Peoria (named after the
Peoria tribe) is the largest city on
the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria
County
, Illinois
, in the
United
States
. As of the
2000 census, the city was the
fifth-largest in Illinois, with a population of 112,936; by 2007 it
was the sixth-largest city and had population of 113,546. The
Peoria
Metropolitan Statistical
Area had a
population of 372,487 in
2008, making it the third largest metropolitan area in the state
after
Chicagoland and the
Metro-East portion of the
St. Louis metropolitan
area.
Peoria has
become famous as a representation of the average American
city because of its demographics and its perceived mainstream
Midwestern culture. On the
Vaudeville circuit, it was said that if an act
would succeed in Peoria, it would work anywhere. The question
"
Will it play in Peoria?"
has now become a
metaphor for whether
something appeals to the American mainstream public.
Peoria is the home of
Ray LaHood, now
serving as
Secretary of
Transportation in President
Obama's
cabinet. It is also headquarters for
Caterpillar Inc., one of the 30 companies
composing the
Dow Jones
Industrial Average.
History of Peoria
Peoria is one of the oldest settlements in Illinois, as explorers
first ventured up the Illinois River from the Mississippi.
The lands
that eventually would become Peoria were first settled in 1680,
when French
explorers
René-Robert
Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and Henri
de Tonti constructed Fort Crevecoeur. This fort would
later burn to the ground, and in 1813 Fort Clark, Illinois was
built. When the
County of Peoria was
organized in 1825, Fort Clark was officially named Peoria.
Industry
Peoria's first major industry was started in 1830 by John Hamlin,
who constructed the flour mill on Kickapoo Creek. In 1837, another
industry was begun with E.F. Nowland's pork planting industry. Many
other industries started slowly in Peoria including carriage
factories, pottery makers, wholesale warehousing, casting
foundries, glucose factories, ice harvesting, and furniture
makers.
Peoria became the first world leader for distilleries thanks to
Andrew Eitle (1837) and Almiron S. Cole (1843). During this time,
Peoria held 22 distilleries and multiple breweries. Together, they
produced the highest amount of internal revenue tax on alcohol of
any single revenue district in the entire U.S. Peoria also was one
of the major bootlegging areas during the prohibition and home to
the famed mobsters, the Shelton brothers. This great success placed
Peoria into a building boom of beautiful private homes, schools,
parks, churches, as well as municipal buildings.
In addition to the distilleries, came farm machinery manufacturing
by William Nurse in 1837. Also, two men called Toby and Anderson
brought the steel plow circa 1843, which gained immediate success.
The dominant manufacturing companies in Peoria were Kingman Plow
Co., Acme Harvester Co., Selby, Starr & Co., and Avery
Manufacturing Co. In 1889, Keystone Steel & Wire developed the
first wire fence and has since been the nation's leading
manufacturer.
Around the 1880s, businesses such as Rouse Hazard Co. in Peoria,
were dealers and importers of bicycles and accessories worldwide.
Charles Duryea, one of the cycle
manufacturers, developed the first commercially available
gasoline-powered automobile in the U.S. in 1893.
At this time, agricultural implement production declined, which led
the earth moving and tractor equipment companies to skyrocket and
make Peoria in this field the world leader. In 1925, Caterpillar
Tractor Co. was formed from the Benjamin Holt Co. and the C.L. Best
Tractor Co. Robert G. LeTourneau's earth moving company began its
production of new scrapers and dozers in 1935 which evolved into
Komatsu-Dresser, Haulpak Division.
Geography
Peoria is located at (40.720737, -89.609421).
Topography
According to the
United
States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
46.6 square miles (120.8 km²).Land comprises
44.4 square miles (115.0 km²) of the area, and
2.2 square miles (5.8 km²) (4.78%) is water.
