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12. The Peoria Woman’s Club
301 N. E. Madison
This Romanesque-style building still
remains preserved today as it was built
in 1893. Maintained by the original club,
it houses beautiful paintings, murals and
furniture from its Victorian era beginnings.
The second floor houses a raised stage
theater with the original seats, decorative
iron work and curtains.
Cross over the expressway bridge to…
13. Second Presbyterian Church
(Cornerstone Building)
321 N. E. Madison
This church was dedicated in 1889.
It was designed by Chicago architect
W. W. Boyington who is famous for his
Chicago Water Tower. Its style is called
Richardsonian Romanesque with its rough
heavy stone walls, gables, towers and arches.
The members of the parish contributed
fieldstones from across Illinois to finish the
church.
Now used as a banquet hall and offices,
the interior still has the massive pine beams,
exquisite stained glass windows and ornate
metal light fixtures that were in the original
church.
Cross Spalding Avenue to…
14. Spalding Institute
(Cursillo Renewal Center)
401 N. E. Madison
Spalding Institute was a Roman Catholic
high school for boys for almost a century.
It was entirely paid for by the first Catholic
Bishop of Peoria, John Lancaster Spalding, in
1898. He was also the founder of the Catholic
University of America in Washington DC.
Spalding pushed Reeves & Baillie, the
architects, to design “a substantial building
that would have a strong and permanent
presence in Peoria.” Their homage to the
French chateaus and German manor houses
of Europe is evident.
Walk one block down Spalding Avenue to
Jefferson Street to find the…
Walking Tour
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