Peoria and Rock Island Railroad

[3] The Peoria and Rock Island (P & RI) was built during the post-American Civil War 1860s, a period of substantial railroad development, especially in the victorious Northern states.

The 1877 foreclosure drew the Rock Island and Peoria into the orbit of the CRI & P.[1] On June 11, 1903, the former P & RI became a branch line of the larger transportation company.

As a branch line, the P & RI specialized in the transportation of freight from the "Rock Island's" Great Plains service area to Peoria.

Carloads of small grains such as rye and barley rumbled southeastward on the former Peoria and Rock Island to the fermentation vats.

The enactment of American Prohibition in 1919, together with the invention of the mass-produced automobile, dealt the former Peoria and Rock Island a blow from which it could not recover.