Peoria Audio Tour: Echoes and Icons of Olde Towne

On your left, look for the big, blocky red sandstone building with rows of arched windows and a little domed cupola perched on top like a hat it refuses to take off. This is Peoria City Hall, and it’s been holding down the civic fort since the late 1890s. Reeves and Baillee designed it in 1897, and the city paid about $271,500 at the time... which is roughly $10 million in today’s money, give or take. Not bad for a building whose job description is basically “meetings, paperwork, and occasional drama.” The style is Flemish Renaissance, and here’s the clever bit: it was designed so ANY of its four sides could be the “front.” Handy if you want your government to look important from every angle... or if you can’t decide where the main entrance should be. The exterior stone came all the way from the Lake Superior region, quarried back in 1890, and it still gives the place that warm, reddish glow in daylight. Tilt your eyes up to the cupola. That bell up there weighs about 4,300 pounds, and it was already old when this building went up... cast in 1865. Inside, if you ever step in, there’s a marble staircase, iron railings, stained glass, and even a statue called “Love Knows No Caste.” The builders also left a cornerstone open so residents could drop in personal items to be sealed up-like a time capsule with better manners. In the 1960s, the place hosted big-name speeches-Adlai Stevenson III, Edward Kennedy, even Lyndon Johnson. And in 2017, it won the Leslie B. Knope Trophy for “Best City Hall,” which sounds made up... but is very real. When you’re set, Peoria Marriott Pere Marquette is a 3-minute walk heading northwest.

On your left, look for the tall, red-brick, blocky 14-story hotel crowned with a big rooftop sign that spells out “HOTEL PERE MARQUETTE.” This is the Peoria Marriott Pere Marquette, and it’s basically the last one standing from Peoria’s fancy-hotel arms race of the 1920s. Planning kicked off in 1924, when local business leaders decided Peoria needed a proper high-end place for visiting big shots… and for locals who wanted a night that felt a little more “Waldorf-Astoria” than “room over the store.” They brought in hotel manager Horace Leland Wiggins to steer the ship, and by 1926 the hotel was up-at a cost of $2.5 million back then, which is about $44 million today. They even ran a little naming contest… a sweepstakes, with 50 bucks to the winner. Nothing says “classy new hotel” like crowdsourcing the name. The winner: Hotel Père Marquette, nodding to Father Jacques Marquette. And when the place opened in January 1927, Peoria showed up like it was the only party in town-about 16,000 people came through. That’s not a ribbon-cutting. That’s a human tide. Architecturally, it was designed to look confident and orderly-symmetry, straight lines, brick and stone-very “we’ve got our act together.” Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer led the design, with local heavyweight Herbert Edmund Hewitt collaborating. If you look up near the roofline, there’s a stone cornice ringed with carved faces-Native American and animal heads-keeping watch from up top. Inside was where the real wow lived: a grand lobby, big meeting rooms, and the Cotillion Room ballroom with its domed ceiling, mirrors like French windows, and ornate plasterwork. Murals once covered key spaces-one showing Marquette arriving, another showing La Salle leaving France-history served with a side of chandeliers. The hotel has 288 guest rooms, because in the 1920s, more was more. Over the decades it kept reinventing itself-renovations in the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s, then a major restoration in 1981. It joined Hilton in 1972, later returned to its original name, and landed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It closed in 2011 for a big Marriott makeover and reopened in 2013… though later, a 2020 indictment alleged financial crimes tied to the redevelopment, with a trial starting in 2023. Even hotels, apparently, can have complicated third acts. Another renovation followed in 2022, because downtime is not in a hotel’s job description. When you’re set, the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois is a 2-minute walk heading northwest.

