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Really enjoyed this. Being from Pekin, and not being back in several years, it brought back alot of memories. Wish it had shown our Park and Lagoon tho, one of Pekins most popular places. The Illinois River and Bridge would have been nice to see, also. Overall, well done! Felt like I was riding in the passenger seat!
Pekin Illinois is my hometown and will always have a place in my heart but since I graduate from highschool in 2017 I moved to Missouri. Pekin wasn't a bad place to grow up in. Just there was a ton of bullying that happens in the schools and etc.
I lived in Pekin from 2010 to 2022, and while I heard of the cities past, I never really saw it. I enjoyed my time there, and dare I say, if I ever moved back to Illinois, I would probably consider moving back to Pekin
I've lived in Pekin my entire life.. When I was younger.. It was okay.. But lately.. I cannot say the same.. Not even in the least bit.. If my sister wasnt buried here.. I'd leave.. But thank you for doing this!!
You may have heard of Buford Pusser from Adamsville TN portrayed in the movie Walking Tall. I'm originally from his area. He had a brother John who ran a tavern in the Pekin area.
Yes I know all about it, because my grandfather, Dewey Simpson, was Buford's private photographer. Buford's brother John, owned Pussers Western Lounge at the bottom of Creve Coeur Hill. The building is now owned by Crusens. Buford's grandson lives in Pekin too.
Didn't show most of Court St or Sunset hills, but still a nice video! I was born in Pekin in 85 and spent my first 9 years here and just moved back last year to raise my family. To me it doesn't seem like the drug problem is nearly as bad now as it was 15-20 years ago, when 1 in 3 houses in Pekin was manufacturing crystal meth. There are alot of fun and family-friendly places and activities to enjoy and our family is very happy here.
Washington Illinois would be a good video for you Chris. Lots of history about Abe Lincoln in small town environment. We suffered a E-4 tornado in 2013. I noticed you talked about the tornado briefly in your Pekin Illinois video.
Born here in 1954. Went to grade school at St Joes. Moved to Indiana in 1963. Been back many times and it still feels like home. It saddens me to hear about the drug problem.
Pekin is a pretty good town now that the damn motorcycle gangs have died off and the rough boys have aged, and gotten some common sense. I was married here after high school, my kids were all born here, I went to church here, my mom and dad died here, my dad and brother, uncles and cousins retired from Caterpillar Tractor Company, I was saved and baptized here, worked at the Model Paint Store, Western Auto Store, Super Value Grocery Store, Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, and still have family here. Many friends have passed away, male and female, and I am contemplating moving back there. I believe it’s as good as any other town it’s size, maybe even better. Thanks for the video, I really appreciate it!!!
Plan on retiring there and buying a home next year. Glad to see that nothing in the video scared me off. Seems like a nice little town. I just wish it showed the mineral springs park. Thanks for the vid!
Me and my wife Randomly moved just outside of Peking … we love pekin .. gets a lot of bad press from what I can tell on RUclips , which I really don’t understand ! Havnt had 1 single negative experience here only positive!
Man, there is so much you missed on the south side. I understand it's a time thing. 😉But we had/have a newer subdivision on the south side as well. Love your videos ♥
Really enjoy your IL town tours Chris. This is my home area (Central IL). Born in Galesburg (saw that) Raised in Peoria and rural Maquon (Knox CTY) and my mother's brother had a Roller Skating rink in down town Pekin in early 60's before a fire burnt it and the lower level bowling alley. Sad.
I enjoyed this video, I’m originally from Peoria IL, and since I was a kid 👧🏾 I was told, this town doesn’t welcome all. I’ve gotten a chance to “ visit “ now..
As a lifelong Peorian, I can tell you most Peorians hate Pekin. The cops there are absolutely barney five. I worked for DHL and a cop pulled me over just to ask me what I was doing there?? Seriously? Whenever Manual played Pekin, the coach of Manual said we are gonna play over here and then get the hell out. Many older people live in both Pekin and Morton. But I have never seen in my life seen such hungry cops in my life. You drive 31 in a 30 and bam, you are pulled over as if you did 200 in a 55. Tons of one way streets that end for no reason. There is no way on the planet I would ever live there. It is very well known how they feel about black people there and it's been this way for decades.
Love your vids. It's neat seeing that you did a vid on my town, but you missed our Walmart lol. If you had kept heading east on Court St instead of turning on Parkway you would have seen that we have a dead Kmart, a B-dubs, a soon to be dead Stock and Field, a dead mall, and a Walmart.
