{"nrhp_refnum":"82002590","name":"Peoria State Hospital","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Ricketts Ave. and U.S. 24","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bartonville","county":"Peoria County","state":"IL","lat":40.63638686400003,"lon":-89.65814809127426,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-02-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district of 47 buildings on a bluff above the Illinois River at the south edge of Bartonville, Peoria County, Illinois. It is a state mental hospital campus, with 33 buildings erected between 1899 and 1910.","why_significant":"The complex is presented as an archetypal example of the \"cottage plan\" for mental hospitals, with small separate dormitories in place of one massive building. It is also tied to Dr. George Zeller, who ran the hospital and is credited with removing bars and mechanical restraints. The evaluation notes eligibility under criteria A, B and C.","narrative":"Peoria State Hospital is a campus of 47 buildings on a wooded plateau at the edge of the Illinois River bluff in Bartonville. Construction began in 1899 with support buildings, and the hospital opened in 1902. It was laid out as a small, partly self-supporting city. Twenty-seven residential cottages form an undulating circle around central administration, shopping and activity buildings, with hospitals, a power plant, laundry, shops and warehouses grouped nearby. Most buildings are brick or stone, and many show Georgian Revival design. The hospital is regarded as a leading example of the cottage plan, which favored small, simple dormitories over the single large fortress-like structure of the earlier Kirkbride model. It is also associated with Dr. George Zeller, credited with removing bars and mechanical restraints from patient rooms. Few buildings have been significantly altered, though a few were remodeled or replaced in the 1960s. The hospital closed in 1973, and the empty buildings have since suffered broken windows, stripped fixtures and interior decay.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architectural descriptions prepared by Anderson, Notter, Finegold, Inc. (Boston); original architect not stated in the available text","architectural_style":"Cottage plan hospital complex with mostly Georgian Revival buildings, plus Prairie, Mission Style, Neo-Classical Revival and Romanesque Revival influences","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"The buildings have been empty and without maintenance since the hospital closed in 1973. Interiors are badly deteriorated, though structurally the buildings are generally in good to very good condition.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:36.009757-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/57/8938/28893857/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/82002590.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82002590/ac7932d5bd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82002590/ac7932d5bd-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Willjay","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peoria_State_Hospital.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Willjay</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peoria_State_Hospital.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893857","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoria_State_Hospital","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14688012"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/peoria-county/peoria-state-hospital-82002590/"}