Peoria is
bounded on the east by the Illinois
River except for the enclave of Peoria
Heights
, which also borders the river. Four bridges run
directly between the city and neighboring East
Peoria
. On the south end of Peoria's western border
are Bartonville
and the newly established city of West
Peoria
. Local municipal plans indicate that the city
intends to continue its expansion northwest, into an area
unofficially considered part of Dunlap, Illinois
.
Climate
°F]])
| Measurement |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| Record High |
70 |
72 |
86 |
92 |
93 |
105 |
104 |
103 |
100 |
90 |
81 |
71 |
| Normal High |
30.7 |
36.6 |
49.4 |
62.0 |
73.0 |
82.2 |
85.7 |
83.6 |
76.7 |
64.4 |
48.8 |
35.5 |
| Normal Low |
14.3 |
19.7 |
30.2 |
40.3 |
50.8 |
60.1 |
64.6 |
62.6 |
54.0 |
42.3 |
31.4 |
20.1 |
| Record Low |
-25 |
-19 |
-10 |
14 |
25 |
39 |
47 |
41 |
26 |
19 |
-2 |
-23 |
Monthly normal precipitation (in inches)
| Measurement |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| Precipitation |
1.50 |
1.67 |
2.83 |
3.56 |
4.17 |
3.84 |
4.02 |
3.16 |
3.12 |
2.77 |
2.99 |
2.40 |
| Snow |
6.7 |
5.0 |
4.2 |
0.8 |
trace |
0 |
0 |
0 |
trace |
0.1 |
2.1 |
6.2 |
Culture
The city
of Peoria is home to a United States courthouse, the Peoria Civic
Center
(which includes Carver
Arena), and the world headquarters for Caterpillar Inc.. Medicine has
become a major part of Peoria's economy.
In addition to three
major hospitals, the USDA
's National Center for Agricultural
Utilization Research
, formerly called the USDA Northern Regional
Research Lab, is located in Peoria. This lab was where mass
production of
penicillin was
developed.
Peoria's downtown area includes corporate, governmental,
convention, educational, and medical facilities.
It also boasts the
Peoria Civic
Center
, Apollo Theatre, and O'Brien Field, as well as an
arts, dining, and entertainment area near the riverfront.
The downtown area now also includes high-rise residential
developments such as
condominiums,
apartments, and riverfront
lofts. Some of these
were office buildings and warehouses converted to residential
use.
Grandview
Drive
, which Theodore
Roosevelt purportedly called the "world's most beautiful drive"
during a 1910 visit, runs through Peoria and Peoria
Heights
. In addition to Grandview Drive, the Peoria
Park District boasts 9,000 acres (36 km²) of parks, including
Glen Oak Zoo and five public
golf
courses. There are also several private and semi-private golf
courses. The Peoria Park District, the first and still largest park
district in Illinois, was the 2001 Winner of the National Gold
Medal Award for Excellence in Parks and Recreation for Class II
Parks.
Museums in Peoria include the Lakeview Museum for the Arts and
Sciences and the Wheels o' Time Museum. A new Museum Square, under
construction downtown, will house a new regional
museum, a
planetarium, and
the Caterpillar World Visitors Center.
The
Steamboat Classic, held every
summer, is the world's largest four-mile (6 km) running race
and draws international runners.
Peoria's
sister cities include Friedrichshafen
, Germany; Benxi
, China; and
Clonmel
, Ireland. Peoria has also recently adopted Biloxi,
Mississippi
, as a sister city to aid in its recovery from the
aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina.
Performing arts

Madison Theatre
The
Peoria Symphony
Orchestra is the 10th oldest in the nation. Peoria is also home
to
Opera Illinois, the
Peoria Municipal Band, the Peoria Area
Civic Chorale, the
Central Illinois Youth
Symphony, and two
ballet
companies: Peoria Ballet and Illinois Ballet. Several community
and professional theatres have their home in and around Peoria,
including the Peoria Players, which is the fourth-oldest community
theater in the nation and the oldest in Illinois. Corn Stock
Theatre is another community theatre company in Peoria, it being
the only outdoor theatre in the round in Central Illinois.
