Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1832.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Pekin’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pekin is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #144 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pekin’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Pekin’s 1.9 sits above most of its state (66% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1829.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Pekin’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Farmer Jonathan Tharp, who came from Ohio, was the first non-native American resident of what would become Pekin, 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 Potawatomi, which was situated along Gravel Ridge, on the eastern shore of what is today Pekin Lake in northwest Pekin.
Passages that mention Pekin, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Tazewell county, Illinois1879 · page 301Read the page →
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Pekin township was at first one tier of sections less north and south than it is at present. The northern tier of sections of Cincinnati was taken from that township and added to Pekin. It was named after the city of Pekin.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Tazewell county, Illinois1879 · page 580Read the page →
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Methodism was the pioneer Church of Pekin and of Tazewell county. In 1826, Jacob Tharp and family pitched their tents on the banks of the Illinois river, and on the present town site of the city of Pekin. In 1823-4, Sangamon Circuit was laid out, which comprised all territory lying between Springfield and Lake Michigan. Rev. Samuel Thompson was appointed Presiding Elder, and Rev. Jesse Walker was appointed as a missionary, taking in Pekin and Fort Clark. Jesse Walker is therefore booked as the first
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Souvenir of early and notable events in the history of the North West territory, Illinois, and Tazewell County, including the names of those who have served the county in various official capacities1916 · page 23Read the page →
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John Alfs 1914-16 C.J. Abbott 1916-18 Cincinnati To^'nship — T. 24 N. R The township of Cincinnati, joining Pekin on the south, lost its northern tier of sections by assignment to Pekin. thus bringing the spot where Jonathan Tharp built his first log cabin within Pekin"s limits. The first election was held in Pekin at the "Cincinnati Hotel," Maj. Perkins, Elisha Perkins, William Woodrow. Hugh Woodrow, Samuel Woodrow, and John Summers, settled in this township as early as 1826; also Daniel Rankin and brother about the same time. The first
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Pekin, 1829 to 1952
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1829, according to Wikidata. Pekin’s post office opened in 1832, and the census of 1850 counted 1,678 people here.
How does Pekin rank for history?
Pekin is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #144 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Pekin?
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Pekin Federal Building (listed 1980, the first). 6 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Pekin?
21% of Pekin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1961.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2023
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