Peoria IL (Illinois)
Cruise Port schedule, live map, terminals, news
Region
Canada and USA Rivers
Local Time
2024-11-22 09:59
42°F 5.8°C
Mod. breeze5.8 m/s
49 °F / 10 °C 38 °F / 4 °C
Peoria IL is an Illinois River/Mississippi River cruise port and city in Illinois USA (Peoria County) with population around 113,000, ranking it the river's largest. Peoria Metro has population over 400,000 and groups 6 counties (Fulton, Marshall, Peoria, Stark, Tazewell, Woodford).
As cruise port, Peoria IL is included in the schedule of AQV-American Queen Voyages/fka AQSC-American Queen Steamboat Company.
Next table shows AQV ship's American Countess itinerary (8-night/9-day "Ottawa to St Louis Cruise Tour"/and the reverse) that visits Peoria. Complimentary shore excursions are provided in all visited ports/cities.
| Date / Time | Port |
|---|---|
| DAYS 1-2-3 (overnight) | Departing from Ottawa, Illinois (pre-cruise hotel stay) |
| DAY 4 | Peoria, Illinois |
| DAY 5 | Havana, Illinois |
| DAY 6 | Illinois-Mississippi river cruising |
| DAY 7 | Hannibal, Missouri |
| DAY 8 | Grafton, Illinois |
| DAY 9 | Arriving in St Louis, Missouri (debarkation in Alton IL) |
The voyage is priced from ~US$3600 per person.
Port Peoria is a major river port serving mainly the shipping of agricultural products produced in the region (corn, soybeans) as well as livestock. Major manufacturing industries include the production of mining equipment (Komatsu America), steel and metal products, lawn-care and farm machinery, building materials, chemicals, corn processing/ethanol production (BioUrja), healthcare (OSF, UnityPoint), retail shopping, finance (CEFCU) and insurance (RLI Corporation). Until 2018, in Peoria was headquartered Caterpillar Inc (now in Deerfield IL).
The settlement (as Fort Clark) was established in the late-17th-century (1691) making it the state's oldest. It was incorporated into a town in 1825 (when also received its current name/after the Peoria Indians) and into a city in 1845. Prior to the nationwide prohibition (1920-33), the city had the USA's biggest number of whiskey distilleries (22) plus multiple breweries.
Illinois River
Illinois River is one of the Mississippi's principal tributaries and has length ~ 273 mi (439 km). Illinois River originates in Chicago (Lake Michigan), flowing to the southwest across Illinois and emptying into the Mississippi River near Grafton. In the 18th-19th-centuries, the Illinois River has always been an important trade waterway connecting the Mississippi with Lake Michigan (the Great Lakes). The river's importance for commercial shipping increased since the opening (in 1848) of the "Illinois and Michigan Canal" (length 96 mi / 154 km) connecting with the Chicago River and running between Chicago IL (Bridgeport neighborhood) and LaSalle IL. The Canal's transportation operations ceased in 1900 when was opened the "Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal"/aka Chicago Drainage Canal (length 28 mi / 45 km) connecting the rivers Chicago and Des Plaines. With the Chicago Drainage Canal (1907-extended), the Chicago River's flow was reversed (now out of Lake Michigan).
In 1933 was completed and opened of the Illinois Waterway (length 336 mi / 541 km) connecting Calumet River (Chicago) and the Illinois River (Grafton). The waterway has 8x locks, the upper/first one (T.J. O'Brien lock and dam in Chicago IL) is approx 7 mi / 11 km from Lake Michigan, while the lower/last one (LaGrange lock and dam in Beardstown IL) is 90 mi / 140 km from the Mississippi. The other 6 locks and dams are in the IL's towns Lockport (Lockport), Joliet (Brandon Road), Morris (Dresden Island), Marseilles (Marseilles), North Utica (Starved Rock) and Peoria (Peoria).