Grafton IL (Illinois)

Grafton IL is an Illinois River/Mississippi River cruise port and town in Illinois USA (Jersey County, Quarry Township) with population under 1,000.

As cruise port, Grafton IL is included in the schedule of AQV-American Queen Voyages/fka AQSC-American Queen Steamboat Company.

Next table shows AQV ship's American Countess itinerary (8-night/9-day "Ottawa to St Louis Cruise Tour"/and the reverse) that visits Grafton. Complimentary shore excursions are provided in all visited ports/cities.

The voyage is priced from ~US$3600 per person.

The settlement was founded in the mid-19th-century (1832, named after Grafton MA/Massachusetts) and was incorporated into a city in 1907. The town's economy was initially based on natural stone production (5 limestone quarries), paddlewheelers and steel boat construction (Old Boatworks) and commercial fishing (Shafer's Wharf).

The current-day economy is largely based on tourism (housing, restaurants, antique shopping) and outdoor activities like wildlife watching (bald eagles), river boating and canoeing, parasailing, camping (at Pere Marquette State Park, just 5 mi / 8 km west of downtown).

Illinois River

Illinois River is one of the Mississippi's principal tributaries and has length ~ 273 mi (439 km). Illinois River originates in Chicago (Lake Michigan), flowing to the southwest across Illinois and emptying into the Mississippi River near Grafton. In the 18th-19th-centuries, the Illinois River has always been an important trade waterway connecting the Mississippi with Lake Michigan (the Great Lakes). The river's importance for commercial shipping increased since the opening (in 1848) of the "Illinois and Michigan Canal" (length 96 mi / 154 km) connecting with the Chicago River and running between Chicago IL (Bridgeport neighborhood) and LaSalle IL. The Canal's transportation operations ceased in 1900 when was opened the "Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal"/aka Chicago Drainage Canal (length 28 mi / 45 km) connecting the rivers Chicago and Des Plaines. With the Chicago Drainage Canal (1907-extended), the Chicago River's flow was reversed (now out of Lake Michigan).

In 1933 was completed and opened of the Illinois Waterway (length 336 mi / 541 km) connecting Calumet River (Chicago) and the Illinois River (Grafton). The waterway has 8x locks, the upper/first one (T.J. O'Brien lock and dam in Chicago IL) is approx 7 mi / 11 km from Lake Michigan, while the lower/last one (LaGrange lock and dam in Beardstown IL) is 90 mi / 140 km from the Mississippi. The other 6 locks and dams are in the IL's towns Lockport (Lockport), Joliet (Brandon Road), Morris (Dresden Island), Marseilles (Marseilles), North Utica (Starved Rock) and Peoria (Peoria).