Where exactly is the infamous Aiken Alley which, in the day, had over 100 brothels and is where Richard Pryor grew up? There is the current Aiken Street which runs past the Proctor Rec Center, but there are also references to it being across the street from the Police HQ and ending at the bridge, which would be near the current location of the new ballpark.

Aiken Avenue, aka Alley, started from near the intersection of Franklin Street and Adams Street, tho that part between Adams and Jefferson was basically just an alley and easy to miss. It then extended west to near Blaine Street and Seventh Street. This section was just south of First Avenue and North of Hurlburt Street. It then picked up again at the top of Western Hill, near Jumers, and ran down to Sterling. That section was renamed Manor Parkway at the suggestion of residents, sometime in the 1960's. The notorious part of Aiken, was from Jefferson to about MacArthur Highway. I don't think Richard Pryor grew up on Aiken Alley, but a few blocks to the north.

Where was Prarie Street? I found a reference that said the corner of Aiken Alley and Prarie was a big bootlegging area which included secret tunnels connecting the houses. I don't have any old maps and Prarie Street doesn't appear to exist anymore.

This is what I could find, from sources I own: "Allen's New Atlas of the City of Peoria and Vicinity 1893" - which you can view on my website at: www.peoriahistory.com/allens/allensatlasmenu.html has a best view of this at: www.peoriahistory.com/allens/16d.jpg On that image, you will see a narrow, unnamed street that Munson, Sanford and State streets all intersect with. That street is Prairie Street. It runs from near the intersection of Jefferson and Franklin and Bridge Streets (Bridge later became part of Franklin) then west. On "Huebinger's Map of Greater Peoria Illinois", dated 1920, Prairie Street runs from that same intersection, west to about Webster street, when the name changes to Eckley Avenue. At the top of Western hill, the name becomes Aiken Avenue. A Trader's Realty map of Peoria, dated around 1967, has Aiken Avenue running from that same intersection of Jefferson and Franklin, west to Blaine and Seventh, then picking up again at the top of Western hill and running west to Swords Avenue (this is the section that is now Manor Parkway). Prairie Street no longer exists on this map. A more recent map, about 6 years old, has Aiken Avenue from Shipman to Sheridan, then again from MacArthur to MLK. Looking at the older maps, it appears that Prairie and Aiken were the same street. I recall being in a car full of guys during high school, turning on to Aiken from Jefferson and going a few blocks. The street was very narrow, really one lane, and was very unkept, making it look like an "alley". We didn't stay long. There was never an Aiken Alley, it was just a name given to the notorious parts of Aiken Avenue, which started at Jefferson and Franklin and went west to about MacArthur. The tunnels were not just between houses, but between houses and speakeasies and bars, and were used for a fast escape during raids. Most of these were between Franklin and about Warner Street. There were also a number of tunnels under most downtown streets and buildings, some of which connected with each other. If you walk around downtown, you might still see some metal grates in the center of a sidewalk, that open up. Each of those has an elevator inside, so that trucks could deliver goods, pack them on the elevator and taken down below, so that stock would not have to be taken thruough a store full of customers. Several blocks of Adams street, from about Franklin to Main, had large, cavern-like, walks at the bottom of those elevators, connecting all the businesses. Over time, walls were put up between the businesses, and eventually most, if not all, of these elevator shafts were filled in with cement, by the city, as a "safety" measure.

I am curious as to whether any of the former employees of Aiken Alley still exist in Peoria. Additionally, I was wondering if many (trickbabies) births were the results of the thriving sex trade of the time.

I was also wondering if the brothels were segregated or intergrated or both. I am also curious as to whether Peoria has always been such a haven for mixed (racially) relationships, as it is today.

It seems to be everywhere, although I'm not complaining. My last wife was an alien, Ha ha (honey).

Back in the 1960s there was a part of Aiken St. starting from the Tavern called Briss Collins at the corner of Frankiln and Jefferson going down three blocks to the intersection of Reed and Aiken St. which had several houses of prostitution. They were ran by Richard Pryor's uncle everyone called Dickie. As kids we called him King Tut. Often I would go to the store for some of them when I was on my way home from my paper route. If you ever hear the name of a prostitute called Satin Doll, she was part of that group. If ther were other houses in that area it would have been before the 1960s.

I called him Godfather... or at least I think it was his Uncle, may have been his grandfather. That was his CB handle. Very, very funny guy.

Richard's Grandmother operated a Brothel, while his Grandfather ran the gambling in the basement.

Richard lived a little north until he was about 10 when he moved in with his Grandmother.

The civic center sits on a portion of the area that was the red light district. Aiken was there all the way to the bars across fro the old police station. Tunnels are still present under buildings downtown and are filled with telephone lines and every kind of wire known to man. many are bricked up especially where they go under the street. The basements of the entire block on main between Madison and Monroe are and were connected as well as tunnels under main street. The tunnels under main to the basements of the Judges chambers ect. have the entrances bricked up. The basement of the bar at the corner of monroe and main will put you in a basement that continues through to a plywood wall put up by Duane Cassano to house a kitchen and dressing rooms for Al's. There is also a narrow stairwell to a back door in what was Duanes office years ago in Al's. This basement still has a boatload of rooms with sinks and all sorts of stuff from over the years. Prior to the remodel below Al's you could get into the basement of the pere marquette from down there as well. There is also a healthy rat population down there and if and when they build the new hotel there will be rats everywhere.

Rats?

Raoul- so is there a tunnel from the old Shrine Mosque (Riverside Community Church) to across the street where the Holiday Inn now is? There is a small door in the lower level of the old Shrine. It is rumored that there was a tunnel through that door. It is always locked when I try it but I believe it may be bricked up too.

Probably bricked from the other side

I must have Harry Potter on the brain.

I thought you were talking about Diagon Alley.

"Diagon Alley (a play on the word "diagonally") is a fictional High street located in London. It is accessible to the wizarding world, to which it is something of an economic hub, but hidden from Muggles. However, Muggles are allowed access to it if they need to accompany their Muggle-born magical children. If a wizard or witch needs something, chances are that it can be found in Diagon Alley.

One entrance to Diagon Alley can be reached on foot by passing through The Leaky Cauldron. The inn, invisible to Muggles, lies somewhere along the London thoroughfare Charing Cross Road, between a bookshop and a record shop. To reach Diagon Alley, one must go through The Leaky Cauldron to a rear courtyard and tap a brick in the wall, found by counting three up and two across, three times. Given the busy nature of the area, travelling to and from Diagon Alley is likely typically done by more magical means such as Apparition or by using the Floo Network."

The holiday would be too new to actually have connected by tunnel for steam to anything. My guess would be that the tunnel you would find would have been bigger years before the Holiday Inn/ old Ramada was built and now is a crawl-space size at best with some utilities running through it and a bunch of wires that do nothing but nobody wants to be the one to sever. It would end at or before the foundation of the Holiday Inn. These tunnels were mostly steam tunnels.