Pekin, Illinois


Pekin is a city in and the county seat of Tazewell County in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located on the Illinois River, Pekin is the largest city of Tazewell County and the second most populous municipality of the Peoria metropolitan area, after Peoria itself. As of the 2010 census, its population is 34,094. A small portion of the city limits extend into Peoria County. It is the most populous municipality in the United States with the name Pekin.
Pekin's Mineral Springs Park is near Pekin Hospital and the Miller Senior Center. The city is also home to a high-rise residential facility of the United Auto Workers; the 1,538 megawatt, coal-fired Powerton Power Station, the home of the Pekin Federal Correctional Institution; and the headquarters of a regional insurance company, Pekin Insurance.

Chronological history

Native American inhabitants

In Illinois as elsewhere, indigenous peoples lived along rivers for transportation, water, and fishing. At the time of European exploration, the several historical tribes in the area were of the Anishinaabe-language family, within the larger Algonquian-speaking tribes.
In January 1680, Robert de LaSalle and 33 fellow explorers landed their canoes on the eastern bank of the Illinois River. They built a winter refuge in what is now the southeast quarter of section 1 of Pekin Township. They also encountered historical Kickapoo peoples to the east as far as the Wabash River near the present Illinois-Indiana border.
Pekin and the Pekin area has a rich Native American heritage. South of Pekin on the Mackinaw River was the site of Chief Lebourse Sulky's Village in 1812. This was how it looked to an American of the time:
Sulky oversaw a village with a mixed population of the Anishinaabe-speaking Pottawatomi, Kickapoo and Ojibwa people. He fought alongside Tecumseh in the War of 1812, as did most of the chiefs of the Illinois Valley area. Later, this area was the site of Chief Shabbona's Pottawatomi village in the period prior to and during the Black Hawk War of 1832. Like Sulky, Shabbona had joined with Tecumseh during the War of 1812 and was with him when he fell at the Battle of Tippecanoe. After the war, Shabbona made peace with the U.S. government and protected white settlers in the Pekin area during the Black Hawk War.
Following the Black Hawk War, the State of Illinois renegotiated treaties with the Native American tribes in the state to extinguish their claims and remove all Indians from the state. The Pottawatomi village was relocated about a mile north to Worley Lake for a short time, until the inhabitants were removed to a reservation near Topeka, Kansas. Shabbona later moved north to Seneca near the Illinois River, where he died in 1859 on land that the citizens of Ottawa had given him.

Origins of Pekin

Farmer Jonathan Tharp, who came from Ohio, was the first non-Indian resident, building a log cabin in 1824 on a ridge above the Illinois River at a site near the present foot of Broadway Drive. Franklin School was later erected near this site. Other settlers soon joined him, including his father Jacob Tharp who arrived from Ohio in 1825. They lived near Chief Shabbona's large Indian village of about 100 wigwams, populated primarily by Pottawatomi, which was situated along Gravel Ridge, on the eastern shore of what is today Pekin Lake in northwest Pekin. Tharp's log cabin was south of Shabbona's village.
After a county surveyor laid out a "town site" in 1829, an auction of the town plat and site was held in Springfield, Illinois. The village site was awarded to Major Isaac Perkins, Gideon Hawley, William Haines and Major Nathan Cromwell. Mrs. Ann Eliza Cromwell selected the name of the city, Peking or "Pékin", the French spelling. Nathan Cromwell named many of the city streets after the wives and daughters of early Pekin settlers. It was long held, as first expressed in W.H. Bates' history of Pekin included in the 1870 Pekin City Directory, that Cromwell was assisted by his wife Ann Eliza in the naming of the streets.
It has been stated that Mrs. Cromwell named the town "Pekin" because she thought Peking was on the exact opposite side of the world from the town she founded. "Peking" was sometimes romanized as "Pekin" at this time, supported by several other US towns founded around this time named "Pekin".

18th–19th centuries

Pekin is known as the site where Abraham Lincoln and other ambitious politicians struck a deal in the 1840s. Lincoln was among several local Whig politicians who wanted to serve in the U.S. Congress. To keep from splitting the Whig vote, the competitors agreed to support each other for one term each in Congress. The pact is called the Pekin Agreement in Lincoln biographies. Lincoln ran and was elected to the 30th United States Congress in 1846, and retired at the end of the term. This single term in Congress was Lincoln's only experience in Washington before he was elected President.
Although Illinois was a "free" state, pro-slavery sentiment was predominant throughout southern and central Illinois, which had been largely settled by Southerners, some of whom were slaveholders before the state was admitted to the union. Cities with pro-slavery sentiment included Peoria and Pekin. According to the 1949 Pekin "Centenary," p. 15,
"Pekin was a pro-slave city for years. Some of the original settlers had been slave-owners themselves, and the overwhelming sentiment in Pekin was Democratic. Stephen A. Douglas, not Abraham Lincoln, was the local hero, although Lincoln was well-liked, and had some German following."

