Cite printed pp. 525–526. Attribute the production ranking and export share as Census Office statements. Use the page image, not OCR, for the 50,000-cattle figure.
The 1880 Census Office report described Peoria as producing more proof-gallons of spirits than any other U.S. city, linked distillery swill to stockyards that handled 300,000 hogs and 50,000 cattle in 1879, identified a navigable river and multiple rail connections, and located the city in a rich corn-producing district whose grain-related industries formed its principal business.
Verified against printed pp. 525–526 in the complete official 86-page chapter file. All pages were visually reviewed; all 86 pages received OCR for search, and the Peoria evidence page was checked at high resolution against the scan.
The superlative and export estimate are the Census Office report’s contemporary statements, not a newly recomputed national ranking. The visually verified cattle figure is 50,000; the generated OCR layer misread it as 60,000 and must not be used for that number.
The same official Peoria account connects spirits output, swill disposal, livestock throughput, grain geography, river navigation, and a dense railroad network rather than describing the distilleries in isolation.
Used and link-verified on the public history page “Expansion and Industrialization — Cities, Ice, Warehouses, and Factory Systems” on 2026-09-02. Retain the recorded qualifications in future revisions.