Peoria Mineral Springs
The National Park Service has not published a boundary polygon for this district; the map shows the listed properties inside it and the district's reference point.
Why it's listed
Peoria Mineral Springs occupies a hillside on the city's West Bluff, where three springs have flowed for thousands of years. Around 1843 a cave-like, barrel-vaulted brick reservoir was built into the slope to capture them for Peoria's first water company, chartered that February. Pipes carried the water roughly two miles, and the springs supplied the city for about 15 years, until a new source near the Illinois River met growing demand. Zealy Moss built a simple two-story brick house nearby around 1843-45, in a plain Federal style. It includes a bottling room where spring water was packaged and sold, and it later housed Lydia Moss Bradley, who founded Bradley University. The house was enlarged twice before 1869. Beside it, an 18-foot-wide cobblestone road, paved in 1886, runs 450 feet up the bluff. The springs still flow and are the last survivor of the area's natural springs.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · catalog entry. Generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29).
| Period of significance | 1843-1886 |
|---|---|
| Styles | Simple, severe Federal style, or Post-colonial |
| Areas of significance | Industry, Commerce, Engineering, Architecture |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Boundary source | not published |
| Full listing page | Peoria Mineral Springs (property record) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.