This is a reprint of a “From the Local History Room” column that first appeared in June 2014, before the launch of this weblog.
Assorted scenes from Pekin’s past
By Jared Olar
Local History Specialist
Among the items, articles and relics preserved in the Pekin Public Library’s Local History Room is a file containing an assortment of old photographs from Pekin’s past.
Many of the photos were clipped from old newspapers, while many others are old prints, postcards and portraits that over the years were donated to the library for preservation. Some of them evidently came from old scrapbooks.
Together these images almost form a photo album of miscellaneous pictures from the community’s history. Following is a sample of the photos from this file.
One photo, dated Aug. 7, 1927, shows two children sitting in a toy wagon – Ann Crumbaker of Abingdon and James Unland. The photo, which was clipped from an old newspaper, was taken at the Unland home at 807 Bacon Street. The caption says Ann Crumbaker was a granddaughter of the late Rev. M. V. Crumbaker, a former pastor in Pekin.
Turning that clipping over, one finds a group photo of “Pekin City Mail Carriers 26 Years Ago,” dated April 20, 1930. The caption identifies the men as Frank E. Hatcher, Peter Trimpi, W. Y. Franks, Charles Cohenour, C. F. Dittmer and Henry Mohr. Unfortunately part of the photo was cropped, so Franks and Mohr have been cut off. The caption says C. A. Kuhl was then the postmaster, and adds that the photo had been supplied by Mrs. Peter Trimpi of 709 S. Seventh St.
The file also contains two larger photos showing industrial plants, including an aerial view of the old Standard Brands plant which formerly employed many residents of Pekin.
Two other photos – one of a husband and wife, and the other of a baby girl – bear the official business logo of Coles Studies of Pekin and Delavan, the business of Pekin’s pioneer photographer Henry Hobart Cole (1833-1925), who was responsible for creating many historical photographs of Pekin and other parts of Tazewell County. The writing on these two photos identifies the persons in the photos as “Mr & Mrs Green; Mrs Piles youngest sister” and “Ester Green, daughter of Mr. and Mrs Green.”
Another more recent photo is dated Feb. 1982 and was taken by Frank Mackaman. The black-and-white image shows an unidentified man driving a small single-rider snow plow and clearing a parking lot following a snow storm that winter.
For our final sample from the file, there are two photos from Aug. 7, 1927 of “Pekin’s Lady Lindbergh – Miss Anna Behrens, head bookkeeper of the American National bank, who leaves for Chicago soon to complete her flying course, started at Varney field. She had already had several flattering offers for demonstration work,” the caption says.
Anna M. Behrens (born 18 March 1898 in Pekin, died 29 May 1967 in Los Angeles County, Calif.) was the second daughter and fifth child of Henry D. and Catherine A. (Dircks) Behrens. Her father Henry (1863-1934), a son of German immigrants from Hesse-Darmstadt, was a painter at the Smith Wagon Co. in Pekin. Her mother Catherine was a descendant of Germans of Ostfriesland. Anna is buried in Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, Calif.
