CHAPTER XIV. 



PEOEIA COUXTY. 



Peoria county lies about seventy-five miles north of the center of the 

 State, and is bounded on the north by Stark and Marshall counties, on 

 the east by the Illinois river, on the south by the Illinois river and Ful- 

 ton county, and on the west by Fulton and Knox counties. It embraces 

 an area of fourteen full townships and seven fractional townships bor- 

 dering the Illinois river, or about six hundred and thirty square miles. 

 The Illinois river extends for about fifty miles along its eastern and 

 south-eastern borders: Kickapoo creek and its several affluents trav- 

 the central portion of the county ; while Spoon river intersects the 

 north-western townships for a distance of ten or twelve miles. 



The surface of the county was originally nearly equally divided into 

 timber and prairie. The prairies are usually small, the most extensive 

 ones being those in the western and northern portions of the county, and 

 extending over the highest lands between the water courses. There is 

 also a narrow strip of prairie extending along the river from the north- 

 east corner of the county to the outlet of the Kickapoo, having a vari- 

 able width of from one to three miles. This belt of prairie covers a 

 sandy terrace below ,the river bluffs, and is elevated from thirty to fifty 

 feet above low water level. 



Surface Geology. 



Four sub-divisions of the Quaternary are found in this county : allu- 

 vium, loess, modified drift, and the true drift or boulder clay. The 

 alluvial deposits are of limited extent, and confined to the borders of 

 the principal streams. The terrace lands, on the southern extremity of 

 which the city of Peoria is built, and which extend thence to the north- 

 eastern extremity of the county, may be considered as belonging to the 

 modified drift deposits rather thau the alluvium. Their surface is en- 

 tirely above the high water level of the river, and -they consist largely 

 of sand and gravel, which was deposited during what may be termed 



