Wood River (Illinois)
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Wood River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, which it joins near East Alton, Illinois, to the north east of St. Louis, Missouri.
Major tributaries of Wood River include: the West Fork of Wood River, Honeycut Branch, Girder Branch and the East Fork of Wood River. These come together near where they drop down from the Mississippi bluffs. The natural channel of Wood River used to follow the Mississippi through the bottoms before joining it. This has been cut off by an artificial channel that runs through flood control structures directly to the Mississippi.
Wood River is about eighteen miles in length, measured along the East Fork.
The mouth of Wood River was a highly industrialized area during much of the 20th Century. The Olin Chemical plant produced explosives and munitions for the wars of the last Century. This remains as the Winchester ammunition plant. The Wood River petroleum refinery continues to operate on a reduced scale. This area has a small waterway called "Dead Dog Creek", so named because a dog drank of the water, took two steps and dropped dead.
[edit] Cities, Towns and Counties
The following cities, towns and villages are in the Wood River watershed:
- Alton
- Bethalto
- East Alton
- Wood River
- Woodburn
The following Illinois Counties are drained in part by Wood River:
