Do you have real estate or Madison County, Illinois questions? We love to answer them here on the blog, so send yours any time. Got this question recently:
"Hey, Nancy, What the heck are those things pictured on your Illinois real estate blog's mastehead?"
You mean these things?
This is the legendary Piasa Bird. (That's pronounced Pie-ah-saw.) Today its image is painted on a limestone bluff over the Mississippi River just upriver from downtown Alton, Illinois. Its a favorite picture spot for visitors or locals on eagle watching (winter) or biking (spring, summer fall) trips along the Great River Road. The original image was an ancient carving that was noted by French explorers Pere Marquette and Louis Joliet during their trip down the Mississippi in 1673. Marquette described the beast and sketched it in his diary. Legend has it that the fearsome bird would snatch the brave Illini Indians who lived along the river, creating fear and destroying villages. The great chief Ouatoga devised a plan to kill the beast using himself as bait and 20 braves with poisoned arrows to shoot the bird as it came for the chief. The plan worked and the original image was carved to celebrate the Piasa bird's defeat. Learn more from my friends at the Alton Convention & Visitors Bureau.
And this is the World's Largest Catsup Bottle. Built in 1949, the bottle rises 170 feet high over IL-159 in Collinsville, Illinois. (I owe the Catsup Bottle a new picture as its recently received a shining new coat of paint and looks just marvelous.) It began life as a water tower and stands over the site of a former bottler of the Brooks Tangy Catsup brand. The Catsup Bottle is considered one of the country's top roadside attractions. Learn more from the catsup bottle's very own web site.
This is the covered bridge in Glen Carbon, Illinois. Located on Glen Carbon Road near the village's Centennial Library, the bridge is a charming landmark in this former coal mining town in Madison County, Illinois. So, I guess we have one of "the Bridges of Madison County" too!
This, of course, is the skyline of St. Louis, Missouri as seen from the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. The Gateway Arch, built as a monument to President Thomas Jefferson and his vision of a continental United States, stands 630 feet tall. St. Louis city is a mere 67 square miles in size. St. Louis County is another 500 square miles. St. Louis' Illinois suburbs -- where Goshen Realty Group works -- covers a larger footprint. Madison County, IL is 725 square miles and St. Clair County, IL is 674 square miles in size.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
About the Author: Nancy Milton, GRI, is a REALTOR with the GoshenRealtyGroup at RE/MAX Preferred Partners in Edwardsville, Illinois. She and Kristina Pratt help their customers buy and sell homes and investment properties in St. Louis' Illinois suburbs with special emphasis on homes for sale in Madison County and the communities of Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Maryville, Collinsville, Troy, Bethalto, Granite City, Wood River, Godfrey and surrounding areas.
Goshen Realty Group takes its name from the earliest nickname for Madison County, Illinois -- the Land of Goshen -- coined when the region's first settlers compared their new home east of the Mississippi River to the biblical land of peace and plenty.
For more information, visit GoshenRealtyGroup.com or e-mail Nancy at Nancy@GoshenRealtyGroup.com. Text or call Nancy at 618-791-8007. REMAX Preferred Partners is located at One 157 Center, Edwardsville, IL 62025.
Please note that individual listings periodically mentioned in this blog are accurately described in terms of availability and price at the time of the posting. Because properties are constantly coming on and off the market, please contact Nancy for the latest information on those that are of particular interest to you.
I've always preferred "Ketchup", myself. "Catsup" sounds like it might be the drool that collects on the sides of my cat's mouth. Your Masthead "rocks". thanks for the explanation.
My, there are some interesting local points of interest in your area!
Thanks, Tom. I agree about the "ketchup" and "catsup" war. The K spelling dates back to the 18th century but the earliest recorded use of the C spelling was in 1690. I think the non-standard spelling of all words was pretty common then. Guess both forms survived, causing confusion for all of us today.
Thanks for stopping by the blog, Mary. You're right, there are a lot of hidden (and not-so-hidden) gems here -- from the ridiculous to the sublime.
Nancy, My wife and I are big fans of covered bridges. Nice photo.
Steve