Springdale Cemetery

Springdale Cemetery is a public, non-sectarian burial ground of roughly 225 acres on a bluff above the Illinois River in Peoria. Opened in 1855, it now holds almost 78,000 burials, among them city founders, farmers, workers, distillers and soldiers from every American war. About seven miles of winding roads follow the valleys and hills, with sections named for the trees that grew there, and a native tallgrass oak savanna is recognized as a state natural heritage landmark. The district includes fifteen private mausolea built from 1887 onward in Classical Revival, Romanesque and other styles, a public mausoleum of Barre granite opened in 1929, a Craftsman-influenced stone gatehouse from 1900, two iron king post bridges and numerous monuments. Soldiers' Hill displays Civil War Parrott rifles. The cemetery was listed for its landscape, architecture and the many people from Peoria's history buried there.