Over the course of a few years, more settlers arrived. This settlement was originally named 'Fondulac Township', with fondulac meaning 'bottom of the lake' in French. The land here was a swampy floodplain nevertheless, they made their claim on the land and built huts, growing corn and tomatoes in the fertile soil. Several years after Illinois became a state (which happened December 18, 1818), William Blanchard and three other men (Charles Sargeant, Theodore Sargeant, and David Barnes) crossed Fort Clark (located in Peoria) to the eastern side of the Illinois River. It is also the location of the Festival of Lights, an annual Christmas light display that runs from November to January and draws thousands of visitors from all over central Illinois. Located just east of the Illinois River, East Peoria has many points of access to and from the Peoria area. The city is the site of the Par-A-Dice Hotel and Casino, as well as the city's major business center, the Levee District. East Peoria is a suburb of Peoria and is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area, located across the Illinois River from downtown Peoria. The population was 22,484 at the 2020 census. East Peoria is a city in Tazewell County, Illinois, United States.

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