Chiefly due to an influx of German immigrants after the Revolutions of 1848, abolitionist sentiment began to flourish in Pekin. Among Pekin's abolitionist leaders was Dr. Daniel Cheever, whose home at the corner of Capitol and Court streets was a depot on the Underground Railroad. Other Pekin abolitionists were the brothers Samuel and Hugh Woodrow.
During the Civil War, the inhabitants of Pekin were divided between the pro-slavery element, who favored the Confederacy, and the abolitionist and pro-Union element. Early in the war, the secessionist "Knights of the Golden Circle" openly supported secession and slavery in Pekin. The 1949 Pekin Centenary, p. 15, says the Knights were "aggressive and unprincipled," and "those who believed in the Union spoke often in whispers in Pekin streets and were wary and often afraid." As a response to the Knights' influence, Dr. Cheever and 10 other men gathered at 331 Court Street in Pekin on to establish the first council of the Union League of America, to promote patriotism and loyalty to the Union in the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. Its members hoped to counter Northern disillusionment with President Lincoln's military policies after early Union defeats in the American Civil War. Although closely allied with the Republican Party, the League sought to enroll all Union supporters, regardless of party. The anti-slavery Germans of Pekin took an active role in the Union League in their city. Find more information on the Union League Here: Union League Club of Chicago.

20th century to present

In an early 20th-century revival, the Ku Klux Klan recruited new members as a fraternal organization, opposing new immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, and becoming influential in rapidly industrializing urban areas in the Midwest and West, as well as in the South. It had numerous members in Pekin and other Illinois cities. It was during this period that leading Klansmen took over ownership of the city newspaper, the Pekin Daily Times; they used it as an organ of Klan viewpoints. They sold off the paper within a few years.
The city had an identity and reputation as a sundown town; it was known to be hostile to black residents and few settled there. On the other hand, some Pekin church pastors participated in the civil rights marches of the 1960s, and U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen from Pekin was integral to achieving passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
"In 2000, 707 of the 863 blacks are male, mostly 18–44. 5 households with a total pop. of 16 blacks."
The federal prison system has an institution in Pekin.

Pekin Marigold Festival

The Marigold Festival was started in 1973 to honor one of Pekin's "favorite sons", Senator Everett Dirksen. While in the United States Congress, Dirksen tried to have the marigold named as the national floral emblem. In support of Dirksen, the community began growing marigolds. While unsuccessful in the national flower contest, Dirksen's hometown of Pekin became known as the "Marigold Capital of the World".
The Marigold Festival is an annual celebration held the first weekend after Labor Day in September. Its activities include the annual Marigold Parade, the crowning of Miss Marigold, live music, and an arts and crafts fair that attracts exhibitors from five surrounding states.
The Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce annually appoints a festival committee, yet most of the work is done by more than 1,000 volunteers. They present the events and concessions to the public Many organizations use the financial proceeds from their events and concessions to support their charitable not-for-profit organization.
In the early years of the festival, volunteers and residents planted more than two million marigolds throughout the city, creating displays to be judged by the garden club. Today the goal of the festival is to encourage community pride, displayed through marigold plantings and additional events such as a Medallion Hunt, 5 kilometer run/walk, Carnival, Art in the Park, Friday Night Family Fest, and live music. These events bring the people of Pekin together and highlight area businesses.
Food concessions at the Marigold Festival are run by non-profit organizations. Most of the Festive Food booths are located in Mineral Springs Park. Many groups use this as a major fundraising event. They include local churches and Boy Scout Troops, Kiwanis Club of Pekin, Pekin Community High School JROTC Boosters, Pekin Community High School show choir "Noteables", local firefighters, Pekin Lions Club, the Salvation Army, and United Way of Pekin. Over the years the Marigold Festival has grown to attract more than 100,000 people annually.
Other festivals in the local area include the Washington Cherry Festival, Morton Pumpkin Festival, Tremont Turkey Festival, and East Peoria Festival of Lights.

