Since the mid-1990s, the building at 363 Court St. – the northwest corner of Court and Fourth – has been the home of Yesterday’s Bar & Grill, a popular fixture of Pekin’s historic downtown with a pub-like atmosphere.
The history and prehistory of 363 Court St., however, reaches back long before the 1990s, extending over a period of more than 160 years, and features one of the most prominent and influential families in Pekin’s history, the Hergets.
Before the story of this building begins, we find that the location at or immediately to the west of the northwest corner of Court and Fourth streets has a connection to none other than Abraham Lincoln. N. H. Wilson ran a grocery store at this location in the 1830s, and Seth Wilson worked as a clerk in the store. Seth was called as a witness in the Sept. 1838 case of Crain v. Crain et al., a dispute over a land sale in which Abraham Lincoln was an attorney. James Crain had bought some land from Lewis F. Crain and fully paid him for the land. Lewis Crain died before conveying a deed to James Crain for the land. James Crain then retained Lincoln and sued the heirs of Lewis Crain in an action of specific performance to compel them to convey a deed for the land. James Crain agreed to pay the firm of Stuart & Lincoln $500 if the court granted his claim to possession of the land or $300 if the court granted every claim but the possession of the land. However, James Crain later dismissed his case.
Moving ahead to 1858, that is that year German immigrant George Herget (1833-1914) opened a retail grocery store in downtown Pekin. Two years later, George Herget‘s older brother John Herget (1830-1899) became his partner in a groceries and dry goods business known as J. & G. Herget. This business first appears in the 1861 Pekin city directory, which says the store was then located at the southeast corner of Court and Fourth. In 1870, however, the Hergets built a new building at the northwest corner of Court and Fourth, catty-corner from where their dry goods store had been. Thus, the 1871 Pekin city directory shows J. & G. Herget at that site. (In 1887, the German-American National Bank would open at the same corner where J. & G. Herget once had been.)
This dry goods store continued in operation for many years, but it wasn’t long before the Hergets diversified into other ventures, including wholesale liquor, distilling, and pork rectifying. To accommodate these businesses, the Herget brothers relocated their grocery store to 429-431 Court St., while George Herget’s Globe Distilling Co., as well as their dry goods, liquor store, and pork rectifying businesses, occupied what was known as the Herget Block at and near the northwest corner of Court and Fourth. The Herget Block included the storefronts from 357 to 363 Court St., formerly numbered 425-431 Court., which includes today’s Pekin Performing Arts Center Building and Classical Dance Academy (formerly Reuling’s).
On 17 April 1905, George Herget and his sons William P. Herget (1868-1941) and Henry G. Herget (1862-1943) opened a private bank, called Herget & Sons, at 363 Court St., the east end of the Herget Block, which was extensive remodeled to serve as a bank. Their bank’s original board of directors included George Herget and his sons, along with Flavel Shurtleff (1842-1920), George Ehrlicher (1858-1934), and Henry Birkenbush (1851-1947). Five years later, Herget & Sons Bank obtained a national charter, and became Herget National Bank. At the new national bank’s first board of directors meeting on 4 June 1910, George Herget was elected president, his sons William and Henry were elected vice presidents, Charles H. Turner (1859-1945) was elected cashier, and William A. Stockert (1880-1972) was named assistant cashier. Herget National Bank quickly became one of the chief pillars of Pekin’s economic and community life.
Herget National Bank flourished in the 363 Court St. building until the late 1950s, by which time it became evident that the bank needed a new and larger facility. In 1958, Herget built a new $500,000 structure at 33 S. Fourth St., and on Monday, 11 Aug. 1958, Herget National Bank left 363 Court St. and moved into its new building. There they remained until Herget’s merger with Busey Bank in March 2015.
After the departure of Herget National Bank from their original home, the 363 Court St. building remained vacant until the mid-1960s. In the 1966 Pekin city directory, however, we find that James M. Unland (1922-2010) and his wife Judith J. (Johnston) Unland (1921-1992) had opened a new business there called Carriage Corner Card & Candy Center. The Unlands continued to operate Carriage Corner until the mid-1970s. In the 1976 directory, we see that the name of the business had been changes to Thoughtfulness Shop card and candy center, but the directory that year still listed the Unlands as proprietors. The following year, though, the city directory shows Virgil R. Lowe and Kathleen Lowe, residents of Lincoln, Illinois, as the owners of Thoughtfulness Shop.
The Lowes kept Thoughtfulness Shop running until about 1980 – it was last listed in the 1981 Pekin city directory. After it closed, 363 Court St. remained vacant for the next three years. Then in 1985 directory, we find that Carol D. Graves had opened a women’s apparel shop called Little Red Hen Outlet Inc., and in the year following we find that Graves had also opened the Little Red Hen Tea Room in 363 1/2 Court St. alongside her clothing store. Graves’ women’s clothing store is last listed in the 1987 directory, but Tea Room continued to appear until 1989 directory.
About this same time, the Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce moved into the 363 Court St. building, being listed at that address from 1988 to 1900. It seems fitting that the Chamber of Commerce was based for a while in the former Herget Bank building, because in Oct. 1893 George Herget had been one of the signers of the charter for the Citizens Improvement Association of Pekin, ancestor of the Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce.
The 1988 city directory also lists an ephemeral business at 363 Court St. called Asbestos & Environ-Clean Inc., and asbestos removal service of which Jean E. Eddy was president and Carol D. Graves was secretary. After the departure of the Chamber of Commerce, 363 Court St. again went vacant for about three years. The 1993 directory shows Faith Leininger’s Enviro Care Insurance Agency at this address, but Leininger’s business also did not last long and the building went vacant again.
Finally, the 1996 Pekin city directory heralded the arrival of Yesterday’s Bar & Grill. Jetta Christensen owned and operated Yesterday’s until 27 April 2007, when she sold the building and business to James A. Schramm. The current owners of the business and building include Jim Schramm, Joy C. Schramm, and Joelle C. Schramm.