Pekin is the birthplace and hometown of former U.S. Sen. Everett Dirksen, one of Illinois' most respected politicians. He was a Republican who was willing to work across the aisle with Democrats, and was instrumental in getting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed by Congress...
When I grow up I wanna tour cities every state and be just like you I really want to go to NYC and Chicago I already went to la very expensive and myrtle beach I love their food so good I look forward in to going to Chicago and living there for about a year to see everything stay safe drive carefully also because I don’t want you to get in a car crash because I really love ur vids your just like a mini j Utah except you do small cities and maybe a little big cities so keep up the work you got thid
Appreciate that man! By the way, nowhere is off-limits to me. Small cities, big cities, doesn't matter. I plan on making videos on as many places as possible through this channel.
That's right. Every manhole cover in town is a foot deep. Sales tax just went up & the "temporary" wastewater bill is still in effect & now includes a charge for garbage after they made us buy roller garbage cans!
But what I loved the most about driving from Camp Lejune to Mendota Ill. to see my dad was "Kalunk "Kalunk" "Kalunk" It kept me awake for that long drive! LOL!
I never thought in a million years that I would be watching my own beloved town on youtube. I love this town. very rich in history, VERY! haunted behind belief, I truly don't understand why this place is so hated, the people are amazing here, very generous kind and warm. yes of course you have your occasional jerk. but where doesnt it happen? a major plus, the police are actually very decent, they're not out of control here. I don't plan on ever moving out of here. I plan to die here.
@@noahn9382 it’s not a nice town IMO, I don’t know if the local country white folks are nice or not but the town is polluted, smells really bad in the air and the biggest landmark is the prison
Makes me miss home. If your ever back out there head up the hill to Marquette heights just before Pekin. Such a pretty town if you didn't grow up there
I used to live in Pekin back in the late 50's and worked at Cat in East Peoria. As a young man I thought Pekin had the most pretty teenage girls than any city I had visited or lived in.
that same tornado also hit Washington IL and is the one you see on the weather channel Also what about South Pekin ? Totally missed that whole area lol great little town
That Ethanol plant takes every precaution necessary to ensure that all animals and the surrounding environment are protected from chemicals, and emissions use and made by the plant. Such things as NOX systems, flue gas recovery systems and emissions scrubbers are standard and in use 24/7. It even has its own water treatment center. The steam you see coming from the stacks is cleaned water vapor.
Don’t know where the guy that narrated this video got his information at, but Pekin has definitely not a suburb of Peoria. City of Peoria resides in Peoria County, the city of Pekin is the county seat of Tazewell county. After seeing this, wonder how many of the good citizens of Pekin after seeing this have become very perturbed. Whoever is doing this video I think needs to do a little bit more research and get the story straight. My two cents.
Pekin is nasty, it’s extremely polluted and there’s a huge prison there, nothing else really, my dad was in prison there for 3 or so years and me and my siblings didn’t like going to the town. It’s hard to breathe because of all the smokestacks everywhere, you can smell it in the air
@@Pbirv yes! I think so... My cousin... I know my dads brother Bob senior probably didnt for to EP. But BOB jr did. Blonde hair Blue eyes. Harley rider married to Autumn. I think they stay in Creve Cour still.
@@benjamindouglas862 I went to HS in the seventies and remember seeing that dragon symbol all the time maybe need a person from Pekin to say what it was
Pekin can get a bad rap but to be honest it isn’t really that bad. I have been living in Pekin for 13 years and sure we get some bad folks but we also have a lot of nice people. People often see us as a racist town but it really has gotten better over the last 10 years. Sure our city could use some work but if the right people came along it could really help the city and make it beautiful again. Our schools are pretty good and our parks are great. We have a lot of history and there is always something to do. So overall Pekin isn’t bad it just gets a bad rap.
You passed directly by one of my childhood homes on Summer Street near Washington. :) One thing you did miss, however, was the former Commonwealth Edison (now Ameren?) Powerton generation station just south of town and its majestic (IMO) set of transmission towers that meander across the Illinois prairie all the way up to the south side of the Chicago Metro (where I now call home). You can even follow these transmission lines all the way from Pekin to Southern Chicagoland with the Google Maps Satellite view, or in real life along I-155, I-74, I-39, I-55, and I-80. As a kid, growing up there I was fascinated by those huge transmission lines.
Pekin has a long and famous association with the KKK. Still shaking off the rep of a sundowner town. Drugs: Pekin has been the center of the drugs trade since the 60s. All the big bands used to stop off in Pekin and Peoria halfway through their tours to replenish their supplies. Chicago was a lot stricter and the cops in Central Illinois just didn't have a clue. Still don't and the trade flourishes. Other than that it's a rough blue collar, heavily-tattooed town with a decent high school and a good parks district. Most famous citizens are Sen Elliott Dirksen and Dan Fogelberg. The most famous gig ever to happen was just north of Pekin in Creve Coeur - GG Allin's infamous gig - look it up.
People will never let the "sundowner town" die. I see talk about it anywhere Pekin is mentioned even though Pekin hasn't been like that for at least 40 - 50 years.
@@Earthgal1964 A lot more recent than that. Buddy was shift supervisor in a plant there and the couple of black guys he supervised definitely felt it and never hung around.. That was just over a decade ago.
I can bet he forgot the most important fact about old Pekin IL. The first freed slave came from there. It's a little known fact but I believe it should be a huge fact. Look it up and educate yourselves. I came from this place and never learned of it in school....
@@ChrisHarden I joined the military and spent 22 years jumping out of planes. Retired from the Army and now work as a civil servant DoD. Currently living in Hawaii
Pekin is considered disgusting by many, yet, it is not, I've used the lagoon and the building as a postcard before, it is beautiful, also, the Veitnam and Afghanistan war memorial in the Mineral Springs Lagoon path. The Dickson Memorial. The Courthouse which Abraham Lincoln once sat in, the beautiful trees and land of Pekin. Sadly, it is barley funded, and has many homeless, and poor roads and houses. I wish this was not the case, it is a nice mix of a summer breeze and spring heat of 60-79 degrees alot of the summertime, the friendly population. It is truly the American Dream, with it's beautiful Suburban areas, to the historical Washington Intermediate School of 1929, with it having stained glass windows in places. Or the White and Red house near the McDonald's closest to the river. If you want a nice and calm town, Pekin welcomes you with over 25,000 loving and kind residents.
Do all the 50 states and all the major cities. And you will have millions of followers. I can see that already. Then you can travel to other countries and so more videos of their cities.
@@ChrisHarden dude there was so much more up that way, I was born and raised in Pekin and you showed the same block 4 times but didn't even show the rest of Pekin. Not upset you didn't show Walmart just saying you didn't even bother to show the rest of the town.. you passed DQ 3 times 🤣✌️
Please change this name Pekin is not a Suburb of anyone. if you take the map that says we are in the Peoria metropolitan area it doesn't mean we are any where close to the City of Peoria. we are almost 30 min away from Peoria. That term Metropolitan area is so vague and over used. also the page you referenced on Wikipedia is also doesn't call Pekin a suburb just that its in the Metropolitan area of Peoria. I have asked around and all the people i talked to who i might add have lived here there whole life 90 plus yrs for a few and have worked in the local Political offices say its not a suburb. So unless you have a site to reference that says the words suburb and has proof then please don't make us out to be something we are not.
Yes Pekin is a suburb of Peoria. It’s ok. It’s not the end of the world. It’s rather funny that quite a few of you are getting so worked up over it. Here’s your one source that you asked for by the way. www.niche.com/places-to-live/pekin-tazewell-il/
I appreciate the facts that you took the time to look at the outside of Pekin and into the town itself. But it must be said that Pekin is a drug-infested hell hole and everyone should probably stay clear of this area
"Pekin Dragons" - formerly "Pekin Chinks" before political correctness started offending everyone. I liked how you passed my house, but it would have been nice to have seen the western side of Pekin out to the Mall.
You're joking, right? Political correctness, maybe if it was sheer ignorance on the part of all yall hillbillies. But it was a big Klan town, so your comment doesn't fly.
Another thing you didn't mention pekin has a unknown rule you can not work in pekin and live outside pekin .they are strong about money earned there stays there .
Its unknown because that isn't a thing. I live here and work outside of town, as do 90% of the people I know in this town. I would say both living AND working in Pekin is very rare
@@zacharysmith2983 how many people who live in peoria, east peoria, creve cour, washington, etc work in pekin? because that's what Charles yates commented on. not the other way around. of COURSE they don't mind bringing outside money IN pekin, they don't want it LEAVING.
It was in the 50s-60s. I've been here since '79 and I've never met anyone even remotely white supremacist. We've had GDs here since the 90s, Blood tags here and there, no "gangs" I've ever seen except bikers. There's been a meth problem here since the early 90s, lots of farms with anhydrous to steal, heroin is bad, we find needles in unexpected places. We've had random car chases and standoffs, crime is up in the last couple of years. I drive a cab here so I kinda see the dark side of the area more than the light.
@@Aarontank24 A guy from E. Peoria named Matt Hale, weasly looking cops kid, was around here in the 80s trying to start a WP group. He came to an AFSCME pay protest we were having after he found out my coworker was biracial, stood across the street running his mouth, him and one of his big Lurch-looking henchman and a Pekin cop making sure nobody got stupid. He yelled, we yelled back, he left when we started crossing the street. He's been in prison for years for threatening a Federal judge. He's the only one I've ever known being around here. We have more of a problem with meth, heroin and homelessness than anything else.
This is the link to the Pekin PD scanner. It gets interesting and might give you an idea of how it is here. I'm listening to "Tazewell County Sheriff, Pekin Police and Fire - TAZCOM" using the Scanner Radio app, you can listen to it by going to scannerradio.app/?l=NTczNzA
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It’s so funny seeing my town videoed like this! Thank you!
Man, I've lived in Pekin all my life. Awesome video. Also I feel VERY comfortable walking down anywhere in pekin.
This is how you spell very. You are definitely not the Bandit
SAME
@@Vincent-ke5zn The Bandit is East Bound & Down Smokey!
I also live in pekin
Just passed my son's house he lives on Florence and Hensel right there on the corner. Amazing thing having a video where I grew up at . Thank you
Really enjoyed this. Being from Pekin, and not being back in several years, it brought back alot of memories. Wish it had shown our Park and Lagoon tho, one of Pekins most popular places. The Illinois River and Bridge would have been nice to see, also. Overall, well done! Felt like I was riding in the passenger seat!
Right?
You missed the most beautiful park in illinois, and the shopping district old pekin mall area
Pekin Illinois is my hometown and will always have a place in my heart but since I graduate from highschool in 2017 I moved to Missouri. Pekin wasn't a bad place to grow up in. Just there was a ton of bullying that happens in the schools and etc.
I lived in Pekin from 2010 to 2022, and while I heard of the cities past, I never really saw it. I enjoyed my time there, and dare I say, if I ever moved back to Illinois, I would probably consider moving back to Pekin
I've lived in Pekin my entire life.. When I was younger.. It was okay.. But lately.. I cannot say the same.. Not even in the least bit.. If my sister wasnt buried here.. I'd leave.. But thank you for doing this!!
You may have heard of Buford Pusser from Adamsville TN portrayed in the movie Walking Tall. I'm originally from his area. He had a brother John who ran a tavern in the Pekin area.
Yes I know all about it, because my grandfather, Dewey Simpson, was Buford's private photographer. Buford's brother John, owned Pussers Western Lounge at the bottom of Creve Coeur Hill. The building is now owned by Crusens.
Buford's grandson lives in Pekin too.
Didn't show most of Court St or Sunset hills, but still a nice video! I was born in Pekin in 85 and spent my first 9 years here and just moved back last year to raise my family. To me it doesn't seem like the drug problem is nearly as bad now as it was 15-20 years ago, when 1 in 3 houses in Pekin was manufacturing crystal meth. There are alot of fun and family-friendly places and activities to enjoy and our family is very happy here.
Back in the 1960’s there was a whiskey distillery in Pekin. At night the entire city smelled of it. I had a girl friend that lived in Pekin.
Washington Illinois would be a good video for you Chris. Lots of history about Abe Lincoln in small town environment. We suffered a E-4 tornado in 2013. I noticed you talked about the tornado briefly in your Pekin Illinois video.
Made one on Washington a while back ruclips.net/video/9u71UN09l8M/видео.html
Born here in 1954. Went to grade school at St Joes. Moved to Indiana in 1963. Been back many times and it still feels like home. It saddens me to hear about the drug problem.
Name a city that doesn't have a drug problem.
Pekin is a pretty good town now that the damn motorcycle gangs have died off and the rough boys have aged, and gotten some common sense. I was married here after high school, my kids were all born here, I went to church here, my mom and dad died here, my dad and brother, uncles and cousins retired from Caterpillar Tractor Company, I was saved and baptized here, worked at the Model Paint Store, Western Auto Store, Super Value Grocery Store, Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, and still have family here. Many friends have passed away, male and female, and I am contemplating moving back there. I believe it’s as good as any other town it’s size, maybe even better. Thanks for the video, I really appreciate it!!!
Would you recommend buying a house in Pekin?
Plan on retiring there and buying a home next year. Glad to see that nothing in the video scared me off. Seems like a nice little town. I just wish it showed the mineral springs park. Thanks for the vid!
Me and my wife Randomly moved just outside of Peking … we love pekin .. gets a lot of bad press from what I can tell on RUclips , which I really don’t understand ! Havnt had 1 single negative experience here only positive!
Man, there is so much you missed on the south side. I understand it's a time thing. 😉But we had/have a newer subdivision on the south side as well. Love your videos ♥
Thanks, made my Peoria area videos when I was a rook. I like to think I’ve gotten better at showing the good & bad highlights of areas since then 😜
@@ChrisHarden I'll have to catch up with your other vids. :wink:
Former Pekinian. Left in 1989. I could smell Corn Products when you passed it by.
Really enjoy your IL town tours Chris. This is my home area (Central IL). Born in Galesburg (saw that) Raised in Peoria and rural Maquon (Knox CTY) and my mother's brother had a Roller Skating rink in down town Pekin in early 60's before a fire burnt it and the lower level bowling alley. Sad.
2:12 The road your taking in that part of the vid is my old school bus route from last year
Oh god great I am having flashbacks
Noe I remember every one I left at my Primary School
Now*
It’s a KKK town
@@sliv_dawg True
Little Ade's Bicycles on 5th St, Greatest Bike Shop in America!
I enjoyed this video, I’m originally from Peoria IL, and since I was a kid 👧🏾 I was told, this town doesn’t welcome all. I’ve gotten a chance to “ visit “ now..
i grew up here and it really isnt welcoming im so glad i wasnt raised to believe that way and got out
Out of town by sundown.lol.
I lived here most of my life but never held that standard I was always welcoming and raised to judge people by their character not their color
Sadly, we're starting to get more & more undesirables every year since the building of the federal prison on the outskirts of town.
I believe that
As a lifelong Peorian, I can tell you most Peorians hate Pekin. The cops there are absolutely barney five. I worked for DHL and a cop pulled me over just to ask me what I was doing there?? Seriously? Whenever Manual played Pekin, the coach of Manual said we are gonna play over here and then get the hell out. Many older people live in both Pekin and Morton. But I have never seen in my life seen such hungry cops in my life. You drive 31 in a 30 and bam, you are pulled over as if you did 200 in a 55. Tons of one way streets that end for no reason. There is no way on the planet I would ever live there. It is very well known how they feel about black people there and it's been this way for decades.
LOL 😆 It's been a while since you've been here evidently. All I'm gonna say.
I honestly hate that he said we’re a suburb of Peoria because people that live in Pekin hate Peoria
Moved from here to South Carolina in January, it was a fun 36 years but time for something new
@7:11 check out those gas prices. We'll never see them that low ever again.
Home of the Pekin generating station which powers up south suburban Chicago.
My band played the “twisted spoke saloon” in Pekin. We had a lot of fun there
We like to call it the Twisted Spook. A lot of Spooks in there.
aaaa i live there its awesome!
you recored right near where i live!
Love your vids. It's neat seeing that you did a vid on my town, but you missed our Walmart lol. If you had kept heading east on Court St instead of turning on Parkway you would have seen that we have a dead Kmart, a B-dubs, a soon to be dead Stock and Field, a dead mall, and a Walmart.
Pekin is the birthplace and hometown of former U.S. Sen. Everett Dirksen, one of Illinois' most respected politicians. He was a Republican who was willing to work across the aisle with Democrats, and was instrumental in getting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed by Congress...
When I grow up I wanna tour cities every state and be just like you I really want to go to NYC and Chicago I already went to la very expensive and myrtle beach I love their food so good I look forward in to going to Chicago and living there for about a year to see everything stay safe drive carefully also because I don’t want you to get in a car crash because I really love ur vids your just like a mini j Utah except you do small cities and maybe a little big cities so keep up the work you got thid
Appreciate that man! By the way, nowhere is off-limits to me. Small cities, big cities, doesn't matter. I plan on making videos on as many places as possible through this channel.
Better hold that camera steady lot of potholes in that s*** hole City Road's absolutely suck.
That's right. Every manhole cover in town is a foot deep. Sales tax just went up & the "temporary" wastewater bill is still in effect & now includes a charge for garbage after they made us buy roller garbage cans!
Went to high school in pekin and miss my grandma and my dad.
I went to west campas in 81-82
But what I loved the most about driving from Camp Lejune to Mendota Ill. to see my dad was "Kalunk "Kalunk" "Kalunk" It kept me awake for that long drive! LOL!
Drove past my childhood house. 1009 S. 3rd St, pekin, I’ll 61554
Love your video
I never thought in a million years that I would be watching my own beloved town on youtube. I love this town. very rich in history, VERY! haunted behind belief, I truly don't understand why this place is so hated, the people are amazing here, very generous kind and warm. yes of course you have your occasional jerk. but where doesnt it happen? a major plus, the police are actually very decent, they're not out of control here. I don't plan on ever moving out of here. I plan to die here.
WHAT HAPPENED TO KAREN RIDGE ?!!! FROM PEKIN - DEAD IN GOOFY RIDGE. AMERICA DESERVES ANSWERS.
Pekin is actually a very underrated town. Quite a bit better than many people realize. Channel 25 seems to demonize the town a lot. Just my opinion.
Robert Bee deserves justice!
Very rich history of racism
@@noahn9382 it’s not a nice town IMO, I don’t know if the local country white folks are nice or not but the town is polluted, smells really bad in the air and the biggest landmark is the prison
Pekin Just had it's 200th Birthday 🎉
Makes me miss home. If your ever back out there head up the hill to Marquette heights just before Pekin. Such a pretty town if you didn't grow up there
Dude. Trent! Oh my god!
I used to live in Pekin back in the late 50's and worked at Cat in East Peoria. As a young man I thought Pekin had the most pretty teenage girls than any city I had visited or lived in.
Pedo
No mention of Pekin being one of the last sundown towns, the racist af origional name for their high school team or ties with the clue cluck clowns???
that same tornado also hit Washington IL and is the one you see on the weather channel Also what about South Pekin ? Totally missed that whole area lol great little town
I'm interested in going here to
You really should, I love here and it's awesome
That Ethanol plant takes every precaution necessary to ensure that all animals and the surrounding environment are protected from chemicals, and emissions use and made by the plant. Such things as NOX systems, flue gas recovery systems and emissions scrubbers are standard and in use 24/7. It even has its own water treatment center. The steam you see coming from the stacks is cleaned water vapor.
then why did it give me asthma through my childhood, and why does the air still reek, place is garbage past Derby st.
the bldgs look very nicely maintained
Not only what I said above, Pekin looks clean and free of litter.
Don't worry. Pekin confuses everyone with all the weird one ways. Life goals @12:35
Don’t know where the guy that narrated this video got his information at, but Pekin has definitely not a suburb of Peoria. City of Peoria resides in Peoria County, the city of Pekin is the county seat of Tazewell county. After seeing this, wonder how many of the good citizens of Pekin after seeing this have become very perturbed. Whoever is doing this video I think needs to do a little bit more research and get the story straight. My two cents.
Looks like a nice town especially as close as it is to Peoria, too bad more cities and towns aren't like this one
Pekin is nasty, it’s extremely polluted and there’s a huge prison there, nothing else really, my dad was in prison there for 3 or so years and me and my siblings didn’t like going to the town. It’s hard to breathe because of all the smokestacks everywhere, you can smell it in the air
DAMNIT!! They bypassed the Hole In The Wall!!
4:14. My daddy told that use to be called "gun & knife club" . The back room with all the names. The whole vibe is neat. R.I.P PaPa Joe Beoletto.
@@aboveallLove523 Joe Beoletto? Was he related to a Bob Beoletto from East Peoria? He was a year behind me at EPCHS.
@@Pbirv yes! I think so... My cousin... I know my dads brother Bob senior probably didnt for to EP. But BOB jr did. Blonde hair Blue eyes. Harley rider married to Autumn. I think they stay in Creve Cour still.
@@aboveallLove523 Yup! That’s him. Haven’t seen him in 25 years.
@@aboveallLove523 the knife and gun club was on Koch Street.
What was the High School's mascot in the 70s?
Dragon
Something I can’t say on social media. Even though it was the name of the mascot until they thankfully changed it to the dragons
@@jessileigh1023 I'm an East Coaster now but I was born in Peoria, and my Dad graduated from Pekin in 1971 so I know exactly what word you can't say.
@@eugeneelar2231 No it wasn't, not until 1980. It was something far, far more offensive at least today.
@@benjamindouglas862 I went to HS in the seventies and remember seeing that dragon symbol all the time maybe need a person from Pekin to say what it was
I have never heard Pekin being Suburb of Peoria..😊
Used to be a great town but that ended after the 80's!
I like Pekin! Pekin pretty cool. Pekin Dragons! What can i say!
Very odd how left out half the town where all the major commercial businesses are.
Pekin can get a bad rap but to be honest it isn’t really that bad. I have been living in Pekin for 13 years and sure we get some bad folks but we also have a lot of nice people. People often see us as a racist town but it really has gotten better over the last 10 years. Sure our city could use some work but if the right people came along it could really help the city and make it beautiful again. Our schools are pretty good and our parks are great. We have a lot of history and there is always something to do. So overall Pekin isn’t bad it just gets a bad rap.
💯
my somewhat beautiful hometown lol
You should come back here and do a comparison split screen video, call it "PEKIN, THEN AND NOW".
You passed directly by one of my childhood homes on Summer Street near Washington. :) One thing you did miss, however, was the former Commonwealth Edison (now Ameren?) Powerton generation station just south of town and its majestic (IMO) set of transmission towers that meander across the Illinois prairie all the way up to the south side of the Chicago Metro (where I now call home). You can even follow these transmission lines all the way from Pekin to Southern Chicagoland with the Google Maps Satellite view, or in real life along I-155, I-74, I-39, I-55, and I-80. As a kid, growing up there I was fascinated by those huge transmission lines.
I grew up in Capitol 2 blocks from Jefferson School
Ya the smell of corn products went to Lincoln school in the 70s. Washington jr high
Pekin has a long and famous association with the KKK. Still shaking off the rep of a sundowner town. Drugs: Pekin has been the center of the drugs trade since the 60s. All the big bands used to stop off in Pekin and Peoria halfway through their tours to replenish their supplies. Chicago was a lot stricter and the cops in Central Illinois just didn't have a clue. Still don't and the trade flourishes. Other than that it's a rough blue collar, heavily-tattooed town with a decent high school and a good parks district. Most famous citizens are Sen Elliott Dirksen and Dan Fogelberg. The most famous gig ever to happen was just north of Pekin in Creve Coeur - GG Allin's infamous gig - look it up.
People will never let the "sundowner town" die. I see talk about it anywhere Pekin is mentioned even though Pekin hasn't been like that for at least 40 - 50 years.
@@Earthgal1964 A lot more recent than that. Buddy was shift supervisor in a plant there and the couple of black guys he supervised definitely felt it and never hung around.. That was just over a decade ago.
Derby st hasnt had a city improvement for 30 yrs finally after threats to move shops off the st city is fixing it
Lived in Pekin most of 58 yrs then moved.
And if you were to drive to the south side of pekin you would swear you are in south side of peoria.
What are the videos you are editing right now
East Peoria, IL,
Washington, IL,
Pontiac, IL and
Springfield, IL
In that order
Ya never went to south side😓😓😓😓
I lived in Pekin for 6 months I loved it but certain circumstances have caused me to have to move away
Lborn there in 62 and left in 1989,looks like the same decayed streets and sidewalks
My cousins place Maquet’s rail house is 10/10 highly recommended it
I can bet he forgot the most important fact about old Pekin IL. The first freed slave came from there. It's a little known fact but I believe it should be a huge fact. Look it up and educate yourselves. I came from this place and never learned of it in school....
What a sad state to see Pekin in. Glad I left, feel sorry for those that stayed.
Where did you leave to?
@@ChrisHarden All over the world. Retired Paratrooper. Currently living in Hawaii.
@@ChrisHarden I joined the military and spent 22 years jumping out of planes. Retired from the Army and now work as a civil servant DoD. Currently living in Hawaii
I've lived in Peoria my whole life and all I ever heard about Pekin was that it wasn't friendly and it do not accept all people
Out of Town by sundown.lol.
It's not like that now. We have a mixture of all races now. ♥
That's my dad's house towards the end lol.
Greetings from Pekin China to Pekin IL
I advise you NOT to visit Pekin IL after dark.
@@Onetazien Why is that?
@@Earthgal1964 i dont think they have a reason
He misses the entire south end where every other house is boarded up. Smh
Can you do new jersey
Eventually. Can’t tell you when unfortunately
Pekin is considered disgusting by many, yet, it is not, I've used the lagoon and the building as a postcard before, it is beautiful, also, the Veitnam and Afghanistan war memorial in the Mineral Springs Lagoon path. The Dickson Memorial. The Courthouse which Abraham Lincoln once sat in, the beautiful trees and land of Pekin. Sadly, it is barley funded, and has many homeless, and poor roads and houses. I wish this was not the case, it is a nice mix of a summer breeze and spring heat of 60-79 degrees alot of the summertime, the friendly population. It is truly the American Dream, with it's beautiful Suburban areas, to the historical Washington Intermediate School of 1929, with it having stained glass windows in places. Or the White and Red house near the McDonald's closest to the river. If you want a nice and calm town, Pekin welcomes you with over 25,000 loving and kind residents.
It's all just their opinion or the opinion of their brainwasher. Don't let it bother ya. We know Pekin is a better place now than it was 40 years ago.
Hi, I live in South Pekin. Point of advice, don't live in South Pekin
Do all the 50 states and all the major cities. And you will have millions of followers. I can see that already. Then you can travel to other countries and so more videos of their cities.
Pekin population is est. 32,000k
Your title is wrong 4k??? NO way I grew up here it is larger than 4k!