The Contemporary Art Center of Peoria, and the Peoria Art Guild and
Galleries, host of the Annual Art Fair that is rated as one of the
best professional art fairs in the nation, are in Peoria.
Comedy clubs, and several venues for a variety of traveling shows
and concerts including Broadway touring companies, are located in
and around Peoria.
Peoria has embarked on major renovations and expansion to Peoria
Zoo at Glen Oak Park. When finished, the new zoo improvements will
triple the size of the zoo and will have a major African safari
exhibit. Work began in the fall of 2006. In addition, The Peoria
Playhouse — An Interactive Children's Museum, spearheaded by the
Junior League of Peoria — is
planned in conjunction with the zoo expansion and further
enhancements to Glen Oak Park campus.
Peoria
has hosted the Heart of Illinois Fair
every year since 1949. The
fair features livestock competitions, rides,
concessions, motor contests, and concerts.
The rock group
Mudvayne which has won 4
gold records, is from Peoria
Tourism
Registered historic places

Pere Marquette Hotel
Sports
Peoria is home to the
AHL
Peoria Rivermen.
The current hockey team is the third team to use the name Peoria
Rivermen, and they started play in October, 2005 at the Peoria Civic
Center
. and are affiliated with the St. Louis Blues of the
National Hockey League. The Class A Minor League Baseball team Peoria Chiefs home venue is O'Brien Field
, a stadium near downtown Peoria. This team
is affiliated with the
Chicago Cubs,
and plays in the
Midwest
League.
The Peoria Sunday Morning League is the longest running semi-pro
baseball league in the nation. It has been running for 91 years.
The league boasts many former major leaguers such as
Kirby Puckett,
Mike
Dunne, and
Jim Thome.
Peoria was also home to the Arena Football League 2 (
af2) professional football team, the
Peoria Pirates, until mid-2009, when the team
was folded, unable to find new buyers.
In 1946, the
Peoria Redwings were
created as part of the
All-American
Girls Baseball League (which was officially the American Girls
Baseball League after 1950). The Redwings were the ninth team of
twelve to enter the league, and were in the league for six of the
twelve years of its existence. The Redwings folded after the 1951
season, and the league disbanded in 1954.
The Peoria Rugby Football Club is the first rugby club in Peoria
Illinois.
Since 1974 Peoria has hosted the annual
Steamboat Classic event, a running race
featuring 4 mile and 15K events. In 2007 the race drew over 4000
participants.
A chapter about Peoria is included the basketball book
Big
Game, Small World by Alexander Wolff.
Peoria is the hometown of several college and professional
basketball players, including Shaun Livingston, A.J. Guyton, Sergio
McClain, Frankie Williams, Marcus Griffin, David Booth, and
others.
Media
Peoria is the 150th largest
radio
market in the United States and the 117th largest TV market in
the United States.
The area is served by over 20 commercial
radio
stations, 3 non-commercial radio stations, 6
TV stations and two daily
newspapers.
Civic Center

Civic Center
The
Peoria Civic
Center
includes an arena, convention center, and theater,
and was completed in the early 1980s, was designed by the famed
late architect Philip Johnson.
The three structures are connected via an enclosed glass panel
arcade for all-weather protection and aesthetics. As of 2007, it
has completed a $55 million renovation and expansion based on
demand for larger conventions and entertainment venues.
Renaissance Park
Renaissance Park is a research park originally established in May
2003 as the Peoria Medical and Technology District.
It consists of nine
residential neighborhoods, Bradley University
, the medical district, Caterpillar world
headquarters, and the National Center for Agricultural
Utilization Research
. The Peoria NEXT Innovation Center opened in
August 2007 and provides both dry and wet labs, as well as
conference and office space for emerging start-up companies. Over
$1 billion in research is conducted in Peoria annually.
Museum Square
A $100+ million Lakeview Museum Square, to coincide with a proposed
museum documenting Caterpillar's history, is proposed as a 6.8 acre
development in downtown Peoria along the Illinois River. The museum
project had been on hold since mid-2008. However, the public voted
in April to allow an additional tax to be levied across the entire
Peoria County for the project's funding. Much of the space is
currently being used as a temporary parking lot for Caterpillar, as
they await scheduled maintenance on their current parking
facilities.
Economy
Well-known Peoria businesses
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 112,936
people, 45,199 households, and 27,345 families residing in the
city. The
population density was
2,543.4 people per square mile (982.1/km²). There were 49,125
housing units at an average density of 1,106.3/sq mi
(427.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 69.29%
White, 24.79%
African American, 0.20%
Native American, 2.33%
Asian, 0.04%
Pacific Islander, 1.20% from
other races, and 2.16%
from other races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 2.51%
of the population.
There were 45,199 households, out of which 29.0% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 41.6% were
married couples living together, 15.5% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 39.5% were non-families.
Individuals made up 33.2% of all households, and 11.7% had someone
living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.04.
In the city the population was spread out, with 25.7% under the age
of 18, 12.0% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to
64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was
34 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.9 males. For every
100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,397. The
per capita income for the city was
$20,512. Some 18.8% of the population was below the
poverty line.
Special censuses were conducted in
2004 and 2007 that noted a total increase of 8,455 in the city's
population since the
2000
census, mainly in the northwest corridor making the current
population 121,391.
The metropolitan area has a population of
370,000, which includes Peoria
, Tazewell
, Woodford
, Stark
and Marshall counties
. Suburbs and towns in this area include
Bartonville, Bellevue, Creve Coeur, Dunlap, East Peoria, Germantown
Hills, Groveland, Marquette Heights, Metamora, Morton, North Pekin,
Pekin, Peoria Heights, Pottstown, Rome, Tremont, Washington, and
West Peoria.
Law and government
Township of the City of Peoria

Outline of the Township of the City of
Peoria in Peoria County
The Township of the City of Peoria (sometimes called City of Peoria
Township) is a separate government from the City of Peoria, and
performs the functions of
civil
township government in most of the city.
The border of the
township matched the Peoria city limits until 1991 , when it was
frozen at its current boundaries; the City of Peoria itself has
continued expanding outside of the City of Peoria Township borders
into Kickapoo
, Medina
, Radnor
Townships
. In the years before the freeze, the Township
of the City of Peoria had grown to take up most of the former area
of Richwoods
and what is now West Peoria Township
.
History
Peoria was incorporated as a village on March 11, 1835. The city
did not have a mayor, though they had a village president,
Rudolphus Rouse, who served from 1835 to 1836. The first Chief of
Police, John B Lishk, was appointed in 1837. Peoria is now served
by Steven Settingsgaard as Chief of Police, inducted March 9, 2005.
The city was incorporated on April 21, 1845. This was the end of a
village president and the start of the mayoral system, with the
first mayor being William Hale.
Peoria is served by a mayor and ten city council members. The city
is divided into five districts. Five council members are elected
at-large. The present
city clerk is Mary
L. Haynes. Bonnie P. Gavin is the current city
assessor. City
treasurer
is Reginald A. Willis.
Education
Peoria is served by four public
K-12 school
districts:
- Peoria Public Schools District 150 is the larger and serves the
majority of the city. District 150 schools include dozens of
primary and middle schools, as well as four public high schools:
Richwoods
High School
, which hosts the competitive International
Baccalaureate Program of study; Woodruff
High School
; Manual High School
; and Peoria High
School
(Central), the oldest high school in
Illinois. According to SchoolDigger, District 150 has the
highest-ranking middle school
(Washington Gifted Middle School), but also the third- and
eighth-lowest-ranking middle schools (Trewyn and Lincoln,
respectively) and the second-lowest-ranking elementary school (Tyng Primary School) in
Illinois.
- Dunlap Community Unit School District 323 serves the far north
and northwest parts of Peoria that were mostly outside the city
before the 1990s.
- Limestone Community School District 310
serves a small portion of the western edge of the City of Peoria
(western edges of Wardcliffe and Lexington Hills areas), but mainly
serves the suburbs of Bartonville
, Bellevue
and surrounding towns.
- Peoria Heights School District 325 serves
the suburb of Peoria Heights
; however, parts of the City of Peoria immediately
outside the Heights are in this school district.
The
Roman Catholic Diocese
of Peoria currently runs six schools in the city: five grade
schools and Peoria Notre Dame High School
. Non-denominational Peoria Christian School
operates a grade school, middle school, and high school.
In addition, Peoria Christian School, Concordia Lutheran School,
Peoria Academy, Christ Lutheran School, and several smaller private
schools exist.
Bradley
University
, Midstate
College
, the University of
Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, the Downtown and North
campuses of Illinois Central College
, and the Peoria campus of Robert Morris University
are based in the city. In addition, Eureka College and the main campus of
Illinois
Central College
are located nearby.
Awards
- Peoria has been awarded the All-America City Award three times
(1953, 1966, and 1989).
- In 2007, Forbes ranked Peoria #47 out of the largest
150 metropolitan areas in its annual "Best Places for Business and
Careers." Peoria was evaluated on the cost of doing business, cost
of living, entertainment opportunities, and income growth.
- In 2005, Sperling and Sanders Best Places to Live Rankings
among 331 metropolitan areas placed Peoria #51, citing "low cost of
living, low cost of housing, and attractive residential areas" as
the main pros to the area.
- Peoria was ranked a 5 Star Logistics City by Expansion
Management Magazine in 2007
- Peoria consistently ranks in the Top 10 Best Mannered Cities in
America as compiled by etiquette expert Marjabelle Young
Stewart.
- Peoria was ranked as one of the "50 Best Adventure Towns" in
the US in the September 2008 issue of National Geographic
Adventure magazine. This was mainly based on the extensive
mountain biking trails in and around the city and the live
entertainment options found on the RiverFront.
- In 2009, Peoria was ranked 16th best city with a population of
100,000–200,000 ("Mighty Micros") in the U.S. Next Cities List. The
list was compiled by Next Generation Consulting, a firm which
studies and consults on hiring trends and workplace issues
nationwide, and the indexes used were divided into earning,
learning, vitality, around town, after hours, cost of lifestyle and
social capital. Top Mighty Micro was Fort
Collins, Colorado
; the other Mighty Micro in Illinois was Springfield
at #5.
- In 2009, Peoria was ranked #5 best mid sized city to launch a
small business by CNN Money and Fortune Small Business.
- Milken Institute released its Best Performing Metropolitan
Areas listing for 2008 and the Peoria Area ranked #33 among the top
200 largest metropolitan areas in the country. It was the highest
ranking area in Illinois with Chicago coming in next at #148.
Other notable buildings
- Chase Bank Building — known for most of Peoria history as Block
and Kuhl; later Carson
Pirie Scott & Co.
- Civic Center Plaza — formerly the Jefferson Building, River
Valley Savings Plaza, and Peoria Savings Tower
- First National Bank of Peoria Building — originally Alliance
Life Building, now Commerce Bank
- Peoria County
Courthouse
- Becker Building/Twin Towers — The Twin Towers are residential
condominiums and are both 30 stories. The Becker building is a
modern office high-rise.
Infrastructure
Health and medicine
The health-care industry accounts for at least 25% of Peoria's
economy.
