Village of Peoria Heights, IL

The people who reside here say, “Once you move to the Heights you never want to leave.” This town is beautiful and one of the nicest places in America.  

Last December in 2016, a violent storm uprooted a giant cottonwood tree in front of our neighbor’s house. The tree fell onto the house. After the storm subsided, the house underwent a total six-month renovation.  Our neighbor took everything in stride. However, the public sidewalk in front of the house was not replaced — it had been ripped up when the tree toppled over.  After I made a few calls to the Peoria Heights Public Works office, the sidewalk was completely fixed.  The neighbors are happy as are all of the walkers in the neighborhood.

The Village of Peoria Heights was incorporated in 1898.  Home of the “World’s Most Beautiful Drive” (Grand View Drive) as coined by President Teddy Roosevelt in 1910 and home to the first gasoline-powered automobile developed by Charles Duryea in 1898. Other amenities include a 200 foot water tower, with an elevator on its side and three observation decks overlooking the Illinois River, a bust of Abraham Lincoln sculpted by Gutzon Borglum (Mt. Rushmore fame) sits outside village hall and 500 acres of Illinois State Nature Preserve having hiking trails, an A-frame building housing natural history exhibits with full time naturalists on staff. There are five public parks.