wow. I tend to give people the benefit of doubt on their towns, but Dickens is a talented writer.
Maybe I like dismal places.
It’s a very sad place, and largely devoid of people. Where there were once rows of 19th century architecture, both business and residences, are now open fields. The “downtown” itself has almost been completely demolished. I’ve been there twice in the ‘90s and many of the buildings I photographed are grassy fields now. It’s a damn shame, since it ought to be a premier rivertown destination at the junction of our two great rivers, the Mississippi & Ohio. So much is gone there that there’s almost nothing “historic” left.
It still remains a county seat (since there’s no town of any size left in Alexander County), but they demolished their stunning old courthouse for an ugly new one some decades ago. They do have a pretty federal building and a mansion several blocks away to tour, but the time for preservation should’ve been 4-5 decades ago when other rivertowns like Cape Girardeau and Galena did so. Anything else would have to be reconstructed.
See The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit for a fictionalized version. It’s harrowing.