1830s: Distilleries & Breweries in Peoria

Distilleries play an important role in Peoria’s economy because of the abundance of grains (corn, oats, barley and rye), the purity of fresh spring water, the abundance of fuel (wood and coal), and reliable transportation (river and railroad).

In 1837, Mr. Andrew Eitle, a native of Germany, establishes the first brewery in Peoria immediately adjacent to the Illinois River. In 1850, Mr. Almiron Cole builds a large distillery, also on the Illinois River, the largest distillery in Illinois outside of Chicago. It processes over 1600 bushels of corn a day. Distilleries continue to be built rapidly. By 1860, there are nine distilleries and six breweries in Peoria, and by 1865 there are fourteen distilleries and seven breweries. Distilleries are so common that a portion of the riverbank is named “Distillery Row” and Peoria is viewed as the “Whiskey Capital of the World” (Ogg, 1996).

These distilleries cause problems related to both air and water pollution. They discharge directly into the river and belch soot and other pollutants into the air. The smell is over-powering. Extensive amounts of wood are required to power some of the plants. This leads to the extensive felling of trees and results in greater soil erosion and sedimentation of the river. While it is evident that these changes occur to the river, no one measures water quality or even appears to notice the decline in quality.

Interestingly, the distilleries in Peoria change the course of the Illinois River. A railway, built along the river on wooden trestles, above the flood levels, links the distilleries in a straight line. Rubble and fill-dirt are piled under the trestles to provide strength. The riverbank now becomes straightened out after years of this activity (Ogg 1996). This fill-dirt and erosion from around the tracks also pollutes the Illinois River with sediment and potentially disrupts fish breeding grounds in the shallower waters along the shore.

Other businesses proliferate that support the distilleries and breweries. Coopers (barrel makers), copper and tinsmiths and steamfitters all open close to the river and the businesses they service. These businesses also require wood, both to burn and for barrel making. Coal is used in large quantities that pollute both the air and water.

Another by-product of the distillery business is grain mash, used as feed for cattle, and so slaughterhouses appear adjacent to the river. The Peoria Union Stockyards is established in 1874, located near the river’s edge. Six hundred hogs are butchered every day, and the offal dumped into the river for easy disposal (Klein 1997). Large numbers of cattle are fattened on the mash - the stockyards can have as many 28,000 head of cattle in feeding pens adjacent to the river. These also cause serious water quality problems as the runoff from the pens filled with dirt, animal wastes, and grain mash discharges into the river.