Smallpox Island

Historical marker location:

1 Riverfront Drive, Alton, Illinois

( Marker is on Riverfront Drive west of Boat Launch Road, on the right when traveling east.)

The Deadly Epidemic.

The first televised presidential debate in history was held in Illinois in 1960 between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. The debate was held at the studios of CBS in Chicago and was watched by an estimated 70 million people.