Here's the story behind some of Pekin's street names, from Court Street to Dirksen Court
It is common practice in communities throughout the United States to name some streets after a town’s founders or more prominent natives. Pekin is no exception to this rule, as many of the city’s street names provide a glimpse into its history.
Ann Eliza Street
Beginning at Eighth Street and running parallel to Margaret Street before becoming Illinois Route 9 and crossing the John T. McNaughton Bridge, this street was named for Ann Eliza Cromwell. The wife of Maj. Nathan Cromwell, one of Pekin’s founders, she is credited in Charles C. Chapman’s 1879 book “History of Tazewell County,” with having given the town its name. According to Pekin Public Library local history specialist Jared Olar, she is also said to have selected the names for most of the original town’s streets.
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Court Street
One of Pekin’s main thoroughfares Court Street was probably named sometime after 1914, when the Tazewell County Courthouse was built in Pekin. Olar unearthed a Sept. 8, 1930, Pekin Daily Times article that referenced “A roar of racing autos down Court Street …,” which shows that the name was in use by then. It seems safe to assume that Court Street got its name because it runs past a county courthouse.
Dirksen Court
Everett McKinley Dirksen is quite possibly Pekin’s favorite son, and no sampling of the city’s street names would be complete without a reference to him.
A former U.S. Representative and Senator, Dirksen helped write and pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He has given his name to a local park, a primary school and the Everett Dirksen Congressional Center. One of Pekin’s premier annual events, the Marigold Festival, pays tribute to Dirksen by celebrating his favorite flower. In light of his local prominence, it is rather surprising that only a small section of road between North Capitol Street and Sommerset Street bears his name in Pekin. Dirksen Parkway in Springfield and Dirksen Drive in DeBary, Florida, where Dirksen was a winter resident in his later years, were both named in his honor.
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Haines Avenue
Running between St. Joseph Place and Hillyer Street, Haines Avenue was named for William Haines who, in partnership with Maj. Isaac Perkins, Gideon Hawley, and Cromwell, purchased the town plot that would become Pekin in 1829. According to a contemporary account included “History of Tazewell County,” the land auction, which took place in Springfield became contentious when a heavily armed man named Harrington bid $1.25 an acre for the tract and threatened to shoot anyone who bid higher. He was awarded the land, but was captured by the partners, who “persuaded” him to make out deeds for the land.
According to a December 2011 article by Olar, Haines was the inspiration for several of Pekin’s feminine street names. Jane, Lucinda, Sarah Ann and Henrietta Streets were named for Haines’ first wife, second wife, daughter and cousin, respectively.
Tharp Street
Jonathan Tharp became Pekin’s first non-Indian permanent residence when he built his log cabin on the east bank of the Illinois River. According to an article that local historian Fred W. Soady Jr. wrote for the Summer 1964 edition of “The Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society,” the local Native Americans, mostly Potawatomi, did not object to the cabin or its occupant, which encouraged Tharp’s father and brother to settle there. The street that bears his name begins in the east at Arlington Circle, then runs west before curving southward to end at the junction of Arlington Circle and Memorial Drive.
This article originally appeared on Pekin Daily Times: How Pekin streets like Dirksen Court, Haines Avenue were named
