Peoria Station

On April 15, 1926, Robertson Aircraft Corporation inaugurated CAM-2, or Contract Air Mail route No. 2, between St. Louis and Chicago with stops at Springfield and Peoria. Charles A. Lindbergh and Philip R. Love each piloted a De Havilland DH-4 biplane, starting out at St. Louis.  The Peoria stop used Alexander Varney's field at Kellar. A marker (see above) is near the location where Lindbergh landed his DH-4 on the first day of service.  - David P. Jordan

Sunday's Peoria Journal Star published a story on Peoria's transportation history,  Peoria’s transportation history second to none , but managed to bungle [at least] four things.  The railroad became a big part of that hustle and bustle. A total track mileage of 70,000 miles for the 15 railroad companies were located here. At one time, there were 128 passenger trains per day that whistled through Peoria.  Um, no...local rail mileage totaled far less than 70,000 miles. Without even consulting the Official Railway Guide, I can tell you that this figure was likely the total mileage for the sum of the 15 railroads. I'd guess this was what the writer intended to convey, but he employed poor wording. A sparkling new Union Station was built in 1882 at the foot of State Street. In 1900, a new type of inter-city rail travel began when the Peoria and Pekin Traction opened electric line service between the cities. In 1928, the line was acquired by the Illinois Terminal Syst...