The property is purchased by George Vicary and coal mining begins. Coal miners from local mines meet secretly to organize for better working conditions and wages.  The oldest carved date in the Rocky Glen sandstone walls is 1887.

Rocky Glen becomes a popular picnic and hiking area.  Thanks to Wendy Stevens and Marilyn Voss Leyland for photos!

Coal mining stops at Rocky Glen.   Take a look at the truck that used to haul coal from Rocky Glen. 

Horse Shoe Bottoms,a novel by Tom Tippett, is published. Tippett, a local coal miner, coal miner’s son and union activist, received a Guggenheim grant to allow him time to write this fictional and autobiographical story. He describes Kickapoo Creek coal mining, the harsh lives of the miner families who lived on site, and the exploitation they experienced from the mining company. Tippet also describes the attempts and eventual success of union organizing along Kickapoo Creek, describing Rocky Glen as the first location for the miner’s secret meetings.

Friendly on-site tenant with permission of the Vicary family supervises a constant stream of visitors. Children from Peoria’s West Bluff and South Side often hike to Rocky Glen. Letters in the newspaper suggest the Peoria Park Board should become the owner.

Harold Connaughton purchases the property from George Vicary. His two sons fence the abandoned upland farm to develop a horse pasture. Farming stops. Visitors are no longer welcome.

Peoria Park District buys 55 acres of adjoining property. 

The Friends of Rocky Glen (FORG), a non-profit organization, is formed. With permission from Jim Connaughton, FORG leads free monthly hikes and organizes fundraising events to build public support to purchase and preserve Rocky Glen. Two local businesses – Jimmy’s Bar and Sky Harbor – and the City of West Peoria lend their support.

The City of Peoria purchases Rocky Glen from Jim Connaughton.

The City of Peoria transfers ownership to the Peoria Park District. Rocky Glen becomes open to the public daily from dawn to dusk. Restoration workdays begin at Rocky Glen Park.

A parking lot is built in part with FORG donations.  Design and construction of the hiking trail and signage begins and is completed using FORG funding, volunteer labor and PPD staff.

Horseshoe Bottoms Committee is 200 acres of cornfield and wooded hillsides directly east of Rocky Glen Park owned by the Greater Peoria Sanitary District, the Peoria Park District and the Catholic Cemetery Association. This property has the potential to expand the public recreation and natural area of the Kickapoo Creek Watershed. Monthly hikes and restoration workdays begin.

On October 20, the community celebrated the Grand Opening of Rocky Glen parking lot (see pictures).

FORG begins selling native plants on Mother’s Day at Haddad’s Market in West Peoria which becomes an annual event.