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.

Author's Articles

The city of Pekin currently has four Illinois State Historical Society markers...

Jared L. Olar

May 1, 2024

The historic structure at the southeast corner of Court and Fourth streets...

Jared L. Olar

April 25, 2024

War

As we continue our Pekin Bicentennial series, this week and the next...

Jared L. Olar

April 25, 2024

Pekin and Tazewell County were well represented at the 2024 Illinois State...

Jared L. Olar

April 25, 2024

Since the mid-1990s, the building at 363 Court St. – the northwest...

Jared L. Olar

April 19, 2024

The first years of Pekin’s existence coincided with a period when men...

Jared L. Olar

April 18, 2024

In our previous installment in our Pekin Bicentennial series we reviewed the story...

Jared L. Olar

April 3, 2024