The city has three major hospitals: OSF Saint
Francis Medical Center
, Methodist Medical Center of
Illinois, and Proctor
Hospital. In addition, the Children's Hospital of
Illinois, the University of
Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, and the Midwest
Affiliate of St. Jude Children's Research
Hospital
are located in the city. The hospitals are
all located in a medical district around the junction of
Interstate 74 and
Knoxville Avenue, adjacent to downtown in
the southeast of the city, except for Proctor Hospital in the
geographic center of the city. The surrounding towns are also
supported by Proctor Hospital,
Pekin Memorial Hospital,
Eureka Hospital, and the
Hopedale Medical Complex.
Transportation
Interstate and U.S. Routes
The
Peoria area is served by two Interstate highways: Interstate 74, which runs from northwest to
southeast through the downtown area, and Interstate 474, a southern bypass of I-74
through portions of Peoria and the suburbs of Bartonville
and Creve Coeur
. I-74 crosses over the Illinois River via the
Murray Baker
Bridge
, while I-474 crosses via the Shade-Lohmann Bridge.
The
nearest metropolitan centers accessible on I-74 are Galesburg
to the west, and Bloomington-Normal to the
east. Also, I-155 runs from Morton (an eastern suburb)
southward to connect to I-55 which leads to St. Louis.
From 2004 to 2006, Interstate 74 between Interstate 474 on the west
and
Illinois Route 8 on the east
was reconstructed as part of the
Upgrade 74 project.
In addition,
U.S. Route 24 runs along the bank of the Peoria
side of the Illinois River, becoming
a major arterial downtown as part of Adams Street and Jefferson
Avenue, and then continuing southwest towards Bartonville
as Washington Street, which turns into Adams Street
on the south end of Peoria. U.S. Route 150
serves as the main arterial for the northern portion of the Peoria
area, becoming War Memorial Drive before heading west towards
Kickapoo.
Both of these routes enter from the McClugage
Bridge
; east of the bridge, U.S. 150 runs southeast to
Morton
, while U.S. 24 runs due east to Washington
.
State Routes
The following state routes run through Peoria:
- Illinois Route 6 runs along the
northwestern portion of the city as an extension of I-474.
It is a
four-lane freeway that runs from the I-74/474 intersection
northeast to Illinois Route 29
south of Chillicothe
. It is marked as a north-south road.
- Illinois Route 8 roughly
parallels I-74 to the south. It enters Peoria from Farmington
and runs southeast through the city, passing just
southwest of the downtown area. Illinois 8 crosses
into East Peoria via the Cedar Street Bridge
with Illinois Routes 29 and 116. Illinois 8 is marked as an
east-west road.
- Illinois Route 29 runs with U.S. 24 through Peoria along the
Illinois River from Chillicothe through downtown Peoria. It then
joins Illinois 8 and 116 across the Cedar Street Bridge. Illinois
29 is marked as a north-south road, and is called Galena Road north
of U.S. 150.
- Illinois Route 40 (formerly
known as IL Rt. 88) enters Peoria from the north as Knoxville
Avenue. It runs south through the center of the city and exits
southeast over the Bob Michel
Bridge. Illinois 40 is marked as a north-south road.
- Illinois Route 91 briefly
enters Peoria at the intersection with U.S. 150 in the far
northwestern portion of the city. Traffic on Illinois 91 mainly
accesses the Grand Prairie Mall, or continues to Dunlap.
- Illinois Route 116 enters from the west at
Bellevue
. It runs directly east and crosses into East
Peoria over the Cedar Street Bridge.
The planned
Illinois Route 336
project will also connect Illinois 336 with I-474 between Illinois
8 and Illinois 116. Construction on the segment nearest Peoria has
not started, nor has funding been allocated.
Rail transportation
Metro Peoria is served by ten
common
carrier railroads. Four are Class 1's:
BNSF,
Canadian
National,
Norfolk Southern and
Union Pacific. The last one, Union
Pacific, has a north-south oriented line which skirts the west edge
of the city but a line branches off of it to enter Peoria.
