Metro-East in the context of "Madison County, Illinois"

Calhoun County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,437, making it Illinois’ third-least populous county. Its county seat and biggest community is Hardin, with a population of 801. Its smallest incorporated community is Hamburg, with a population of 99. Calhoun County is at the tip of the peninsula formed by the courses of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers above their confluence and is almost completely surrounded by water. Calhoun County is sparsely populated; it has just five municipalities, all of them villages.

Calhoun County is part of the Metro-East portion of the St. Louis, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Grafton is the oldest city in Jersey County, Illinois, United States. It is located near the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 626.

Grafton is a part of the Metro-East region and Greater St. Louis.

Jerseyville is the largest city in and the county seat of Jersey County, Illinois, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 8,337.

Jerseyville is a part of Southern Illinois, the Metro-East region and the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Alton (/ˈɔːltən/ AWL-tən) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about 18 miles (29 km) north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the River Bend area in the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area.

It is well known for its limestone bluffs along the river north of the city. It's the former location of an historical state penitentiary, and played a significant role preceding and during the American Civil War. It was the site of the last Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debate in October 1858. The former state penitentiary in Alton was used during the Civil War to hold up to 12,000 Confederate prisoners of war.

The American Bottom is the flood plain of the Mississippi River in the Metro East region of Southern Illinois, extending from Alton, Illinois, south to the Kaskaskia River. It is also sometimes called "American Bottoms". The area is about 175 square miles (450 km), mostly protected from flooding in the 21st century by a levee and drainage canal system. Immediately across the river from St. Louis, Missouri, are industrial and urban areas, but nearby marshland, swamps, and the Horseshoe Lake (which was created by the river) are reminders of the Bottoms' riparian nature.

This plain with its rich alluvial soil, served as the center for the pre-Columbian Cahokia Mounds civilization, and later the French settlement of Illinois Country. Deforestation of the river banks in the 19th century to fuel steamboats had dramatic environmental effects in this region. The Mississippi River between St. Louis and the confluence with the Ohio River became wider and more shallow, as unstable banks collapsed into the water. This resulted in more severe flooding and lateral changes of the major channel, causing the destruction of several French colonial towns, such as Kaskaskia, which relocated; Cahokia, and St. Philippe, Illinois.