Shore Acres Park Clubhouse (known by its former name, the Peoria Automobile Club) is the central feature of Shore Acres Park in Chillicothe, Illinois. The site of the clubhouse, which is located on the

Illinois River The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the D ...

, was originally part of Columbia Park, a Chillicothe city park established in 1890. In 1911, the Peoria Automobile Club was formed as a social and recreational organization for the automobile owners of Peoria and the surrounding cities; the club soon purchased the park from the city. The club built their clubhouse at the park in 1915; Peoria architects Hotchkiss & Harris provided its

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

design. One of the club's main functions was to advocate for improved roads in Peoria and

Central Illinois Central Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois that consists of the entire central third of the state, divided from north to south. Also known as the ''Heart of Illinois'', it is characterized by small towns and mid-sized cities. Agri ...

; in particular, they advocated for a route from Peoria to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

that would pass their clubhouse. The 1918 State Bond Issue, which established Illinois' state highway system, provided funding for this route, which became known as Illinois Route 29. As automobiles became more common in the 1920s, the club changed its name to the Peoria North Shore Country Club and added a golf course and swimming pool in an attempt to rebrand itself. The country club was unsuccessful and went bankrupt in 1935. After passing through multiple private owners, the land was purchased by the Chillicothe Park Board in 1948; it is now a public park, and the clubhouse is used as a community center and the Park District's offices. The clubhouse was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on August 4, 1995. It is Chillicothe's only listing on the National Register and one of several that are in smaller towns and cities in Peoria County outside the main city of Peoria.

References

Buildings and structures in Peoria County, Illinois Chillicothe, Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Peoria County, Illinois Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Neoclassical architecture in Illinois Buildings and structures completed in 1915 {{PeoriaCountyIL-geo-stub