One Class
II/Regional, Iowa Interstate, serves
the city, coming out of Bureau Junction
. Five Class III/Shortline railroads:
Central Illinois Railroad
(which operates a portion of the City-owned Peoria, Peoria Heights
and Western Railroad), two
Genesee and Wyoming-owned
operations, Illinois & Midland Railroad (the former
Chicago and Illinois Midland,
comes up from Springfield) and
Tazewell and Peoria Railroad
(leases the
Peoria and
Pekin Union Railway from its owners — Canadian National,
Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific), Pioneer Railcorp's
Keokuk Junction Railway (which now
owns the Toledo, Peoria and Western's West End from Lomax and La
Harpe in Western Illinois, plus the branch from Keokuk) and
finally,
RailAmerica's
Toledo, Peoria and Western
Railway, which uses BNSF trackage to reach Galesburg and its
own line to reach Logansport, Indiana. There is no passenger rail
connecting Peoria to other urban centers, although this possibility
and the possibility of rail service that connects Saint Louis to
Chicago (by way of Springfield, Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, and
Pontiac) has been and is being investigated.
Peoria's
last intercity rail service ended in 1981, when Amtrak withdrew the Prairie Marksman, which
stopped in nearby East Peoria
.
Public Transportation
Public
bus service is provided by the Greater Peoria Mass Transit
District, which operates 20 bus routes under the name CityLink,
that serve the city, Illinois Central College
and much of East Peoria, Illinois
, Peoria Heights
, West Peoria
, and points between Peoria and Pekin,
Illinois
.
Aviation
The
General Wayne Downing Peoria International
Airport
serves Peoria and surrounding communities.
The airport is served by 5 passenger airlines (
United,
American,
Delta,
Northwest and
Allegiant Air) and numerous cargo carriers.
Nonstop destinations include Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth,
Las Vegas, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Detroit, Denver, Orlando, Fort
Lauderdale, Phoenix, and Tampa.
Cargo carriers serving Peoria include
FedEx, UPS
and Airborne
Express (now DHL).
Mount Hawley Airport, on the north end of the city, also accepts
general aviation. Numerous other
general aviation airports are located in the tri-county
region.
Pekin
Municipal Airport, in Pekin, Illinois
, across the river, also serves the
area.
Famous connections to Peoria
Peoria,
Arizona
, a suburb of Phoenix
, was named after Peoria, Illinois because the two
men that founded it in 1890 — Joseph B. Greenhut and Deloss
S. Brown — wished to name it after their hometown.
People born or raised in Peoria
Other famous Peorians
Famous events
- September 19, 1813 to October 21, 1813 — Peoria War
- 1844
— Abraham Lincoln came to Peoria to
get involved in the Aquilla Wren
divorce case and took it to the Supreme
Court of Illinois

- October 16, 1854 — Abraham Lincoln first publicized his stand
that the United
States
should move towards restricting and eventually
eliminating slavery, a position directly
against historic compromises such as the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The speech, which was
possibly similar to one given in Springfield, Illinois
, 12 days earlier, followed the speech of Stephen A. Douglas, whom Lincoln would later debate
regularly in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates of
1858.
- April
15, 1926 — Charles Lindbergh's
first air mail route, Contract Air Mail
route #2, began running mail from Chicago
to Peoria to Springfield
to St. Louis
and back. Local legend purports that
Lindbergh offered Peoria the chance to sponsor his trans-Atlantic
flight but refused. The plane would have been called the "Spirit of
Peoria".
- April
3, 1967 — The trial of mass murderer
Richard Speck begins at the Peoria
County
courthouse, after a change of venue from Chicago
to ensure a fair trial.
- Theodore
Roosevelt called Grandview Drive
, a street on the bluffs overlooking the Illinois
River "the world's most beautiful drive." The Peoria radio station and CBS television affiliate
WMBD attached the description to its call
sign.
See also
Points of interest
References
External links
Notable webcams