Nacho’s on it! “Old well house located at the bottom of the south trails at Robinson Park in Mossville.” Nearby are two more foundations and another well pump. Anyone have any idea what this used to be?

I was actually told about this once before but I didn’t think I’d actually ever find it but a few weeks ago I decided to take a hike in Robinson Park, on Mossville Rd in Mossville, as I had never been there. I didn’t know which trail to take and I couldn’t find much information available other than a only generally helpful Peoria Park District map so I blindly took the south trail. Inside the park the trails are well kept and marked. I plan to go back and explore more.

Peoria Wilds.com describes the park this way:

Robinson Park consists of glacial drift hill prairies on steep south facing slopes with Oak woodlands along the ridges and valleys. Some of the prairie wildflowers found here include scurf pea, pale purple coneflower, purple prairie clover, yellow false foxglove, stiff tickseed, golden alexanders, bird’s foot violets, and snow trillium. The woodlands include white oak, red oak, chinquapin oak, shagbark hickory, witch hazel, hazelnut, basswood, maple, and paw paw.

Robinson Park north of Mossville Rd. was willed to the Peoria Park District by Laurence Robinson, a Peoria architect in 1951 and was dedicated in June 1959 to the memory of Laurence Eugene Robinson Jr. who died in World War II. This portion of the park was known as the “Big Horn Farm” and was his boyhood home. At the dedication of Robinson Park in her son’s memory, Mrs. Robinson said, “It is my desire that it’s primitive beauty be retained and that it will forever offer an opportunity for young people to enjoy nature and the great out of doors.” Additional land has been added to Robinson Park on the south side of Mossville Rd.

Here are a few other photos I took on my short hike.

Vonster: “The old Kelly Ornamental Iron place off Creek Rd.”

Really? I just thought it was just an eccentric guy living in Pottstown that used an old boxcar as a storage shed. Huh..

Kelley Ornamental Iron, as Google maps call it, or Kelley Ironworks as their website says, is currently located at 3307 W. Farmington Rd, near where the railroad tracks cross. The boxcar in the photo is in Pottstown on W. Pottstown Rd, across the railroad tracks from Southport Rd.

Via Waymarking.com, which also has more photos:

This site is a normally dry reservoir and dam built by the Army Corps of Engineers for flood control on Farm Creek. The immediate value of this dam is to store flood waters that would otherwise flood parts of East Peoria, IL, which is just downstream from the dam. It is also part of the overall plan of the Corps of Engineers for flood control in the Illinois River and Mississippi River systems.

The area is also a public recreation area administered by the Corps of Engineers. While not quite as developed as the neighboring Farmdale Dam Recreation Area, there are hiking trails where one can enjoy the woods and nature. There is a geocache, GCHPZ6, in this area.

The closest parking to the dam is at N 40 41.077, W 89 31.631. This spot has room for only one or two cars. As long as you don’t block access to the gate, you don’t risk a parking ticket. Another larger parking lot is about 0.2 miles south on Oakwood Road.

As you approach the massive toboggan run, you will see something this:

Photos courtesy of ‘sahm‘.

Deacon Cemetery. Located in Tazewell county about halfway between Groveland and Morton on Queenswood Rd.

Anyone notice the problem with the sign? The word Cemetery is spelled wrong. Oops.

Plaque on the side of this building at the Peoria Waterworks reads:

The Main Well House was built in 1890. The small metal detail which still remains at the peak of the roof was the only ornament allowed for this building by its designer. The roof itself was originally a true cone. The brick pilasters reflect the point of support for the steel beams inside used as hoists for removing well equipment when necessary. The above ground structure covers a 34 foot diameter, 3 foot think brick cylinder which extends 45 feet deep in order to tap the water bearing aquifer below.

Nacho: “Is this the covered bridge in the North Pekin Park?”

Why yes it is – but I’m kicking myself because I didn’t write down the name of the park. Anyone? Anyone?

Michael: “I’m not sure but is it Morrissey Park?”

I’m quite certain that is correct; it is located on the Illinois River side of Rte 29 in N. Pekin. I couldn’t find much information other than a few Village Board minutes and one article in the Journal Star archives (accessible via the Peoria Public Library’s website) describing some improvements being made.