Visit our Local History & Genealogy Department

Located on Lower Level 1 of the Main Library, the Local History and Genealogy Room is a vast and growing collection highlighting the history of Peoria, reputed to be the oldest European settlement in Illinois.

Established in 1691 by the French explorer Henri de Tonti, Peoria has had a distinctive past. The Illinois River and the World’s Most Beautiful Drive. Whiskey. Vaudeville. Penicillin. Caterpillar. Every facet of our past has a home in Peoria Public Library’s archives.

Our knowledgeable and dedicated staff is available to assist you, whether you call, email or visit us in person.

Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, Main Library
Phone: (309) 497-2000
Email: Questions@ppl.peoria.lib.il.us

Local History & Genealogy Resources

FamilySearch
The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world. From the Church of Latter Day Saints family history library.

FamilySearch adds over 300 million free genealogical records and images online yearly from all over the world and manages the famous Family History Library in Salt Lake City. It has amassed billions of birth, marriage, death, census, land and court records from more than 130 countries.

Peoria Public Library is a FamilySearch affiliate library. As such, we have access to additional FamilySearch records, but this service is only accessible inside the Local History & Genealogy Dept.

FamilySearch.org partnership

773 books from the PPL LHG collection have been digitized and are part of the larger FamilySearch Digital Library.  The FamilySearch Digital Library offers nearly 700,000 family history research books that are completely scanned, searchable and viewable with a free FamilySearch.org account.

The total 773 PPL digital book collection can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/PeoriaLibraryDigitalBooks

The following are select collections of interests that can be viewed via the direct links provided in the description below.

 Wenzeler funeral home records

Owned by John W. Wenzeler (1871 – 1951). These records cover 1908 – 1954.  Found in 15 volumes, each volume has an index to names found in front of each volume.

https://tinyurl.com/WinzlerFuneralRcds

Peoria city directories

1844 – 1916 (non-inclusive) city directories like phone books list residents, businesses and street addresses in various sections.  Years also include history, statistical information and various information about individuals including spouse, employment, address and other information depending on the year published.

https://tinyurl.com/PeoCityDirectories

Peoria high school yearbooks

Covering the years 1901 – 2020, the bulk of the collection is Peoria High School yearbooks digitized in partnership with the Peoria High School Alumni Association.  Issues of the PHS opinion have also been digitized.  Other schools include Bradley University and Manual High School.  All schools are not digitized for all years.

https://tinyurl.com/PeoriaYearbooks

Early Peoria newspaper index

https://tinyurl.com/Peoria-WPA-Nwspr-Idx-1834-1863

From 1934 – 1939 the Works Progress Administration, a program set up in the New Deal to put individuals to work brought together the Peoria Historical Society and PPL to create among other works, an early newspaper index covering 1834-1863.

Boland Mortuary Records 1922 – 1978 (incomplete)

https://tinyurl.com/BolandMortuaryVolumes

Found in 56 individual volumes, in the front of each volume is a name index for that volume.  The Boland records also have a complete index that can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/BolandFullIndex

Ancestry.com
Access the Ancestry.com Library Edition at Peoria Public Library and search billions of historical documents, millions of historical photos, plus local narratives, oral histories, indexes and other resources in over 30,000 databases that span from the 1500s to the 2000s. In library use only.

HeritageQuest Online
Includes family histories, genealogical serials, local histories, the U.S. Federal Census, 1790-1930 and primary sources in full images.

Heritage Hub
Explore your family history with the premier collection of U.S. obituaries and death notices for in-depth genealogical research from 1704 – today.

Find A Grave
Find the graves of ancestors by searching the world’s largest online grave collection, including more than 500,000 cemeteries in 243 different countries.

Genealogy Center of the Allen County (IN) Public Library Partnership

The Genealogy Center of the Allen County (IN) Public Library houses the largest collection of family history research materials in the United States in a public library.  Nearly 1.5 million volumes are on the shelves with more information online.

As part of the digital resources offered by ACPL, a platform for “Other States” materials houses unique materials including an index to biographical information, photos and historical buildings held in the local history collection at PPL.

To search Peoria and other states visit: https://www.genealogycenter.info/otherstates/

To go directly to the PPL collection

https://www.genealogycenter.info/peoriapubliclibrary/

Materials digitized include:

Civil War information

A Civil War collection including histories of the 76th and 86th Infantries; Col. Allen Fahnstocks diary; and historical listing of regiments with Peoria ties.

