The Past
6
thePeorian.com
W
hen people think of
Peoria Stadium today,
they fondly remember
football being played on the
regulation football field and track
events on the quarter-mile track.
Many have enjoyed the small
baseball diamonds and soccer
fields, or remember all the 4th of
July fireworks there before they
were moved to the riverfront.
But today we do not realize
the massive scale of the original
Peoria Stadium complex, which
had a mile-long track with a well-
planned fairgrounds surrounding
it. It was the perfect place for
Peoria, one of the nation’s great
agricultural manufacturing
centers, to hold the “World’s
Fair” of agriculture.
Nearly a hundred years ago,
Sept. 4 through 12, 1914, for nine
straight days, Peoria Stadium
hosted more than 100,000 people
from all corners of the globe,
attending the world’s largest
agricultural showcase of the
latest implements and vehicles.
When the Peoria Stadium
complex was built in 1895, it
showcased a mile long oval
track for horse, harness, and
greyhound dog racing. The track
extended across War Memorial
Drive (called Reservoir Boulevard
back then) at California Avenue
and extended up to New York
Avenue. Lake Street formed
the northern boundary. An
electric streetcar traveled down
California Avenue in a loop to
drop the crowds at the front gate.
PEORIA STADIUM’S
GREATEST EVENT:
The National Agricultural Implement & Vehicle Exposition
September 4 - 12, 1914
Dr. Peter J. Couri
