101 Things – a list for Peoria

The walking-path entrance to John H. Gwynn Park is an appropriate site for an African-inspired steel sculpture.
The 15-foot-high artwork stands in a grassy space just off MacArthur Highway, between entrances to Valley Park Shopping Plaza and Valeska Hinton Early Childhood Development....

For a prodigious presentation of patriotism, you can count on a veteran — in particular, Veteran’s Pub & Pizza.
A super-size Stars and Stripes hangs outside the north side of 2525 NE Adams St., a tavern is known for its support of military causes and fundraisers. Owner Darrell Amerman used to display an even bigger banner, stretching 16 feet by 20 feet, on the...

In the mid-19th Century, Almiran Cole heated a batch of corn in his new kettles, fermenting not only Peoria’s commercial spirits but the start of an industry that would transform the town into The Whiskey Capital of the World.
Cole, a Massachusetts native and Peoria merchant, began his distillery at the current site of the Cedar Street Bridge. Others followed his lead. By 1865, Peoria boasted 14 distilleries strung along the Illinois River from what is now the State Street...

In a sudden fog, riverboat merriment sank and screamed into chaotic disaster.
On July 5, 1918, the South Side Social Club of Pekin sponsored an Illinois River excursion by the sternwheeler Columbia. At 7:30 p.m., the steamboat picked up passengers in Kingston Mines before stopping in Pekin for more fares, heading upriver at 8...