Peoria Firefighters history

Along with the full text of the published book Peoria Firefighters: A Proud History;  you’ll find deaths in the line of duty, a listing of Peoria Mayors and Fire Chiefs and more.

WPA Peoria History

The WPA (Works Progress Administration) was a New Deal program created in 1935 to provide employment during the Great Depression.  From 1934 –1938 Peorians were employed in creating a history of the local community.  This manuscript includes names, businesses, organizations, and general history of Peoria.

Indexes to Peoria History

Name and subject indexes to help identify biographical and historical information.  Includes an index to biographical information helping to identify sources in the PPL archives.

Indigenous materials

Information includes the roll of the Peoria tribe in 1889 from the Quapaw Indian Agency, Miami, Oklahoma showing a schedule of land distribution in the current Ottawa County, Oklahoma.

• County Histories
• Vital Statistics by County
• Civil War Regimental Histories
• Encyclopedia of Chicago

A free online resource including historical articles and essays, advertisements, photographs, maps from the 1830s on. Joint project of the Chicago Historical Society, The Newberry Library and Northwestern University.

Access an ever-growing collection of genealogy resources from libraries across the country. Registers of birth, city directories, steamboat passenger lists, school yearbooks and more.

Click here to access the Internet Archive Genealogy Resources.

Need help using this resource? Ask a librarian or check out this short tutorial!

• Peoria Newspapers from 1837-2018 (microfilm)
• Peoria Journal Star online 1951-Current
• Peoria Daily Record
• Various periodicals

• Obituary Indexes
• Illinois County Vital Statistics
• Family Histories (written by the family)
• Illinois Genealogical Societies information

Peoria County GIS. GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems and is a form of information technology that allows viewers to interactively explore and analyze geographic data.

• High School Yearbooks (mostly Peoria City high schools)
• Caterpillar News & Views
• Peoria County Histories (various authors)
• Obituary Indexes
• Cemetery Indexes
• Sanborn Maps (online and in print)
Sanborn maps are detailed maps of U.S. cities and towns in the 19th and 20th centuries. Originally published by The Sanborn Map Company, the maps were created for fire insurance purposes.
• Peoria City Directories (mid-1800’s forward)
• Other area city directories

• Biography File
• Vertical File (newspaper clippings of local interest) by Subject
• Peoria Picture File (photos by subject)
• Grassel Collection of Photos (1940’s-1960’s)
• The Peoria Story (history of Peoria written in 1957)

Peoria County Vital Records
Birth Records: 1878 – 1915
Marriage Records: 1825 – 1915
Death Records: 1878 – 1915

The Genealogical Collection

The Genealogical Collection includes indexes, bibliographies, magazines, books, microfiche, and microfilm. Please check the library’s catalog for specific titles. If we don’t have the specific title that you are looking for, remember that we can Inter-Library Loan most items through your Peoria Public Library card.

Ancestry.com is available in the library and Heritage Quest can be accessed in the library or remotely with your library card and PIN.

City Cemetery or The Public Graveyard

City Cemetery was located at 1312 W. Lincoln Avenue in the five acres now known as Lincoln Park. Originally named “The Public Graveyard” it was open from 1842-1886. It is the current site of the Peoria Public Library – Lincoln Branch. Official burial records are not located at this time but extensive research has begun to recreate the City Cemetery records. If you have information about an ancestor that was buried there, please contact 309.497.2000.
Click below to get a list of local cemeteries and mausoleums.

(The Resurrection Cemetery cemetery includes records for St. Joseph Cemetery and St. Mary’s Cemetery.)

American Mausoleum
7911 N. Allen Rd.
Peoria, IL 61615-1813
309-691-0511		 St. Joseph Cemetery
2105 N. Heading Ave.
Peoria, IL 61602-1111
Parkview Cemetery
2001 N. University St.
Peoria, IL 61604-3102
309-688-0733		 St. Mary’s Cemetery
421 N. Sterling Ave.
West Peoria, IL 61604-5400
Peoria Hebrew Cemetery
2807 W. Heading Ave.
West Peoria, IL 61604-4948
(309) 691-8064		 Springdale Cemetery and Mausoleum
3014 N. Prospect Rd.
Peoria, IL 61603-2102
309-681-1400   map
Resurrection Cemetery
7519 N. Allen Rd.
Peoria, IL 61614
309-691-5889		 Swan Lake Memory Gardens
4601 W. Route 150
Peoria, IL 61615
309-691-2463

The following information is currently available on the above mentioned cemeteries:
• Burials moved from City Cemetery to Springdale Cemetery
• City Ordinance Governing City Cemetery
• Sales Records 1851
• Plat Map City Cemetery

The Local History Collection

The Local History Collection includes the formats of fiction and nonfiction. You will find the works of local authors Philip Jose Farmer, Betty Friedan, Ken Zurski, Kevin Stein, Norm Kelly and many more. The many items in this collection include Illinois county histories and subject magazines and journals such as the Illinois State Historical Journal. Please check the library’s catalog for specific titles. If we don’t have the specific title that you are looking for, remember that we can Inter-Library Loan most items with your Peoria Public Library card.