On your right, look for the big, pale stone federal building that stretches along the block, with long rows of square windows and an American flag out front. This is the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois… which is a mouthful that basically means: a very serious place where the federal government comes to talk things out, with rules, robes, and a lot of paperwork. The Central District serves forty-six counties across a huge swath of Illinois-farm towns, small cities, college communities, river towns-split into four divisions with courthouses based in Peoria, Rock Island, Springfield, and Urbana. So even though you’re standing in Olde Towne, this building’s reach stretches way beyond a few downtown blocks. The court system here has been rearranged more times than a living-room furniture layout. The original federal court for Illinois was created in 1819, back when the state was still young and the whole setup was so new it didn’t even belong to a judicial circuit. If you lost an appeal back then? Surprise… your next stop was the United States Supreme Court. No pressure. By 1837, Congress created the Seventh Circuit-headquartered in Chicago-so appeals had somewhere more practical to go. Then in 1855, Illinois got split into Northern and Southern Districts. In 1905, an Eastern District appeared, pulling counties from the other two like someone trying to make teams even. And in 1978, the modern Central District was officially formed, mostly from the Southern District, with a few counties shifted back north. Judges from the older districts were transferred over automatically-no dramatic moving boxes scene, just legal reality. One more twist: in 2018, Rock Island’s court operations were moved to Davenport, Iowa, because the Rock Island courthouse was deemed uninhabitable. Even federal buildings have their bad-days stories. Most appeals from here go to the Seventh Circuit-except special categories like certain patent cases and Tucker Act claims, which take a different route. And the district’s top federal prosecutor, as of January 3, 2025, is Acting United States Attorney Gregory M. Gilmore. When you’re set, Madison Theatre is a 3-minute walk heading southwest.

On your right, look for the pale brick theater front with a big central arch and three smaller arches above a dark green marquee canopy. This is the Madison Theatre, and it’s been playing different roles in Peoria for over a century... sometimes glamorous, sometimes a little complicated. It opened on October 16, 1920, built for the silent-movie era-back when a “talkie” was just somebody in the crowd who wouldn’t be quiet. The project was commissioned by Dee Robinson and designed by local architect Frederick J. Klein, who dressed the place up in an Italian Renaissance-style exterior: clean lines, symmetrical panels, and that show-off arch in the middle. Back then, the Madison was built to hold about 1,600 people for silent pictures and vaudeville. Imagine the street outside full of hats and overcoats, and inside, a lobby with domed ceilings and classical plasterwork-plus terra-cotta details framing that triple-arched window above the marquee. And just across the street sat the Pere Marquette Hotel, ready to catch performers, patrons, and probably a few late-night stories. The Madison made it onto the National Register of Historic Places in 1980... then closed later that decade. It came back as a comedy club, then a dinner theater in 1992-because nothing says “night out” like trying to laugh with a mouthful of chicken. From 1996 to 2002 it roared again with more than 200 concerts-Ray Charles to The Smashing Pumpkins-before shutting in 2003. Then, in 2016, a deliberate fire hit the stage area, causing about $500,000 in damage-around $660,000 today. The city even moved toward condemnation, but repairs helped pull it back from demolition. In 2022, a nonprofit-the Madison Preservation Association-took ownership and announced a $30 to $35 million restoration, aiming to bring this old showpiece back to full strength. When you’re set, Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Hall is a 2-minute walk heading southeast.

On your left, look for the compact, temple-like limestone building with tall columns framing green doors, an arched stained-glass window above, and a little stack of cannonballs out front. This is the Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Hall… though it also goes by the Greenhut Memorial, carved right into the stone. It went up in 1909, designed by Hewitt and Emerson in that confident Classical Revival style-Corinthian columns, arched windows, and limestone eagles perched like they’re still on watch. For a veterans’ meeting hall, it’s dressed like it’s hosting a summit. Which, in a way, it was. The hall honors Peoria’s Civil War soldiers and is dedicated to Joseph B. Greenhut, a captain in Company K of the 82nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Here’s the part that makes the building feel personal: Greenhut put up $15,000 of the $22,000 total cost-about two-thirds of the bill. That’s roughly $500,000 to $700,000 in today’s money… a serious check to write so the place could open debt-free. Inside, there are six stained-glass windows, including one with the GAR emblem, and in the main ballroom their motto is spelled out: “Fraternity, Charity and Loyalty.” You’ll also find portraits of Greenhut and his wife, plus a marble bust of General John Logan by local sculptor Fritz Triebel. By the 1950s, the GAR organization faded as its members passed on. In the 1970s, local preservationists stepped in, restored it, and rededicated the hall in 1979-so it could keep doing what it does best: remembering, and gathering. When you’re set, the YWCA Building is a 4-minute walk heading northwest.

