Grandview Drive

Grandview Drive (sometimes spelled Grand View Drive) is a two and a half mile scenic road with adjacent park areas through Peoria and Peoria Heights, Illinois. Major portions of the road give a view of the Illinois River and its valley as well as clear views of some of the most prestigious and historic homes in the area. Houses along Grandview Drive are among the best known in the city; the residential area on the west of Grandview Drive, opposite the river, was added to the National Register of Historic Places as an historic district in 1996.[2] A large amount of land on the valley side of Grandview Drive is owned by the Peoria Park District and is undeveloped except for park benches. The district's legal name, "Pleasure Driveway and Park District of Peoria", is a reflection of Grandview Drive's original prominence in the Peoria park system. Of particular note, the drive is said to have been one of the first "linear parks" of its time.

Grand View Drive
One view across the Illinois River from Grandview Drive, 2008
LocationPeoria and Peoria Heights, Peoria County, Illinois, USA
Coordinates40°44′10″N 89°33′18″W
Area181.52 acres (73.46 ha)
Built1906-1925
ArchitectOscar F. Dubius, Frederic Klein
Architectural styleCity Beautiful Movement[1]
NRHP reference No.96000399[2]
Added to NRHPSeptember 27, 1996[1]

President Theodore Roosevelt is said to have proclaimed it the "World's Most Beautiful Drive" during a 1910 visit. Grandview Drive was the original location of WMBD (AM); although the WMBD callsign was assigned in FCC sequence, the callsign is associated with Roosevelt's comment.

Location

Grandview drive stretches from Prospect Road to Illinois Route 29, and is a winding road with several sight-seeing areas. Along the road is the Peoria Country Club, which includes a golf course and tennis courts. There is also a large park, known as Grandview Park.

Historic district boundaries

The National Register of Historic Places boundary for The Grand View Drive Historic District is "roughly bounded by Prospect Road in the north, the Illinois River bluffs, Adams Street in the south and the Grand View Drive W. right of way".[2] However, this description appears to be contradictory, as Grandview Drive runs between Prospect Road and Adams Street (Illinois Route 29), and the description appears to give no northern boundary.

It is near the birthplace of the first gasoline-powered car in America, the Duryea automobile, built in 1893 by Charles Duryea.[3]

Notes
  1. Baietto, Michael E. (25 August 1995). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Grand View Drive" (PDF). National Park Service: 25–26. Retrieved 9 December 2011. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. "The 1896 Duryea". The Henry Ford. Archived from the original on 27 November 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
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