Elmwood, IL

Elmwood is a small city in Peoria County, with its own place in the Peoria metropolitan area. The name came from the elm trees near William J. Phelps’s mansion; Phelps was among the early settlers who arrived in 1834. Today the town’s most recognizable gathering place is Central Park, where the June Strawberry Festival brings treats, a car show, crafters, children’s activities, and entertainment to the square. The festival gives the old town center an annual burst of motion without needing a grand civic backstory.

The calendar keeps going after June. Vendors set up on the square on Friday evenings through the summer, and municipal band concerts fill Central Park on Sunday evenings from June into August. Those small recurring events make Elmwood’s center easy to understand: City Hall is at 201 West Main, the park is nearby, and the square doubles as the stage for the town’s seasonal traditions. Elmwood Community Unit School District 322 supplies the school connection, while the city is also associated with sculptor Lorado Taft, whose work is part of the community’s cultural story. The result is a place with a very Midwestern pattern of town hall, park, school, and annual festival, all held within a compact county landscape.