I was born in Alton, Illinois, and have lived here my whole life. It is a small town, but home to not very many well known events. We have caves and even many museums; however, there are various places around Illinois, other than Alton, that you can find many dandy facts about; for example:

1. In Vandalia there is a fire-breathing dragon (mechanical of course, but why not?)
2. The only river ever to flow backwards is in Chicago.
3. Twinkies were invented in River Forest.
4. The world’s largest bottle of ketchup stands in Collinsville.

You may be asking why I’m sharing cool facts about other towns, and not mine? Well even though no one in Alton invented twinkies (which would be sweet) I’m still proud to be a fellow ‘Altonian.’ Alton is still interesting in it’s own way. Like the fact that the tallest man ever to live in history once resided here. His name was Robert Wadlow and he was 8’11’, with a whopping shoe size of 37. Also, Illinois being the first state ever to ratify against slavery, there are several houses in Alton being apart of the Underground Railroad, with hidden compartments and rooms even. Pretty fascinating, huh? Although those parts of my town are pretty intriguing, the one section that has me worried is the fact that Alton is one of the most haunted places in America (!!!). Pretty scary but cool at the same time, right?

My point is, Alton doesn’t have to be known for the invention of some cool object or food, it’s cool just in the fact that I live here. This is the place where I was born in, and I wouldn’t trade it for any other place in the world, not even the place with the fire-breathing dragon.