As regular readers of this blog know, one of my favorite things to do here in St. Louis' Illinois suburbs is to drive along the Great River Road from Alton, Illinois to the towns of Elsah and Grafton, Pere Marquette State Park and beyond. The combination of the mighty Mississippi River flowing alongside the soaring limestone bluffs is magical. Today we'll take a closer look at Elsah, a charming enclave tucked among the limestone bluffs on the Mississippi River. The entire village was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1970s. Elsah's site along the Mississippi River north of Alton, Illinois was first settled in the mid-1840s as a riverboat landing and the village was officially founded in 1853. Many of the area's historic residences are built of limestone quarried ... 07/26/2009