Heading east on Moss Avenue past North MacArthur Highway, the houses become even more stout, and even more heavy in their structure. But there are newer houses that are built after their Nineteenth Century predecessors, such as the house below, which probably dates from the 1920s. And then, we pick up where we had looked…
Tag: Peoria
Moss Avenue Between Western Avenue and North MacArthur Highway, Peoria
Moss Avenue is a historic district that stretches along the bluffs near Bradley University northwest of downtown Peoria. I’ve broken up the street into two sections, first from Western Avenue to North MacArthur Highway/North University Avenue. There are a wide variety of styles, with everything from early Twentieth Century Colonial Revival to Shingle Style houses,…
Down by the River, Peoria, July 2021
I revisited the area of Peoria down by the river northeast of downtown on Saturday afternoon the weekend before the Fourth of July. Many businesses were closed for the holiday, including this pawnshop. I’ve looked at the area three times before: September of 2013, September of 2015 and August of 2019. Things look largely the…
Medallion, Peoria
I came across this fascinating terracotta detail on the top of a commercial building in downtown Peoria. I’m not sure who it’s supposed to represent–maybe Andromeda–but it would be interesting to find out.
Northeast Peoria, August 2019
Update: I went back the weekend of the 4th of July in 2021. Perhaps I was being too optimistic when I first documented Peoria northeast of downtown back in 2013. I have been back, and while there is a wonderful group of houses that have been carefully restored back to their original grandeur, I’m still…
West Main Street and Nearby, Peoria
West Main Street shoots up the bluffs from downtown Peoria towards Bradley University, and there is a line of college-related businesses and other amenities. It is sort of a strange mix of buildings, such as the one below, which clearly had a gently curving pediment at one point that has been simplified, most likely due…
West High Street, Peoria, Revisited
More precisely, this should be West High Street revisited, and in the first several pictures, an introduction to Moss Avenue, which continues further west along the bluff line above downtown Peoria. The houses along Moss Avenue are from the Twentieth Century, and are in good shape, showing evidence of being renovated like their earlier counterparts…
St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, Peoria
As I mentioned yesterday, most of the historic residential core of Peoria northwest of downtown was destroyed, but one of the few buildings that survived was St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church. It stands beautifully among the low-quality 1960s and 70s public housing.
Central Peoria
It’s hard to explain, but all of central Peoria to the northwest of downtown but below the bluffs has at some point been completely annihilated by urban renewal and replaced by public housing and in-fill. It is very bizarre. Other than churches, you would not realize that this area had been settled before the 1970s.
Peoria, Northeast of Downtown
Update: I revisited the area in September of 2019 and July of 2021. I’ve been continually fascinated by the old neighborhood of streets running along the Illinois River northeast of downtown Peoria. I-74 cuts in between the two, but the interruption is minimal. What fascinates me is the eclectic mix of styles from right after…