Great Rivers Park

Great Rivers Park. History of Godfrey. Miles of rich farmland, scenic vistas and proximity to the river attract residents to Godfrey today, just as it did the early settlers of the 1800s. In 1817, Jacob and Sarah Lurton traveled from Louisville, Kentucky with their family and settled here where they found land with the attributes necessary for whiskey making - rich bottomland soil for growing corn, limestone-filtered water and whiteoak timber for the aging barrels. By 1820, they were supplying whiskey to the 120 families living in the Piasa District., Isolated inland, high upon the bluffs just outside Alton, the growth of the village, then known as Monticello, was quite slow. It was this seclusion that lured shipmaster and merchant trader Benjamin Godfrey to settle here in 1832. Godfrey was the co-owner of Godfrey, Gilman and Co., a freight forwarding company with a shipping warehouse located on the riverfront in Alton. By 1835, it was the most successful and fastest growing business in the state of Illinois, shipping products such as fur, livestock and agricultural goods straight to New Orleans. , The village of Monticello saw its most significant change in 1837 following the murder of Elijah P. Lovejoy at Godfrey's warehouse in Alton. Benjamin Godfrey already had plans underway to build a seminary for women in Monticello, which would provide an education for his seven daughters. In order to separate the college and community from the violence associated with the murder, Godfrey platted the village around the seminary. , When village officials applied for a post office in 1841, they learned there was another city in Illinois named Monticello. It was then that the village reluctantly adopted the name Godfrey. More than 170 years later, the legacy of Benjamin Godfrey still lives on today in the seminary buildings that are now part of Lewis and Clark Community College. , In 1828, Don Alonzo Spaulding and his family moved from Edwardsville to Godfrey to pave the road to freedom for runaway slaves. Spaulding built "one of the best mills in the county" at Rocky Fork, which served as an acceptable excuse for black laborers on his property. Underneath it all, Spaulding and his family were conducting an illegal refugee station for runaway slaves in the southwestern portion of Godfrey. Hundreds of runaways followed the river and sought temporary refuge at Rocky Fork, one of the oldest and largest Underground Railroad operations in Illinois. , In 1904, Charles Norman Sr. purchased this land locally referred to as "Norman's Landing." The Norman Family became well known as river men harvesting mussels and selling shells to the Alton Button Factory. They built wooden barges and towboats to transport apples from Calhoun County to an Alton vinegar company. Over time, the business expanded to include sand dredging, marine transportation and servicing passing towboats. Rock used to construct the Great River Road was donated by the Normans, and the Piasa Bird was painted here on these bluffs for many years.