PEORIA  BY  THE  NUMBERS

                          NORMAN  V.  KELLY

 

I think I am the average Peorian and I can tell you that our census never interested me in a political or financial way. I enjoyed looking at the old historical records of our great city and what all those numbers represented.

It was March 11, 1835 when the frontier type folks living in these parts got together and agreed to become an incorporated village. I often wonder about those people and how they came to that conclusion. Many of their names are available and sketches of what was going on here at that time make interesting reading.  Then, on April 21, of 1845, Peoria became a city.  At that time in our history our census was said to have been 1,934 people living within our city limits.  There were twenty-seven buildings making up the city, two of them bookstores.  So out of that population our leaders managed to get 215 voters to make their choice known.  Fifty-three voted no, leaving 162 yes votes to carry the day, and the City of Peoria, Illinois was born.

Some local historians like to tell you that our heritage is that of the Peoria Indian.  George Finley, a full-blooded Peoria Indian seems to be their focus of attention when they speak of our heritage.  Well, that’s their opinion. Truth is George, old Path-Of-The-Storm himself was born in 1854, and he was not a full-blooded Peoria Indian.  The tribe was driven out of Peoria in 1720, and in early 1800 they were forced out of Illinois.  Chief Path-Of-The Storm was born in Kansas and to me the Peoria Indian was our namesake…nothing more.

 

By 1860 when Peoria was a teenager our population was said to have been 14,025 living, working, hunting and trapping in this vicinity. Of course accuracy of the figures one-way or the other would be difficult to prove.  But Peoria thrived, and I can tell you that we grew head and shoulders above all the other villages and towns situated along the great Illinois River. You do not have to be a historian to ascertain that the reason we grew and prospered was because of whiskey, beer and wine.  Of course all that activity meant jobs and jobs meant people.  Believe me they flocked into our fair city and we were a city on the grow.

The year before the Civil War showed that Peoria had nine distilleries and six breweries perking along within our city limits. We can thank the early packet boats, paddle and steamboats for our success as well, but at least ten other major industries grew along with us. I refer to trains, stockyards, manufacturing companies of all kinds and a major downtown shopping area that was second to none.

 

By 1870 as the horror of the Civil War began to fade a trifle, Peoria’s population was 22,849 and was the center of attraction from Peoria to Chicago and Peoria to Saint Louis.  We were the only real bright lights some folks ever saw, and they came here by the thousands. Peoria became the center of entertainment and our reputation as a wonderful place to live  helped sustain us. By 1882 Peoria boasted about having one of the top ten most beautiful Opera Houses in the United States and our own society world in town revolved around it. The beautiful lady brought in famous entertainers from around the world, and thrived until she burned to the ground in 1909.

By the turn of the century our population stood at 56,100 and I doubt if our future ever looked brighter. Within an area of 9.1 square miles the city packed in more retail stores, theaters, manufacturers, taverns, grocery stores and specialty shops than any town outside Chicago. The motto among our retailers was simple enough: “If you can’t find it in Peoria…you don’t need it.”

In 1920 When Prohibition threatened to shut Peoria down, this great city and its people fooled everyone, all 76.000 of us.   Not only did we thrive during that decade, our population gained 28,848 people. Considering the circumstances of the time that figure was sensational. When 1930 rolled around the Great Depression along with Prohibition finally put the brakes on our growth. The population was then 104,969.

By 1932, with FDR as America’s president, things began to look up as we struggled our way out of the Depression and shook off Prohibition in December of 1933.  Peoria was back on her feet, and nothing was going to stop her.  The 1940 census found our growth to have stopped at 105,187. Up next was WW11 and life in Peoria, Illinois took on a sense of urgency.  Peoria once again proved to be a great patriotic city, and believe me, the folks in these parts helped to win that war in so many, many ways.

Editor’s note:   Norm is a local historian whose 8 books are available in our library.

Next month:  Norm will bring us another story out of Peoria’s past.  norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net