Rome, IL

Rome is a Peoria County census-designated place in Chillicothe Township, set in the Illinois River valley north of Peoria. The 2020 census counted 1,604 residents. The place was laid out in 1832 and once had a tavern, stores, a post office, and steamboat landings, when this stretch of river was a real transportation route. That older river-town footprint is still the useful clue for understanding Rome, even though the modern community is smaller in scale.

Rome is now served by Illinois Valley Central Unit School District 321, with students joining a wider school community based around Chillicothe. The Illinois River and the farm country around it still set the geography, while Peoria supplies the larger regional orbit. Rome’s early growth came from river traffic and produce shipments, then the financial crash of 1837 knocked the town off its earlier path. What remains is a named community with a long memory: an old river landing, a school district connection, and roads that keep the Peoria area close.