North Eighth Street Plaza

This city is beautifully situated on the eastern shore of the Illinois river. During its early history it enjoyed the advantages of being a river-town. Since the advent of railroads into the county, it has been bountifully supplied with the " steel rail " and the " iron horse," which has very largely replaced the steam-boat as a means of traffic and travel. The earliest pioneers, the very advance guard of civilization, as they wended their way up the placid Illinois, and plunged into the wilderness, where dwelt the red man and wild beasts of forest and plain, were especially attracted by the beautiful lay of the country upon which Pekin is located. They looked upon it as a most favorable site for a town, and, ere a lot had been laid off or a stake driven, it was christened " Town Site." It was thus known far and wide by those who traversed the river. We have been fortunate enough to secure, from the old journals of the late venerable Jacob Tharp (whose son was the first settler, and who was, himself, the second person to locate here), a very minute and interesting sketch of the settlement of Pekin. These journals are in the possession of Mr. W. F. Coopes, of Cincinnati township, to whom we are indebted for them. We quote in his own language :

Passage source: History of Tazewell County, Illinois ; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois ... Digest of State Laws, published 1879.

Jacob Tharp was a large, robust man, and lived almost long enough to celebrate his centennial birthday. He was born in 1773 and survived till 1872. Much of his life was spent upon the frontier, opening up and developing new country for coming generations. He died at Lancaster, Peoria county, 111., and his remains were brought to his old home and interred at Pekin. A daughter of his, Mrs. Mary D. Taggart, and the mother of W. F. Copes, resides in Cincinnati township. The manuscript, of which the above is an extract, was put in shape by the old gentleman himself, about 1860, and revised about 1872.

Passage source: History of Tazewell County, Illinois ; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois ... Digest of State Laws, published 1879.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Pekin Township - 28,912 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.