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The history of Peoria, Illinois begins when lands that eventually would become Peoria were first settled in 1680, when French explorers René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, and Henri de Tonti constructed Fort Crevecoeur. This fort would later burn to the ground, and in 1813 Fort Clark was built. When the County of Peoria was organized in 1825, Fort Clark was officially named Peoria.
What has become Peoria and environs bears many remnants of Native Americans. Artifacts and Native American burial mounds show that people lived in the area as far back as 10,000 BC.[1]
The French were the first Europeans to explore the area that would become Peoria in 1673. Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet explored the region,[2] finding the Illini Indians who were part of the Algonquian peoples. Those tribes that were part of the Illinois Confederacy at that time were the Peoria, Kaskaskia, Michigamea, Cahokia, and Tamaroa.[1]
In 1680, two French explorers, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and Henri de Tonti, constructed the first fort on the east bank of the Illinois River, and named it Fort Crevecoeur. Eleven years later, in 1691, another fort was built by de Tonti and his cousin, François Daupin de la Forêt. It is believed the fort was near present-day Mary and Adams Streets). Called Fort St. Louis II, it is also known as Fort Pimiteoui. The fort, and the town established around it, was the first European settlement in Illinois.[2]
The settlement became legally British in 1763 after the French & Indian War, but remained French in practice. By 1778 the village had become part of the territory of the new United States, and George Rogers Clark appointed Maillet as military commander. Maillet established a new village, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of the old one. It later became known as "La Ville de Maillet" and was on the present-day site of downtown Peoria.[2]
During the later half of the 19th century vaudeville became widely popular. Peoria was a main stop on the circuits and the phrase "if it will play in Peoria" came about.
The revision of Interstates 74 and 474, and work on the McClugage Bridge is completed. Peoria's Catholic bishop, John J. Myers, hosts a visit by Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta and is named Archbishop of Newark in 2001, shortly after September 11. The University Street and Pekin campuses of Illinois Central College are completed. OSF Saint Francis Medical Center starts Peoria's largest-ever private building expansion to build a new emergency room and a new Children's Hospital of Illinois; and Methodist Medical Center of Illinois and Pekin Hospital also expand. U.S. Representative Ray LaHood becomes U.S. Secretary of Transportation under Obama; he is succeeded by Aaron Schock. The Peoria Zoo makes a major expansion and the Peoria airport is renamed.
Peoria District 150, suffering from high levels of student poverty and red ink, closes Woodruff High School and decides whether to construct a new Glen Oak School and a charter school; Peoria Notre Dame High School decides to explore construction of a new high school.