"While women weep, as they do now, I'll fight; while little children go hungry, as they do now, I?ll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I'll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight -- I?ll fight to the very end."
General William Booth
Founder, The Salvation Army
1865 - The Salvation Army was founded in London, England, by William Booth, a former Methodist minister turned evangelist who began preaching in the slums.
1878 - Organization adopted the name The Salvation Army. Meetings were held in theaters, tents, dance halls, and open air.
1880 - The Army began work in New York City and combined Gospel preaching with meeting the social ills of hunger, homelessness, and poverty.
Commissioner George Scott Railton and seven women Salvationists arrived in the central United States. Their purpose was to establish The Salvation Army National Headquarters in St. Louis, which they believed was the center of the United States.
1885 - The Salvation Army began working in Illinois.
1886 - The Salvation Army opened its first Peoria home in a small hall on the fourth floor of the Metzger Hotel on North Adams Street and began offering emergency services.
1919 - The Salvation Army formed its first Peoria Tri-County Advisory Board.
1922 - The Salvation Army constructed its first permanent home in Peoria at North Adams and Jackson Streets with a donation of $20,000. The featured speaker at the dedication ceremony was Commander Evangeline Booth, daughter of Army founder William Booth.
1925 - The Salvation Army purchased land for Green Valley Camp, just north of Peoria.
1932 - The national Women?s Auxiliary began through the efforts of Marie Birkett and Brigadier Roland Hook.
1932 - The Salvation Army opened the Child Care Center. It was the first full-time child-care center in Peoria.
1950 - Biddy Basketball began in Peoria.
1971 - The Salvation Army Divisional Headquarters moved to 401 NE Adams St.
1986 - Campaign raised $3 million to construct a new building for the Divisional Headquarters and Family Services Center. A generous gift from the Bielfeldt Foundation also allowed for construction of the Food for Families Warehouse.
1988 - Divisional Headquarters staff moved into new facility.
1999 - The Peoria Tri-County Advisory Board conducted a community-wide fund raising feasibility study, the results of which recommended approval of a $3.3 million capital campaign.
2000 - The Salvation Army Heartland Division purchased property in July for a new campsite with a $1.705 million grant from its Central Territorial Headquarters. The Salvation Army received approval from an Anonymous Donor for a $1.325 million matching grant for the Heartland Camp Project.
2001- Eagle Crest Camp opens for its first summer of camping ministry. Over 1,750 children and adults attend camp in the first season of camping.
2005 - The Salvation Army Child Care Center is renovated and expanded, with infant care now made available for the first time.