Tag Archives: North Valley

Fire destroys what may have been oldest standing house in Peoria

The house that burned down Monday in the North Valley wasn’t any ordinary house, a reader tells me:

517 Green street was torched early [Monday] morning by some cowardly arsonists. Everyone should know that this wasn’t just any random abandoned house. It was believed by many to have been the oldest standing house in Peoria, dating back to 1837 and challenged in that claim only by the Flanigan house on Glen Oak. It has been passed down generation to generation through the same Peoria family since the late 1800s. It was left un-attended last year (temporarily) because the owner had some medical issues to deal with and has been staying with family out of state. In the time since he left, it has been raided by hooligans and bums, squatting there and wreaking havoc with no regard to the age and historic value of the structure. In recent months, with the help of the owner’s family, Councilman Weaver, the Peoria Historic Society, Northside Housing Services and some local preservationists, I’ve been working on getting it preserved and turned into a public museum for everyone in Peoria to enjoy. I guess that wasn’t meant to be. I just wanted you to know that there was more to the story of this house than the PJStar knew to report today.

The house will likely be demolished because it now poses a safety hazard, according to published reports.