PEORIA MAGAZINE February 2023

C O V E R S T O R Y

A TALE OF THREE SOUTH PEORIA FAMILIES The Allens, Nickels and Rayfords love their homes and are doing their part to rescue the neighborhood’s reality from its reputation

BY DENISE JACKSON PHOTOS BY RON JOHNSON

S outh Peoria resident Angie (Allen) Henry cannot imagine living anywhere else in the city. Henry is a second-generation family member living in the home her parents purchased when she was 2 years old.

Henry family were a very big deal. “We all lined up at the top of the steps and ran down on Christmas morning to open up our presents,” recalled Angie. If many central Illinoisans derive their impressions of Peoria’s South Side from headlines that are not always flattering, the Allens testify to a reality that is a bit more nuanced. There is no denying that ZIP code 61605 has its challenges, but it is home for bedrock families such as the Allens and many others who have choices but wouldn’t live anywhere else. ‘I DON‘T THINK WE'D BE ABLE TO FIND ANOTHER HOME LIKE THIS ANYWHERE IN THE CITY’ — Angie Henry Indeed, the Allen family roots run deep in South Peoria. Henry’s parents, Elise Ford and James Allen, lived at two other locations on the South Side prior to buying their home on MLK. In addition to raising a large clan, the couple operated a printing business and published The Traveler newspaper from their home. “My brothers and sisters, we all got a kick out of watching our parents read the newspaper during breakfast,” she

said. “Those conversations at the table were a highlight for us.” Henry’s parents were very active in the community. Her mother ran for Peoria mayor in 1973. Last spring, the former Roosevelt Magnet School was renamed Elise Ford Allen Academy, in her honor. The Allen house has become something of a landmark throughout the years. Its character, spacious size and location make it hard to miss for drivers who travel that route. Henry remembers strangers who sometimes knocked on her family’s front door, asking “if they could come in and take a closer look at our house,” said Henry. With her family’s history and legacy in South Peoria, Henry said she and her husband are excited to witness the changes finally taking place in their community. It was just cheaper to buy a home in South Peoria, said Almelia Nickels. The Caterpillar retiree and mother of three adult sons has lived on the South Side since 1968. “My husband brought this one from my brother. He didn’t pay a lot for it. He gutted it and did a lot of work in here. I didn’t want those highmortgage payments like in the other areas. All

Angie Henry

“I don’t think we’d be able to find another home like this anywhere in the city,” she said. The large house sits atop the hill where Martin Luther King Drive and John Gwynn Avenue intersect. It has a wraparound porch, six bedrooms, two fireplaces, French doors, two staircases and a basement. Henry speaks fondly about growing up as one of 10 children in the house, which was built in 1914. As one might imagine, holidays in the

42 FEBRUARY 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE