Peoria City Hall, located in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

city of

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

, is a historic red sandstone building designed by Reeves and Baillee. The

city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

was built in 1897 and dedicated in January 1899.Peoria City Hall
" (

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

), National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, HAARGIS Database. Retrieved 15 April 2007. The building is still Peoria's city hall.

Architecture

Peoria City Hall was designed and built by Reeves and Baillee in 1897 for

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

271,500. The Flemish Renaissance structure was designed so that any one of its four sides could serve as the front. The exterior is red sandstone from the

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

region, quarried in 1890. The Victorian cupola bell tower from the original city hall building is at the peak. The 4,300-lb bell was built in 1865. During construction, a cornerstone of the building was left open for residents were to drop in personal or historic items that would be sealed inside. The

was dedicated January 5 to January 7, 1899. At the ceremony, Civil War hero turned mayor Maj. John Warner said, “Chicago has one larger and far more expensive, but gloomy and dark within; while this is lightsome, bright and cheerful in every department.” The interior has a marble staircase, ironwork railings, and stained glass windows. An 1889 statue “Love Knows No Caste” by artist Fritz Triebel is visible in the front hall. In 1912, a mural was commissioned. The interior mural depicts muses of learning, peace, and medicine along with symbols of the community and its industries.

Significant Events

In the 1960s, Peoria City Hall was the site of public speeches by

Adlai Stevenson III Adlai Ewing Stevenson III (October 10, 1930 – September 6, 2021) was an American attorney and politician of the Democratic Party who represented Illinois in the United States Senate from 1970 until 1981. A member of the prominent Stevenson fami ...

, Edward Kennedy, and

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

. The building was listed on 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 ...

in February 1973. The

Peoria Civic Center Peoria Civic Center is an entertainment complex located in downtown Peoria, Illinois. Designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Philip Johnson and John Burgee, it has an arena, theater, exhibit hall and meeting rooms. It opened in 1982 and co ...

was built behind it in 1982. In 2017, Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL) awarded the City of Peoria the Leslie B. Knope Trophy for "Best City Hall".

Notes

External links

City of Peoria
— official website
Survey number HABS IL-1129
— Peoria City Hall, 419 Fulton Street, Peoria, Peoria County, IL

City hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

National Register of Historic Places in Peoria County, Illinois

City and town halls on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois 1899 establishments in Illinois {{PeoriaCountyIL-geo-stub