Moss-High Historic District / Bush House

Moss-High Historic District, also, Bush House. . Moss-High Historic District Moss Avenue and High Street which meet at their intersection with Sheridan Road contain a remarkable variety of residential structures significant in terms of the history they represent and of the architectural styles to which they were built., Particularly noteworthy is High Street, the grand homes of which were largely built from fortunes made in local distillery empires, an important part of Peoria's economy in the mid to late 1800's. Today a stroll down High Street is like a step back in time. Excellent examples of Carpenter Gothic, Queen Anne, Italianate, Eastlake, and Second Empire Victorian structures still stand on High Street as grand and imposing as they were then., Moss Avenue also contains a number of significant older structures along with a variety of architectural styles popular into the 1920's by which time the street was totally developed., Moss Avenue and High Street have been designated by the City of Peoria as an historic zoning district as an encouragement that these structures and that piece of Peoria's proud past which they represent be preserved. Moss Avenue and High Street are part of a West Bluff Historic District which has been included on the National Register of Historic Places., Bush House William Bush, one of eleven children, was born in Indiana, the son of a traveling minister whose ministry moved from place to place along the Ohio River. While still a child, William Bush with several other lads, left home and started down the Ohio River to seek his fortune. The disappointments of that trip were a starting point from which William Bush educated himself and forged a life of a varied and successful business career., Drawn to the river town of Peoria while still a young man, he learned the brickmaking business, finally owning his own brick yard. Then as many of his later Bluff neighbors, William Bush entered the distilling business. Bush and Brown Distilling Company was one of the more successful and prominent companies in Peoria's extensive distillery industry., Construction of William Bush's new home on Peoria's rural West Bluff was completed in 1858. The style of this structure is termed “Bracketed Italianate.” The strong roofline with very massive ornate supporting wooden brackets and the heavy cast iron lintels flanking some of the windows mark this home as a fine example of this style of architecture.