Name This Peoria Landmark

David says: “That might just be the pig outside the George O. Pasquel Company on Adams St., near McArthur. And the “Pete” reference is to current owner Pete Pasquel.”

Works for me.

View from the street:

Well, you’re all kinda close; this is the carriage house or stable of the William R. Bush home at 703 W. Moss.

Judging by the two air conditioner units and trash cans, it appears to have been modified into apartments with the physical address as 702 & 706 W. St. James St.

The the view from the street is at the corner of Sheridan and St.James, one street north of Moss. As I was driving around I noticed the CILF plaque on the street side. CILF stands for Central Illinois Landmarks Foundation. It didn’t look like much until I walked around into the back yard of the private residence (normally I wouldn’t do that, but doesn’t a CILF plaque somewhat invite a little investigation?) From the yard is where I took the original photo. It has a sign which reads:

William R. Bush Stable
Circa 1889
Once Served
Stable – Ground Floor
Hayloft & Handyman Quarters – Second Floor

I know no other information about this structure or the man. I welcome anyone who does to share and help fill in the blanks.

On a Saturday morning, as I updated this post, I explained to my wife that I couldn’t find anything about it online and only found a brief mention in a book I have- with a sarcastic grin on her face, she said “well, the kids are gone, so why don’t you run down to the library and see what you can find?”

“Coca-Cola Bottling plant on S.W. Adams Street” (anonymous) which now houses Performance Pattern & Mold. (Sud O. Nym)

2421 SW Adams St.

Located just south of the McCluggage bridge along the Illinois River. Original use is still unknown.

Walking directions: How to find Peoria Landmark 164 in 7 easy steps.

Original Photo by Scott O’Brien.

I’ve always wondered who was this Robert G. Ingersoll guy who has the statue in lower Glen Oak Park? I knew he was a famous Agnostic, but why would that qualify as a man worthy of this statue?

Then I did a little research… a highly regard Lawyer, a Colonel in the army, Illinois Attorney General, but mostly remembered as a great speaker. The more I read, the more I didn’t know how to summarize the stature that he held as the great and outspoken orator of his day of whom Mark Twain said “Lord, what an organ is human speech when played by a master.”

Then I found a newspaper death notice, dated July 21, [1899] New York, which seemed to summarize his life better than any of the current historic sites seem to do:

Ingersoll was one of the most eloquent public men of the present day. He was a lawyer of pronounced supremacy and was held in the highest esteem in the courts of his country. There was no office in the gift of his people that he could not have obtained but for his pronounced antagonism to orthodox Christianity. A man of unimpeachable morality and uprightness, honest in all his dealings, overflowing with generous impulses, Ingersoll set his face against the teachings of revelation and, as his spare moments permitted, conducted an energetic warfare against the Church of Christ.

As an orator he had few living equals.

My Creed, by Robert G. Ingersoll, 1895:

To love justice, to long for the right, to love mercy, to pity the suffering, to assist the weak, to forget wrongs and remember benefits, to love the truth, to be sincere to utter honest words, to love liberty, to wage relentless war against slavery in all its forms, to love wife and child and friend, to make a happy home, to love the beautiful in art, in nature, to cultivate the mind, to be familiar with the mighty thoughts that genius has expressed, the noble deeds of all the world, to cultivate courage and cheerfulness, to make others happy, to fill life with the splendor of generous acts, the warmth of loving words, to discard error, to destroy prejudice, to receive new truths with gladness, to cultivate hope, to see the calm beyond the storm, the dawn beyond the night, to do the best that can be done and then to be resigned.

Only know photograph of Mr. Ingersoll giving a speech, at the occasion of the Thomas Paine memorial gathering in New Rochelle, NY, 1894:

Additional Reading:

[Wikipedia]
[Historic Peoria]
[Illinois Alive!]
[old photo and newspaper clipping courtesy of RobertIngersoll.com]

Julie: Sister Cities Clock near City Hall.

Peoria’s sister cities are Benxi, China, Clonmel, Ireland, and Friedrichshafen, Germany.

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