Name This Peoria Landmark

Feel free to comment on whatever you wish while I’m gone.

Geesh, you guys are good. It is definitely a screen shot of my computer which apparently looks like a brain scan of a Park Board Member.

Gary got it- A satellite image of Peoria, TX. I guess the crosshairs on the small map in the upper left hand side gave it away. Either Alan is a Texas native, or he did a little Googling, because he is absolutely correct that it is “Specifically the intersection of State Routes 22 and 1947″

Peoria, Texas: named by B.F. Stewart of Peoria, Il, 6 miles west of Hillsboro Texas, it had a population of 500 in 1878. As the railway bypassed the town, it’s population dropped to 349 by 1890 and counts only 81 residents as of 1990.

Other Peorias:

Peoria, IA: located in south central Iowa near Pella. Population: 0

Peoria, CA: located in the San Francisco/Oakland area of California. The most interesting thing I could find out about this community is that they recently conducted a survey on whether the public liked their new blank & white police cars. They received a 90% approval rating.

Peoria, OK: With only a population of 141, it boasts the Peoria Ridge golf course and the Buffalo Run Casino; of course owned by the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.

Peoria, AZ: This suburb of Phoenix boasts a 2003 population of 127,580, topping Peoria Illinois population of 112,907. It’s first settlers came from Peoria, Il in the 1880s to farm lands in the Salt River Valley, fed by the newly built Arizona Canal.

Unlucky #13 proved to be true with the remaining Arbor being torn down, so how about Unlucky #113? It’s been fenced off for as long as I can remember and it has been strongly hinted that it’s coming down; probably just waiting to budget the money to pay a demolition crew after a few more boards to fall off so they can justify it. Of course they’ve got that pesky Parapet at the Lagoon to get rid of first.

I found two references to the bridge in the book “The Grandest Views: History of PPD”. The first says it is a connecting piece between the log cabin and picnic grounds. The second is a caption for a photo from 1902 that says “The lily pond and suspension bridge at Glen Oak were popular attractions. The bridge, though needing some repairs through the years, is still standing behind the zoo”

I know it’ll never happen, but wouldn’t it be nice if they could repair it and somehow incorporate it with the new zoo?

Everyone’s favorite house… Former home of Peoria Whiskey Baron Samuel Woolner; Hungarian Immigrant and co-founder of the Woolner Distilling Company. As if you didn’t know, it is located at the corner of Perry, Jackson (now Spalding Ave) and I-74.

By request, this photo was taken at approximately the same angle as the Greenhut Mansion; subject of NTPL #’s 95 and 96.

Talbott’s Christmas Tree Farm, located on Christmas Tree Road, of course!  It’s actually just off of Route 29, 6 miles south of Pekin.

Continuing our family tradition, we headed out there last weekend- after my wife broke up a snowball fight, the kids picked out a nice looking tree and I played the role of Paul Bunyon.  A good time was had by all.

JW- SlamDunk!

mapgirl- I’m sorry your family turned into Communists. 

mariannna- Hi. 

On a rare day that I had a cell-phone with me in the car, my wife called to ask where I was and if I got lost on the way to buy a gallon of milk. I said that I was below the bluff staring at this incredible church (that had obviously seen better days.)

Thanks to C.J. Summers, I can now identify it as the old St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, built in 1881, at the corner of Saratoga and McBean Streets, just off Harmon Highway.

It is currently called The Word Of Faith Christian Center.

Here is a portion of the text from Historic Peoria:

By 1861 just a few blocks away, the Irish/English speaking Catholics formed St. Patrick’s parish, and in 1863 they constructed a frame church on High Street (not today’s High St.) between Cedar and Linden Streets. This was in the general area near the old Webster School, a block south of today’s MacArthur Hwy. Continued growth led in 1880 to the construction of a large church at the corner of Saratoga and McBean Streets. Just after the building was completed, much of it was burned, and a new large brick structure was erected on the same site and dedicated in November of 1881. This site grew to a large complex including the church, a convent, and education facilities.

Declining population in the area during the 1960s and 1970s led to the consolidation of the St. Patrick and St. Joseph parishes into a new parish called St. Martin de Porres, headquartered at the former St. Joseph’s church on South Sheridan. The St. Patrick church was sold to the Miracle Life Cathedral in 1978. In 1980 the building went to the Pentecostal Temple Charismatic and in 1992 to the Word of Faith Christian Center. In 1998 substantial portions of the complex were involved in a large fire believed to have been arson.

I promise (maybe) this will be the last snow hell post. University heading south, approaching Lake Street, near another landmark, during my long drive home.

The pic is slightly blurry because the roads were so BbUuMmPpIiTtYy.