Name This Peoria Landmark

“Parking for Pabst Building Employees and Vistors Only”

The Pabst Brewing Company operated it’s Peoria Heights location from 1934 until it’s closure in 1982. The building in the background is a Pabst building which Cohen Furniture used as a warehouse. Cohen’s is also closing after being a staple in Peoria for 127 years.

Additional information provided by David P. Jordan:

“The Cohen’s warehouse was built by Pabst in 1968-1969 for Continental Can Co., which moved its aluminum can manufacturing operation from Pioneer Park to Peoria Heights c. 1970. Continental Can closed in 1980 and Pabst Brewing Co. shutdown in 1982. Cohen’s bought the warehouse for its distribution center c. 1989.”

 

Peoria Cordage Company “Binder, Twine and Rope” was founded in 1888 and closed it’s doors in 1975.  I thank Emtronics (and his good story), because I honestly wasn’t quite sure what I was looking at.

According to Jerry Klein’s book Peoria Industry, “The Peoria Cordage Co., for years a prosperous presence on SW Washington, declined with the decreasing use of hemp-based twine. [...]  The hemp used in its twine was imported from the Phillipines and was a product of the manilla tree, part of the banana family.”

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. 

The Greenhut Mansion, as it appeared in the late 1800’s at the corner of High Street and Sheridan. It was built by whiskey baron Joseph Benedict Greenhut at a price of $50,000. According to this inflation calculator, it would cost $989,309 today.

Greenhut’s brother in-law William F. Wolfner purchased the house in 1912 and converted it into an apartment complex (see #95)

This photo is a scan from the book “Peoria: A Postcard History“

For some additional reading, check out these two posts by a blogger named Emily: [Capt J. B. Greenhut] and [More On The Greenhuts]

The Greenhut Mansion as it appears today. I did my best to get the same angle as the old photo shown in #96 to show how dramatically it was altered to the point of being unrecognizable. Infact, I questioned myself several times if it actually was the same place, and if so, did I really get the same angle? I did.

The book “Peoria Two: East/West Bluff Pre-1940″ says this: “Almost nothing is recognizable of the original Greenhut house except some basement paneling.” It is currently named “Bobbitt’s Historic Quarters”

The original Carriage House still remains, which could be the subject of a future post.

St. Ann Roman Catholic Church, established 1995 at 1010 S. Louisa St.

St. Ann (also spelled Anne or Anna) is the mother of the Virgin Mary.

Originally named St. Boniface, the parish was established in 1881 and the current building was dedicated in 1895.

I’ll let Historic Peoria tell the story:

In 1881 members of St. Joseph’s Church asked Bishop Spalding to establish a new parish in the far south side of Peoria to meet the need of the growing Catholic population in that part of the city. St. Boniface Parish was created, bringing the number of Peoria parishes to 5, and the Bishop placed the parish under the Franciscan Fathers. In 1882 a small church was constructed at the corner of Antoinette and Louisa Streets.

This church quickly became too small, and plans were made for an imposing church complex in a Byzantine style of architecture. The new church was to be erected at the Antoinette and Louisa location so the first church was moved a short distance away to a vacant lot at Antoinette and Helen Streets. The new church was dedicated in 1895 and had a school, a bowling alley, and its own band all designed to make the location the site of activity for the neighborhood. Although this landmark building still stands, declining area population and church reorganization have changed the name beginning in 1995 to St. Ann’s Catholic Church. There is still a St. Boniface convent and bowling alley adjacent to the main Church building.