page_title: Peoria, Illinois
section_title: Points of interest
hierarchical_section_title: Peoria, Illinois / Points of interest
caption_attribution_description: English: From the University of Maryland Digital Collections website: "The waterfront in Peoria, Illinois with factories and ships visible in the distance. Postmark: January 1909."
context_page_description: Peoria is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 115,007. It is the principal city of the Peoria Metropolitan Area in Central Illinois, consisting of the counties of Marshall, Peoria, Stark, Tazewell, and Woodford, which had a population of 373,590 in 2011.
  Established in 1691 by the French explorer Henri de Tonti, Peoria was later labeled by the Peoria Historical Society to be the oldest European settlement in Illinois. Originally known as Fort Clark, it received its current name when the County of Peoria organized in 1825. The city was named after the Peoria tribe, a member of the Illinois Confederation. On October 16, 1854, Abraham Lincoln made his Peoria speech against the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
  A major port on the Illinois River, Peoria is a trading and shipping center for a large agricultural area that produces maize, soybeans, and livestock.
context_section_description: Civil War Monument at County Courthouse Plaza
  Grandview Drive along the Illinois River bluff in Peoria and Peoria Heights
  Glen Oak Park, including Glen Oak Zoo and George L. Luthy Memorial Botanical Garden
  Spirit of Peoria − paddle wheel riverboat
  Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception (Peoria, Illinois) (also known as St. Mary's Cathedral)
  Scottish Rite Cathedral
  Wildlife Prairie State Park, about 10 mi (16 km) west of the city
  Peoria Riverfront Museum and Caterpillar Visitor Center along the downtown waterfront
caption: Waterfront in Peoria, Illinois, c. 1909
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