton, IL 62002
Research updated September 2026
Age
Most tours all ages; pub crawl 21+
Cost
$$
Walking, bus, and dinner-theater offerings vary; check the operator booking page for current pricing.
Access
Limited Access
Sidewalks and bus boarding for outdoor tours; uneven historic surfaces in some districts.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1818 · Civil War Prison City · Underground Railroad Stop · Mississippi River Port · Lovejoy Memorial
Alton sits on Mississippi River bluffs about 25 miles north of St. Louis, founded in 1818 as a steamboat town. Its 19th-century identity ran along three parallel tracks: industrial river port, Civil War-era prison city, and Underground Railroad stop. The Alton Military Prison, repurposed from the state penitentiary in 1862, held thousands of Confederate prisoners during a smallpox epidemic that killed an estimated 1,500 men, many buried on a small island in the river. The 1837 murder of abolitionist publisher Elijah Lovejoy by a pro-slavery mob took place here, and the city has since memorialized the event as a turning point in American press history.
Alton Haunted History Tours operates as the local arm of American Hauntings, the long-running paranormal-history publishing imprint founded by author Troy Taylor. Tours are based out of the Mineral Springs Hotel at 301 Piasa Street, a 1914 spa hotel that closed as lodging in the 1970s and now houses tour offices and the American Oddities Museum. Programming centers on Taylor's research catalogued in his book Haunted Alton, which documents reported activity at the McPike Mansion, the First Unitarian Church, the Mineral Springs itself, and the State Street Cemetery.
The tour roster covers walking and bus formats from April through November and pivots to year-round dinner-and-spirits events during the off season. The downtown pub crawl traces the history of long-running 19th-century saloons. Private group bookings and the Ghosts of the River Road and Great River Hauntings tours extend the route along the Mississippi bluff road.
Sources
Tour narratives draw on reports gathered over decades by Troy Taylor and other regional researchers. At the McPike Mansion, an 1869 Italianate house unoccupied since the 1950s, owners and visitors have reported figures in period dress on the staircase, footsteps in empty upper rooms, and what witnesses describe as a woman associated with the bathroom where a death is said to have occurred. At the First Unitarian Church, parishioners and staff have reported doors opening on their own and the piano playing without a player. The pastor Phillip Mercer was found hanging in the doorway of the minister's study; subsequent reports describe footsteps and lights in the empty sanctuary.
The Mineral Springs Hotel, where most tours begin, is the most-investigated site on the route. Staff and guests have reported a figure descending the grand staircase, perfume in the upstairs corridor, and audio anomalies in the basement spa rooms. The Alton Military Prison ruins on Williams Street are stops on both the walking and bus tours; reports center on Confederate soldier figures and disembodied coughing on the smallpox island.
Tour operators present these accounts as folklore and witness testimony, not confirmed phenomena. The program's emphasis on Civil War history, riverboat-era industry, and abolitionist memory keeps the tours grounded in documented record.
Notable Entities
An evening walking tour through Alton's historic downtown covering the Civil War prison, Underground Railroad sites, and reportedly active buildings catalogued in Troy Taylor's Haunted Alton.
Climate-controlled bus tour reaching haunted sites outside the walkable downtown, including the McPike Mansion, the State Street Cemetery, and the city's bluffside historic district.
Themed dinner pairing a meal with haunted-history storytelling. Operates year-round and serves as the program's cold-weather offering.
21-and-over walking tour through downtown taverns, blending local saloon history with stories of reported activity in long-occupied bar buildings.
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