Author
Local History Program Coordinator at the Pekin Public Library. I oversee the library’s local history room collection, write a weekly local history column/weblog for the library, and present local history programs at the library and in the community.
The first years of Pekin’s existence coincided with a period when men...
Jared L. Olar
April 18, 2024
In 2019, Ashley and Russell Spencer opened a bar and grill in...
Jared L. Olar
April 12, 2024
As we recalled last week, the same year that Pekin voted to...
Jared L. Olar
April 11, 2024
In our previous installment in our Pekin Bicentennial series we reviewed the story...
Jared L. Olar
April 3, 2024
Of Pekin’s remaining historic downtown storefronts, perhaps Hamm’s Furniture’s high-peaked façade at...
Jared L. Olar
March 30, 2024
Our Bicentennial series on the history of Pekin continues this week with...
Jared L. Olar
March 28, 2024
In a previous post here, we looked into the historical accounts and legends...
Jared L. Olar
March 21, 2024
Since the early 2000s, the building at 337 Court St. has been...
Jared L. Olar
March 20, 2024
The first 19 years of Pekin’s history cover the period when our...
Jared L. Olar
March 14, 2024
The final resting place of Nance Legins-Costley’s eldest child now has a...
Jared L. Olar
March 7, 2024
As we continue our Bicentennial series on Pekin’s history, this week we...
Jared L. Olar
March 7, 2024
The buildings in Pekin’s historic downtown range in age from about a...
Jared L. Olar
March 6, 2024
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