Name This Peoria Landmark

Peoria Landmark #270

In an application to the National Register of Historic Places from 1974 regarding the West Bluff Historic District, which included Randolph, Moss and High streets, this was written about the property:

Edward S. Easton Residence
1125 West Main
Built ca.1882
Edward Easton was one of Peoria’s wealthiest citizens, active in grain dealing, transportation, and real estate. He took a major role in the organization of the Peoria Board of Trade and served as its president in 1877. The house is now a mortuary.
Architectural and Historical; Significance

Now the home of Converse Marketing, they give this account of the home’s history-

Converse Manor, originally known as Hillcrest Mansion, was built in 1880 by Edward S. Easton and his wife, Sarah, as their primary residence.

Edward Easton made his fortune in the grain distilling business. He and Sarah were prominent, well-known citizens of Peoria who entertained often.

The home was designed by a Swedish architect, and built in the Victorian style with Second Empire elements, most notably the mansard roofline, which extends from the top level of the house to down around the upper-story windows.

The building cost more than $30,000, in an era when most grand homes were constructed for $5,000 to $10,000.

The home incorporates European architectural elements the Eastons admired during their extensive travels abroad, including floor tiles from England, ceiling fresco paintings (which were unfortunately painted over long ago) and delicate adornments using ebony, marble and etched glass.

The original ballroom chandelier now hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Presidents Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt are rumored to have been guests here.

In the time since the Eastons called Hillcrest Mansion home, the building changed hands many times and stood empty for decades, falling into a state of disrepair.

In the 1960s, its owners were finally granted permission to raze the building – thankfully a project that would fall through three times.

In 1997, Converse bought the manor and began the process of restoring this local treasure back to its former glory.

Peoria Landmark #269

Text from the Cache of an article about Lydia Moss Bradley (the actual web page wouldn’t load):

In 1858, Tobias Bradley, already a successful businessman with interests in banking, railroads, steamboats, distilleries and real estate, built an imposing brick residence which stands today at 802 W. Moss. Mrs. Bradley continued to live at this house until her death on January 16, 1908.

Msgem: “I would say the Mausoleum at Springdale Cemetery.”

At a public meeting held in the early court house on August 4, 1854 a movement was launched for a new and more adequate cemetery. The most attractive site in all of Peoria lay in the valley beyond Birkets Hollow and in the beautiful wooded hills above. Much of the land was owned by William A. Hall, Thomas Baldwin, and Hervey Lightner.

In order to become operational as a cemetery, the large size of Springdale required the owners to procure a charter from the Illinois State Legislature. To accomplish that Peoria lawyer Alexander McCoy was hired and on February 14, 1855, he succeeded in getting the Charter passed. Springdale Cemetery was officially in business.

Little did they know that Springdale would grow to be one of the State’s largest cemeteries. Springdale is a final resting place to all nationalities: English, German, African, French, Irish, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Italian, Greek, Russian, Polish, Scandinavian and many more.

Springdale is also the resting place for some Peoria legends including: Lydia Bradley, Captain Moss, Governor Ford, Senator Bloom, John Gwynn, Romeo Garrett, Captain Detweiller, and many more.

Also among all of these lie the thousands of people who built our fine community and surrounding areas, each one of them with special stories. Springdale is also the final resting place for several name sakes of our city streets and landmarks.

More than a century has gone since the cemetery became a reality. Today within its confines over 78,000 citizens lie in peace along the 230 acres of hills and valleys and 6.5 miles of roads. Our first recorded burial was April, 1857. Some architectural highlights are: a beautifully restored public mausoleum, 9 statues, 7 tree monuments, a Gatehouse, and 15 private mausoleums throughout the grounds. The public mausoleum was built in 1929 with additions added in 1965 and in 1973. On Wednesday, April 15, 1998 the city’s Historic Preservation Commission unanimously voted landmark status to the Gatehouse.

http://www.springdalecemetery.com/

THill: The bridge at the bottom of “Grand View Drive”.

Historic Peoria: “Construction of Grand View Drive began in 1903, and when it was completed in late 1904, the road consisted of gravel measuring 30 feet wide and 8 inches deep. In 1936, the drive was paved and trees were planted along the road. That year, tennis courts, softball fields, and picnic areas were also added.”

Everyone knows what Theodore Roosevelt said about it, but according to PeoriaHistory.com the exact quote from 1910 is “I have traveled all over the world, and this is the world’s most beautiful drive.”

In 1996 the entire drive and park land was added to the National Register of Historic places.

Here’s a YouTube video of Grandview from a bicycle. The bridge gets crossed at the 7 minute mark.

Dreaming of summer.

tls1995: “Statue in the children’s section of the Luthy Botanical Garden over by the park.”

A plaque nearby reads…

The Children’s Garden

This garden will serve as a constant reminder of the importance of nurturing and protecting children and families as our most important community resource while providing a beautiful oasis from the stresses of daily life.

Dedicated April 24, 1998

While we’re waiting for spring to come, visit this web site and remind yourself of the beauty that is Luthy Botanical Gardens.

Grotto. noun. (1) a cave, especially one with interesting natural features. (2) an imitation cave, especially as an ornamental shelter in a formal garden on a hill.

My apologies for the long delay in updating this.

Piecing together various stories, this was built in the 1920′s by the orphans and nuns who called the Guardian Angel Orphanage home. It is located at the end of Heading Ave in West Peoria which continues to operate as a small orphanage under the oversight of Peoria Catholic Charities. To find the grotto, park on the right-hand side of the parking lot just as you enter through the gates and head down the steep hill to the north. Be careful, it’s a steep grade, but completely worth the effort. As my fellow adventurer mentioned, the coolest thing about this place is that no-one knows it’s here and you can’t see it from any road. When viewing it up close, one wonders how they pulled this off.

My personal thanks to commenters ImaSwede who originally took me here and to Josh Harris for joining me in a return visit. This easily made my top 10 “Peoria: off the beaten path.”