Top 5 Mind Blowing Facts about the Mississippi River

We live in river communities along the Mighty Mississippi River, it divides us, and we live with it in our back yards, but how much do you actually know about the Mississippi River?

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When I moved to Quincy from Chicago three years ago I traded living next to the incredible body of water called Lake Michigan to living next to one of the most important rivers in the world the mighty Mississippi River. I remember learning all about the Mississippi in geography class in school as a kid, but I stumbled upon a website called experiencemississippiriver.com and I was blown away by the things I learned on that site, here are my top 5 mind-blowing facts I learned...

• It takes 90 days for a drop of water to travel the entire length of the Mississippi River.
• The Mississippi River has 360 species of fish, 326 species of birds, 145 species of amphibians, and 50 species of mammals.
• The deepest place on the Mississippi River is 200-feet deep and is located near Algiers Point in New Orleans.
• From its source in northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River drops 1,475 feet.
• In the year A.D. 1250, the ancient metropolis of Cahokia, Illinois, was home to more people than London.

To see more facts and stats on the mighty Mississippi River check out the website by clicking here! 

The last point really blew me away, I have heard of the Cahokia Mounds and that area of Illinois, I have never been, but I had no idea that at its peak it was inhabited by that many people, that is just fascinating to me! Also, can you imagine diving down 200ft to the bottom of the Mississippi River? That sounds like the scariest thing in the world to me...