Located upstream from Peoria on the Illinois River, Chillicothe is a town that could have a lot of potential.
It has a beautiful downtown, with well-preserved storefronts and a short walk down to the broad lakes and rivers of the valley.
But the downtown is deserted; the town sold its soul, and allowed a giant gash through the middle of it, when the state highway was widened, and autocentric development split the town in two.
The Art-Deco movie theater is still in business; many small towns have shuttered theirs.
This beautiful Gothic Revival cottage shows the variety of styles common throughout the town in between the river and highway.
Then there’s this wild Italianate mansion that looks like it either got converted into a funeral home or restaurant at some point. There’s a ridiculous extension on the back that looks like it’s from the early 1970s.
