Before numbered state and federal highways came into existence in the mid-1920s, getting from town to town involved a drive, buggy ride or horse ride on dirt or gravel roads. During the World War I era, roads were improved and named to help motorists get their way around Illinois. The Indian Head Trail connected Galena and Peoria. This is part of a three-part series.

	Introduction
Peoria to Princeton (you are here)	Princeton to Rock Falls (click here to read)	Rock Falls to Galena (coming soon)

Navigating these early motor routes today takes a bit of research and knowhow of maps. I’ve tried my best to provide a summary of interesting things to see along the way. Read more about the general synopsis of the Indian Head Trail in the “Introduction” link above.

The acronym IHT will be used for the Indian Head Trail in subsequent references in this post.

The Indian Head Trail takes plenty of jogs along its path, and the stretch from Peoria to Princeton has plenty of them. As I am putting this piece together, I’m still trying to find the best way to share its story while providing images, stops and their locations. I’ll see if what I provide works.

*** Click here for the Flickr photo album to help guide you along the way***

***Click here for a Google Map to help guide you along the way***

Peoria and Averyville (40.693497, -89.586910 & 40.717412, -89.559033)

The Indian Head Trail begins in Peoria and heads northeast along the Illinois River on Adams St. (Illinois Route 29). There isn’t much to see heading out of downtown, although there is a riverfront park that has a memorial to native musician Dan Fogelberg.

A sign will greet travelers to the Averyville neighborhood at the edge of Peoria. Averyville once was its own community until the 1920s, when it was annexed into Peoria. If you are traveling through a large or mid-sized city, typically if you see old business buildings on the edge of town, it’s likely that the neighborhood once was its own town at some point. Averyville once had its own high school, which later became Peoria’s Kingman High, and then later Woodruff High (which has since closed).

Route 29 (IHT) goes under the new McCluggage Bridge over the river, which carries U.S. Route 150. Further north is the stoplight intersection with Lorentz Avenue, which is where the stately Peoria Waterworks building is.

Continue going north, passing Detweiler Park.

Mossville and Rome (40.813031, -89.568584 & 40.881576, -89.501793), and Chillicothe (40.921376, -89.483587)

Where Route 29 (IHT) intersects with Galena Ave. is where The Railsplitter Bar and Grill is in Mossville. This building has been a tavern, off and on, since 1845, and once had sleeping quarters where – rumor has it – Abraham Lincoln once stayed during his travels within the 8th Circuit when he was a lawyer. There is a small plaque hanging on top of the backbar that shares its history (ask the bartender to take it down for you to read). It no longer offers a place to stay overnight.

Galena Ave. was where the former Peoria to Galena Stagecoach Trail went on in Mossville. This ran parallel to the IHT route for about 10 miles before linking back up with the IHT alignment to Princeton.

Go back on Route 29 after a drink or bite to eat at The Railsplitter and follow it to River Beach Drive, and turn right. This is a former alignment of Route 29 that carried the IHT into downtown Chillicothe. Better views of the river can be seen on this stretch of road. Follow this into downtown Chillicothe – you know you’re there when you see usual downtown buildings.

The IHT jogs a couple of times in Chillicothe. When you get to downtown, make a left on Truitt and a right at the stoplight intersection with Route 29. You’ll go out of town by going under a pair of railroad viaducts. Follow Route 29 for about a mile-and-a-half to the intersection with Yankee Lane, and turn left. This is where the aforementioned Stagecoach trail falls back into the IHT alignment. Coal Hollow Park provides a hiking adventure in varying terrains. Mining was a big business in the 1800s and early 1900s as these bluffs once served as the edge of a former Mississippi River alignment (more on this later in the segment on Tiskilwa).

Yankee Lane toward Lone Tree Corners (41.184855, -89.505048)

While I’m not sure how Yankee Lane got its name, there is an Underground Railroad stop along the way – Lundy Corners. Read all about it HERE.

Yankee Lane has some cemeteries on it. Some have ornate stones. One of them, Mead, looks like overgrown weeds from the side of the road, where you can’t see any evidence of stones. I would have stopped to roam through them, but I was wearing shorts when I traveled through.

The small community of Whitefield is along this path, where the IHT leaves Marshall County and enters Bureau County. It only has a handful of people in it. There is a small, gravel street running parallel to the main road for a short stretch, and parallel to that gravel road is a small sidewalk – indicating that there was a lot more to the community at one time.

Yankee Lane Ts at Bureau County road 250N (left to Bradford, right to Putnam), and turn right. The next intersection is Lone Tree Corners, where you’ll turn left on 1925E. That intersection has an old, restored one-room school building, Lone Tree School, that is on the National Register of Historic Places. The building continues to serve as a town hall and meeting place.

Follow 1925E until you hit Tiskilwa, and turn left into its downtown. At the foot of downtown, make a right on Galena St. and follow out of town.

Tiskilwa (41.297920, -89.509949)

Tiskilwa sits at the bottom of an old riverbed. It’s not just any riverbed – it’s one that once carried the Mississippi River up until about 25,000 years ago during the Wisconsonian Ice Age. This is evident to motorists on the IHT who go downhill to get to town and uphill when they leave town.

Rivers take form after each ice age. The Mississippi River currently is the western border of Illinois. However, between Albany and Grafton, the Mississippi went on another path: It flowed south from Albany to Hennepin, where it linked up with a current 90-degree bend of the Illinois River and followed the current Illinois River path south to Grafton, where it currently empties into the current river.

The current result is scenic, winding roads around the Tiskilwa area. The topography also was instrumental in the creation of the Hennepin Canal, which connected Hennepin with the Quad Cities, starting in the 1890s. Most of the locks on the canal are still extant, including No. 11, which is near where the IHT crossed it on a truss bridge (pictured at the top of this page).

Lock No. 11 is a small recreation area, and a small pedestrian bridge crosses the canal. There is also an old truss road bridge, Hennepin Canal Bridge 6, over the canal which has been closed for several decades. Some of the old approach fencing is still there, as well as a weight limit sign of 3 tons which is hidden in the brush. There is no sign that directs motorists to Lock No. 11, turn right on County Road 1150N to get there. After visiting the park, go back on the main road and head north (crossing the canal on the newer bridge).

Princeton (41.371779, -89.465035)

Our Part I of the Indian Head Trail post stops in Princeton, Bureau County’s seat of government. The IHT enters Princeton on its south edge and goes straight into its central downtown area. The road cuts through the center of the courthouse square (courthouse to the west, veteran’s memorial statue to the right).

One of the newest additions to Princeton’s downtown is Lovejoy Way, an alley dedicated to local abolitionist Owen Lovejoy. His brother, Elijah, also was an abolitionist, and lived in the St. Louis area, where he was killed by a pro-slavery mob in 1837. Owen’s home on the east end of Princeton is a National Historic Landmark, and a stop on the Underground Railroad.

There are no IHT jogs in Princeton’s city limits, so it goes straight through. Princeton is unique in that it has two downtown business districts – the other one being at Illinois Route 26 (IHT)’s intersection with the BNSF’s Southern Transcon route. I will pick up Part II of the Indian Head Trail series from this point.