IF PEORIA DON’T HAVE IT YOU DON’T NEED IT
The Civil War was a haven here in Peoria, and was more
of a liberty town than a crucial piece of Geography. Abraham Lincoln visited Peoria seventeen
times during his life and when he was looking for money to finance the Union
Army he counted on Peoria. During the
war years the local breweries and distilleries paid an average of thirty-five
million dollars in taxes to the government and Peoria
A CITY ON
THE GROW
By 1870 Peoria was served by not only the impressive
steamboats but by railroad companies as well, and at one time had fourteen
companies vying for business, considering Peoria the gateway to all points west
as our country grew. We were really the only place to be between Chicago and
Saint Louis. By 1882 Peoria had one of
the most beautiful Opera Houses in the United States, and the people came from
all over to enjoy the magnificent operas and entertainment that were rated
world class. Peoria was a sophisticated, metropolitan city located way out
there among the prairies and a ‘Gem along the Illinois.’
By the turn of the century Peoria boasted a population
of over 60,000 folks and by now hundreds of other business thrived within our
slightly growing square mileage. I think I’ll jump to 1913 and name a few. Our manufacturers produced close to a
thousand products and we were served by 177 physicians. It seemed on every corner there was a grocery
store and our 100 churches were in competition with almost 200 saloons. It was a busy, busy place and people flocked
here to raise their families, topping out at over 10,000 kids in our schools.
By 1917 a phony law, contrived by Wayne B. Wheeler,
certainly the most powerful main in America’s history, shut down our distilleries
and breweries and on January 16, 1920, Prohibition closed all of our Taverns
and Saloons. It looked like the very life and breath of Peoria, Illinois would
end our growth. But…that never happened and the history of Prohibition in
Peoria, Illinois was phenomenal. “I have written thousands and thousands of
words about prohibition here, and I can tell you it was one very exciting
place. It lasted for thirteen years and
my many lectures on prohibition seemed to have entertained a lot of people,”
That’s a quote from Mr. Kelly, and after listening to him I swear he was
here. He laughs at that. “Hell, I’m old,
but not quite that old.”
TUMULTUOUS THIRTIES
By 1933 Prohibition ended and in 1935 Hiram Walker
opened the largest distillery in American and once again Peoria was up and
growing once again. By then Caterpillar,
Letourneau, Keystone and many others were growing stronger and hiring more
employees. Everyday life was good in the
wonderful old Heart of Illinois.
THE WAR
YEARS
By 1940 our population was 105,187, and within a blink
of an eye we were in WW11. Here in Peoria 23,200 of our young men fell over
each other joining our armed forces, and countless women joined The WACS, WAVES
and other branches of service to our country. It was an incredible, exciting
time for young kids like Mr. Kelly and the history of that period is
fascinating indeed. By 1946 when
everyone came home the city of Peoria was pure chaos. The final count of our men that were killed during
the war was 692.
During the War, Peoria had a pet gangster named Bernie
Shelton. “You know, Dustin, I spent 3 years researching that war and I wrote two
volumes within a book called “Lost In Yesterday’s News.” It was truly a time
when although I lived here, I found that as a youth I missed one hell of a
time. By that I mean I wish I had been a
bit older…that is if you get my
meaning?”
THE FIFTIES
Of all of Mr. Kelly’s works ranging from 1828 through
1950,
he told me that the history of Peoria
“Dustin, there are folks here that wanted me to talk
only about crime and gangsters, especially Bernie Shelton. When I told them
that we did not have gangsters, to me a gangster was of the Al Capone ilk, they
were very disappointed. Remember I
laughed at you when you told me you were going to write the ‘History of Peoria,
in about 1000 words.’ I still think it
is a joke. The truth is I spent 32 years
doing that and I stopped in 1950 when the Korean War came to Peoria. It would take 15 books and thousands of
words. I tried…I know that for a fact.”
I asked Mr. Kelly about crime, murder and mayhem. “Now
you are talking about the heart of my stories. I wrote true-crime stories and
historical pieces on 215 murders that included at least 7 books on the subject.
When you GOOGLE Historian, Peoria, Illinois some of my stories come up. The truth is none of my books are quoted in
all that, and to really understand Peoria I have over 200 stories that you
would have to read. Peorians and who we really were would take a couple of
years to study. I can tell you that we
had a colorful history, forty-four mayors and men like Edward Nelson Woodruff,
and countless others that set this great city apart from all other river
towns. But those days, along with that
old city have come and gone.”
Mr. Kelly related that in March of 1954, when Sheridan
Village opened the beginning of the end was clearly written on that day. The massive shopping area that made up
Downtown Peoria just began to slip away. By the time TV made its wimpy start in
Peoria in 1943 another nail was driven into the heart of Peoria. Soon our theaters, the very center of our
entertainment began to close and rather quickly the lights began to dim. “By 1962 when I worked downtown as a Private
Investigator and paralegal, the city was already devastated. I worked down there
eighteen-years, and all that was there was a few restaurants, a shoe shine shop
and a few bars. Of course there were way
too damn many lawyers, but thankfully they were pretty much confined to
downtown. Most Peorians were glad to
turn the ‘ghost town’ over to them.”
Surely it is clear to any intelligent person that the History
of Peoria cannot be covered in a brief piece like this but after talking to
Norman Kelly, our resident historian, I have vowed to read every printed word I
can find. It just turns out that most of
them were written by Historian Norman Kelly, still living in his beloved town
of Peoria, Illinois. He allowed me to include his e mail: norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net
END
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