On your left, look for the long, tan-brick block of a building with rows of windows and a few tall arched windows near the top floors. This is Peoria’s YWCA Building, finished in 1928 and designed by Hewitt, Emerson and Gregg... sitting right on the corner at 301 Northeast Jefferson with Fayette. The local YWCA chapter had been around since 1893, but by the late 1920s they’d outgrown their old space, so they pulled off a fundraising sprint: $350,000 in eight days... roughly about $6.5 million today. No bake sale energy there. When it was dedicated on September 16, 1929, it wasn’t just offices. It was a whole little world: an auditorium, a swimming pool, a chapel, club rooms, and beds for 86 residents. Over the decades, the organization moved on, struggled financially, and ultimately closed in 2012. But the building didn’t quit. Since 2008 it’s been New Hope Apartments, 79 supportive housing units after an almost $8 million renovation... including apartments built right over the old pool. Even the past had to make room. When you’re set, Scottish Rite Cathedral is a 7-minute walk heading northwest.

On your right, look for the big, dark-brick, church-like building with a steep roof, tall buttresses along the sides, and green-tipped spires rising above the corner. This is the Scottish Rite Cathedral… though these days it’s more often called the Scottish Rite Theatre, which is a pretty polite way of saying, “Yes, it looks like a church, but the show’s inside.” You’re standing by 400 Northeast Perry, right at the corner with Spalding, and this place is important enough to be a contributing part of Peoria’s North Side Historic District. The Scottish Rite group that calls this home has been around a long time. They organized back in 1867 in Yates City, then shifted to Peoria in 1869, bouncing through three different downtown meeting spots before they finally planted their flag here. Take a second and enjoy the Gothic attitude: those flying buttresses, the vertical lines, the stained glass meant to whisper in symbols instead of shouting in neon. The design was inspired by European travels, and the building went up under the architectural firm Hewitt, Emerson and Gregg for about $400,000 in the mid-1920s… call it roughly $7 million today. The cornerstone was set on May 7, 1924, and by January 13, 1925, they dedicated it with a public ceremony. Inside is an auditorium with a stage and around 900 seats… because mystery societies, apparently, love a good production number. But big buildings come with big upkeep. Membership once neared 15,000, then dropped to about 1,200 by 2019, and the math stopped working. That year, a local buyer, Kim Blickenstaff, stepped in for $490,000, aiming to run it as a community venue while guaranteeing Scottish Rite members permanent access. COVID slowed the opening, but work kept going, and in 2020 the restoration team earned a historic preservation award. Then in early 2023, the venue announced it would close, and it went up for sale that spring… a reminder that even stone-and-brick institutions can feel fragile. When you’re set, Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception is an 8-minute walk heading southeast.

On your left, look for the big limestone Gothic church with TWO needle-sharp spires and round rose windows staring out over the street like quiet, stony eyes. This is the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception... and it’s been anchoring Peoria’s Catholic story for a long time. Long before these spires showed up on the skyline, the first Mass in this area happened across the river at Fort Crevecoeur, with French Récollet missionaries-names like Gabriel Ribourde and Louis Hennepin-trying to keep faith going on the edge of the frontier. By 1839, Mass was being celebrated in Peoria itself, and in 1846 St. Mary’s parish was officially founded. The first St. Mary’s church building went up in 1851. Then Peoria decided to go big. In 1885, Bishop John Lancaster Spalding laid the cornerstone for this very cathedral, designed by Chicago architect Casper Mehler with a clear nod to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. Because if you’re going to build in limestone, why not think tall? The exterior is Anamosa limestone, and those twin spires climb about 230 feet into the sky. Step a little closer... this place is also tied to Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen-born and raised in the diocese, an altar boy here, ordained a priest here in 1919, and since 2019, entombed here after a real-life court fight over where his remains should rest. Even in death, the man drew a crowd. Inside, there’s a lingering link to the older cathedral-an 1873 Crucifix painting by Spanish artist Yzquierda, plus a bell that survived when Old St. Mary’s was taken down in 1898. And if you ever catch the organ: the 1936 Wicks instrument has 3,329 pipes... which is just an objectively excessive number of ways to be loud in church.