Robert Wadlow's Birth House in Alton, Illinois

Robert Wadlow’s Birth House stands near the statue of Robert Wadlow, the World’s Tallest Man, and the replica of his chair on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Dental Medicine in Alton, Illinois.

It is a restoration project of the Cole-Clark Carriage House and the Robert Wadlow Birth House.

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Robert Pershing Wadlow (also known as The Gentle Giant) was born on February 22, 1918 to Harold F. and Addie (Johnson) Wadlow in a five-room house in the 1400 block of Monroe Street in Alton, Illinois.

At birth, Wadlow weighed 8.7 pounds, a normal weight for a baby. But Robert Wadlow as a kid didn’t stay “normal” for long. At six months old he weighed 30 pounds. At 18 months, 62. When he turned eight years old, he towered over his peers, reaching six feet, two inches tall and 195 pounds.

By the time of his death on July 15, 1940, Robert Wadlow reached an astonishing height of 8 feet 11.1 inches and weighed 490 pounds. He was deemed the tallest man ever in history, a feat certified by the Guinness Book of Records.

On Sept. 11, 2001, the Robert Wadlow house, the house where the world’s tallest man was born was moved to its current spot on the campus of the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine in Alton, behind the life-size Robert Wadlow statue, one of the most recognized Alton Illinois attractions.

SIGN TEXT:

RESTORATION PROJECT
Cole-Clark Carriage House and
The Robert Wadlow Birth-House
Sponsored by
The Alton Museum of History and Art
In Cooperation with
The City of Alton And SIUE

Major Contributions By
The State of Illinois
Vasquez Masonry, and
Rob Lovejoy’s American Custom Homes
Upland Construction, West Construction