CNB Bank and Trust Co. is offering an updated edition of “Alton A Pictorial History” for sale at their Alton facility, 200 E. Homer Adams Parkway. The Alton history book was first published in 1986 and, according to the publisher, was one of their most successful publications, and was out of print within a few years.
This edition will include all of the original 200-page book plus a colorful update. This publication is a limited edition with only 1,000 copies available, each book numbered.
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The original book recounts Alton’s founding on the Mississippi River and its importance as an industrial center. It also includes the legend of the Piasa Bird and what the earliest explorers and settlers found here and the community they built. The story of Robert Wadlow is included as well, richly illustrated with photographs from the Robert K. Graul and The Telegraph archives, plus many photos from private collections.
The 16-page signature edition contains colorful photographs of Alton as it is today and some of the changes that make the community a good place to live. Photos of the Flood of 1993 are included and new views of Alton’s weather. It brings together the old and the new.
Charlotte McDonald Stetson, the author, is a lifelong resident of the River Bend. Born and raised in Alton, she attended parochial schools and is a graduate of the University of Illinois and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She has worked in the public relations and advertising fields. She also wrote “The Best of Alton” in 1998 and collaborated with Alton historians Don Huber and the late Robert E. St. Peters on “Alton Remembered.” Both books are out of print.
She also has chronicled the histories of Saint Anthony’s Health Center and Alton Memorial Hospital’s first 75 years. She also compiles the popular “Our Past” history column in The Telegraph every day.
Michael Eckhard, the artist, was raised in the riverboat town of Alton. He spent his youth on the banks and bluffs of the mighty Mississippi. Inspired by the river tales of Mark Twain, he studied the art of watercolor painting and sketching. With a degree in Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University he entered a career in advertising. As an art director in this field he has won national and international acclaim for his unique images of rural life in America. He is, perhaps, best known for his outstanding creative work for Jack Daniel’s Distillery, where his images have epitomized the grass roots values of our heartland. And now, Michael has returned to his roots once again painting the watercolor subjects he knows best. In the same little river town called Alton.
The cost of the hard cover book is $35, plus tax, for a total of $37.75. Charlotte Stetson will be signing books at CNB’s Alton facility on December 3rd & 10th from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm, and December 7th from 9:00 to Noon.
CNB Bank & Trust, the oldest bank in the state of Illinois, appreciates the solid history of the Alton community. We are happy to provide this new publication to help preserve Alton’s history. CNB Bank & Trust has 12 locations to better serve you, Alton, Brighton, Carlinville, Carrollton, Clayton-MO, Hillsboro, Jacksonville, Jerseyville, Oak Forest, Pittsfield, Shipman, and Taylorville. CNB offers a wide variety of traditional banking services, including numerous deposit accounts, along with commercial and consumer loans. For more information about CNB or its many banking services, please visit our website at www.cnbil.com, or call our Alton facility at 618-465-5656. CNB Bank & Trust – Member FDIC and Illinois’ Oldest Bank, Established in 1854.
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