Government and infrastructure

Pekin is the county seat of Tazewell County, Illinois. Originally under an aldermanic form of government, the city switched to the commission form in 1911, but since 1995 has had a city manager form of government. A mayor and six council members are elected to staggered 4-year terms in April of odd-numbered years. Candidates may start circulating nomination papers in September, but must file them in mid-December.
The Pekin Park District was established in 1902 and still operates, controlled by a 7-member Board of Commissioners elected by the public at the same elections the city council members are.
The city has an Illinois Secretary of State Drivers Services Facility; the next nearest is in Peoria.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons operates the Federal Correctional Institution, Pekin. The United States Postal Service operates the Pekin Post Office.
The Pekin Municipal Airport is a city-owned public-use facility located four nautical miles south of Pekin's central business district.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

includes Pekin and some nearby areas. The district's high school is Pekin Community High School.
The school teams were known as the Pekin Chinks from the 1930s until 1980 when the school administration changed the nickname to the Dragons. The team mascots were a male and a female student wearing stereotypical Chinese attire. The mascots would strike a gong whenever the team scored. An earlier attempt was made by a visit of Chinese American groups to change the name from Chinks during the 1974–1975 school year; this was voted down by the student body. The event received national attention.
In the 1960s the campus was split into two buildings, with the freshman and sophomores at one campus and the juniors and seniors at another. East Campus was expanded in 1997–1998, after which date West Campus closed and all four classes were reunited at the newer campus. After the local community lost in an attempt to save the school building, demolition on the west campus began in 2012 and was finished in 2014. A Dollar General now stands where the historic West Campus once stood.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, the city has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
Pekin lies on the Illinois River, and its John T. McNaughton Bridge connects the city to a small area of land the city has annexed in Peoria County.
Nearby towns include North Pekin, Marquette Heights, Creve Coeur, Groveland, Tremont, Morton, Washington, Lincoln, East Peoria, Peoria, Bartonville, Mapleton, Manito, Delavan, Dillon, Green Valley, Hopedale, and South Pekin.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 34,094 people, 13,820 households, and 8,721 families residing in the city. According to estimates on the census of 2020, the population is currently is 32,255 people. The population density was 2,574.8 people per square mile. There were 14,714 housing units. The racial makeup of the city was 96% White, 2.6% African American, 0.1% Native American or Pacific Islander, 0.9% Asian, 0.9% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.4% of the population.
There were 13,380 households out of which 27% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.1% were married couples living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% were non-families. 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.88.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.9% under the age of 18 and 16% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $41,913, and the median income for a family was $57,145. Males had a median income of $43,485 versus $30,881 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,177. About 10.1% of families and 12.3% of the population were living below the poverty line, including 19.4% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.

Media

The city is served by a daily newspaper, the Pekin Daily Times.

Mayors of the City of Pekin

Bernard Bailey1849–50Resigned at city council's request
Abram Woolston1850–51Won in a special election
James Harriott1851–52
Middleton Tackaberry1853, 1857
Merrill C. Young1854–55
Leonard H. Wilkey1856
Peter Weyrich1858–59
Isaac E. Leonard1860–61
Benjamin S. Prettyman1862
Samuel E. Barber1863
Thomas C. Reeves1864
William W. Sellers1865–66Resigned to accept an appointment to the state legislature
J. Cohenour1865–66Elected to the state legislature
Columbus J.D. Rupert1867–68Appointed
William T. Edds1869Appointed
David T. Thompson1870–71
John Stoltz1872
John Herget1873–74
Columbus R. Cummings1875–76First mayor to serve under a new two-year term length
Abial B. Sawyer1877–78
Herman W. Hippen1879–80
Thomas Cooper1881–84, 1891–92
John L. Smith1885–86
Albert R. Warren1887–88
Ernest F. Unland1889–90
Everett W. Wilson1893–94, 1899–1900
Charles Duisdieker1895–96
Daniel Sapp1897–98, 1905–07
William J. Conzelman1901–04, 1909–11
Henry Schnellbacher1907–09

Commission System

Council-Manager System

David Tebben1995–2003First mayor elected under the council manager form of government
Lyndell Howard2003–2005Removed from office upon felony official misconduct conviction
Frank Mackaman2005–2007Appointed to fill Howard vacancy
David Tebben2007–2008Died in office December 12, 2008
Rusty Dunn2008–2011Appointed to fill Tebben vacancy
Laurie Barra2011–2015First female mayor in Pekin history
John McCabe2015–2019
Mark Luft2019–Present

Notable people