For more detail on Peoria Public Library’s history, click on the booklet below or watch the following on our YouTube channel:

Peoria Public Library History, Part One (1846-1968): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neJNE5ttsmA

Peoria Public Library History, Part Two (1968-Present): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY4ZE7KFNEg

Peoria Public Library History — Curses, Scandals, Riots and Controversies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7euO2TbePs

Genealogy & Local History Digitization Partnerships

Through partnerships between the Peoria Public Library, FamilySearch.org, and the Genealogy Center of the Allen County (IN) Public Library, the following materials from the PPL Local History and Genealogy Collection (LHG) have been digitized.

FamilySearch.org partnership

773 books from the PPL LHG collection have been digitized and are part of the larger FamilySearch Digital Library.  The FamilySearch Digital Library offers nearly 700,000 family history research books that are completely scanned, searchable and viewable with a free FamilySearch.org account.

The total 773 PPL digital book collection can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/PeoriaLibraryDigitalBooks

The following are select collections of interests that can be viewed via the direct links provided in the description below.

 Wenzeler funeral home records

Owned by John W. Wenzeler (1871 – 1951). These records cover 1908 – 1954.  Found in 15 volumes, each volume has an index to names found in front of each volume.

https://tinyurl.com/WinzlerFuneralRcds

Peoria city directories

1844 – 1916 (non-inclusive) city directories like phone books list residents, businesses and street addresses in various sections.  Years also include history, statistical information and various information about individuals including spouse, employment, address and other information depending on the year published.

https://tinyurl.com/PeoCityDirectories

Peoria high school yearbooks

Covering the years 1901 – 2020, the bulk of the collection is Peoria High School yearbooks digitized in partnership with the Peoria High School Alumni Association.  Issues of the PHS opinion have also been digitized.  Other schools include Bradley University and Manual High School.  All schools are not digitized for all years.

https://tinyurl.com/PeoriaYearbooks

Early Peoria newspaper index

https://tinyurl.com/Peoria-WPA-Nwspr-Idx-1834-1863

From 1934 – 1939 the Works Progress Administration, a program set up in the New Deal to put individuals to work brought together the Peoria Historical Society and PPL to create among other works, an early newspaper index covering 1834-1863.

Boland Mortuary Records 1922 – 1978 (incomplete)

https://tinyurl.com/BolandMortuaryVolumes

Found in 56 individual volumes, in the front of each volume is a name index for that volume.  The Boland records also have a complete index that can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/BolandFullIndex

The Genealogy Center of the Allen County (IN) Public Library houses the largest collection of family history research materials in the United States in a public library.  Nearly 1.5 million volumes are on the shelves with more information online.

As part of the digital resources offered by ACPL, a platform for “Other States” materials houses unique materials including an index to biographical information, photos and historical buildings held in the local history collection at PPL.

To search Peoria and other states visit: https://www.genealogycenter.info/otherstates/

To go directly to the PPL collection

https://www.genealogycenter.info/peoriapubliclibrary/

Materials digitized include:

Civil War information

A Civil War collection including histories of the 76th and 86th Infantries; Col. Allen Fahnstocks diary; and historical listing of regiments with Peoria ties.

Peoria Firefighters history

Along with the full text of the published book Peoria Firefighters: A Proud History;  you’ll find deaths in the line of duty, a listing of Peoria Mayors and Fire Chiefs and more.

WPA Peoria History

The WPA (Works Progress Administration) was a New Deal program created in 1935 to provide employment during the Great Depression.  From 1934 –1938 Peorians were employed in creating a history of the local community.  This manuscript includes names, businesses, organizations, and general history of Peoria.

Indexes to Peoria History

Name and subject indexes to help identify biographical and historical information.  Includes an index to biographical information helping to identify sources in the PPL archives.

Indigenous materials

Information includes the roll of the Peoria tribe in 1889 from the Quapaw Indian Agency, Miami, Oklahoma showing a schedule of land distribution in the current Ottawa County, Oklahoma.