309 Area Code 🌍☎️

Peoria is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, located on the Illinois River with a 2020 population of 113,150, making it Illinois's eighth-most populous city and the principal city of a six-county metropolitan area with 402,391 residents. Established in 1691 by French explorer Henri de Tonti, Peoria is Illinois's oldest permanent European settlement and was renamed from Fort Clark in 1825 after the Peoria people of the Illinois Confederation; the city gained national prominence when Abraham Lincoln delivered his anti-Kansas-Nebraska Act speech there on October 16, 1854. Before Prohibition began in 1920, Peoria was the center of American whiskey production with more than a dozen distilleries - a greater concentration than any other U.S. city - and it became a major port and agricultural trading hub for corn, soybean, and livestock production. The city's economy traditionally centered on manufacturing, particularly through Caterpillar Inc., the heavy equipment and Dow Jones Industrial Average company that served as Peoria's global headquarters until relocating to Deerfield, Illinois in 2018 and then Irving, Texas in 2022. Peoria is known for the colloquial phrase "Will it play in Peoria?" and features museums including the Peoria Riverfront Museum, Peoria Historical Society properties, and the Peoria Playhouse Children's Museum. Bloomington is the county seat of McLean County, Illinois, located 135 miles southwest of Chicago and 162 miles northeast of St. Louis, with a 2020 population of 78,680 making it the 13th-most populous city in the state and the fifth-largest outside the Chicago metropolitan area. The city originated from Keg Grove settlement and was officially established as county seat on December 25, 1830, with its downtown lots auctioned on July 4, 1831, eventually attracting notable figures like Abraham Lincoln and becoming central to the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1854. Bloomington's economy has been shaped by agriculture, railroads, and particularly the insurance industry, most notably State Farm, which was founded there in June 1922 by George J. Mecherle as a mutual automobile insurance company. The city is home to Illinois Wesleyan University, serves as headquarters for State Farm and Country Financial, and hosts the minor league hockey team Bloomington Bison, while the adjacent town of Normal combines with Bloomington to form a metropolitan area of approximately 170,000 residents. Bloomington modernized significantly after a devastating 1900 downtown fire and has continued to develop with landmarks including a downtown arena built during Judy Markowitz's tenure as the city's first female and Jewish mayor beginning in 1997. Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County in northwestern Illinois, located at the confluence of the Rock and Mississippi rivers as part of the Quad Cities metropolitan area with a 2020 population of 37,108. The city is home to Rock Island Arsenal, the largest government-owned weapons manufacturing arsenal in the United States employing 6,000 people and occupying Arsenal Island, the original Rock Island from which the city derives its name. Originally settled in 1826 by Colonel George Davenport and Russell Farnham and platted as Stephenson in 1835, the city was renamed Rock Island in 1841 and became a major railroad hub when the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad was founded there in 1851, eventually serving fourteen states before declaring bankruptcy in 1980. The Rock Island Arsenal has manufactured military equipment and ordnance for the U.S. Army since the 1880s, making defense manufacturing the city's primary economic driver. Modern development includes a $28 million Rock Island County courthouse completed in fall 2018, replacing a historic structure demolished in April 2023.