4K as in 4K video 🤣😂
Tissue is tissue like hand is hand
YOU LEGIT ONLY SHOWED HALF OF PEKIN.. like you didn't even go up to where the main restaurants, hotels and Walmart was tf.
So… you’re upset that I didn’t show the Pekin Walmart?
@@ChrisHarden dude there was so much more up that way, I was born and raised in Pekin and you showed the same block 4 times but didn't even show the rest of Pekin. Not upset you didn't show Walmart just saying you didn't even bother to show the rest of the town.. you passed DQ 3 times 🤣✌️
Don't get me wrong, it was awesome seeing my home town in a video though.
@@RachelWinget I like ice cream what can I say
@@ChrisHarden 😂
Home of Everett McKinley Dirksen.
Please change this name Pekin is not a Suburb of anyone. if you take the map that says we are in the Peoria metropolitan area it doesn't mean we are any where close to the City of Peoria. we are almost 30 min away from Peoria. That term Metropolitan area is so vague and over used. also the page you referenced on Wikipedia is also doesn't call Pekin a suburb just that its in the Metropolitan area of Peoria. I have asked around and all the people i talked to who i might add have lived here there whole life 90 plus yrs for a few and have worked in the local Political offices say its not a suburb. So unless you have a site to reference that says the words suburb and has proof then please don't make us out to be something we are not.
Yes Pekin is a suburb of Peoria. It’s ok. It’s not the end of the world. It’s rather funny that quite a few of you are getting so worked up over it.
Here’s your one source that you asked for by the way. www.niche.com/places-to-live/pekin-tazewell-il/
Man, I have WEIRD memories of Pekin! Yikes! 🤢🤮😆
Sigh…..ooh..ooh…………sigh…..ooh..ooh..and so on forever.
McDonald's and a happyeal in a playground well tv is still able to watch from the floor how is that two times touched story
You..forgot..the..federal..prison..lol
I live in pekin. But moving out too. Taxes n the druggie owning the streets sucks. We have homeless camps all over.
And Pekin Mall is dead. ☹
I appreciate the facts that you took the time to look at the outside of Pekin and into the town itself. But it must be said that Pekin is a drug-infested hell hole and everyone should probably stay clear of this area
sudo skate it’s a KKK hot bed too
Lived on Ann Eliza 50 ft from front door of west campus🤣🤣🤣🤡🤡🤡🙈🙈🙈
Two thousand phony story of the family services to be hold and held do to helping my family
I SAW MY GRANDMAS HOUSE
Im from Joliet I used to date a girl from pekin 17 years ago 😂
Tweakin Pekin , Haunted by Herion.
lmfao😹😹
But if you need meth see Andy Hoyle
Ehhh, you want to see "haunted by heroin" drive down Pulaski on the west side of Chicago.
🤣🤣🤣I was waiting for this comment. "Tweakin Pekin" that part.
LOL Avoid the druggies like the plague.
Maid on wheels could not cute this turd of appeal
"Pekin Dragons" - formerly "Pekin Chinks" before political correctness started offending everyone.
I liked how you passed my house, but it would have been nice to have seen the western side of Pekin out to the Mall.
You're joking, right? Political correctness, maybe if it was sheer ignorance on the part of all yall hillbillies. But it was a big Klan town, so your comment doesn't fly.
@@hummer2223 - You're looking at different time periods. Political Correctness didn't rear its ugly head until long after the Klan's departure.
@@ep61611 um, I'm an almost 60yo American born Chinese. That chit was never acceptable - at ANY time
@@hummer2223 Then why would they wait until the 80s to change it? That's crazy.
I knew a guy from Pekin while I was at ISU in the 70s. I hope karma caught up with him.
Karma never forgets an address. ♥
WHAT HAPPENED TO KAREN VANCE IN GOOFY RIDGE / PEKIN?!! AMERICA DESERVES ANSWERS.
Another thing you didn't mention pekin has a unknown rule you can not work in pekin and live outside pekin .they are strong about money earned there stays there .
Its unknown because that isn't a thing. I live here and work outside of town, as do 90% of the people I know in this town. I would say both living AND working in Pekin is very rare
@@zacharysmith2983 how many people who live in peoria, east peoria, creve cour, washington, etc work in pekin? because that's what Charles yates commented on. not the other way around. of COURSE they don't mind bringing outside money IN pekin, they don't want it LEAVING.
@@davidburton3447 I know plenty of people who work in the Pekin school districts that live in other cities.
I've lived in Pekin all my life & never heard of this. You're full of beans.
I'm gonna call BS and ask for proof. 😉lol
I've heard that Pekin is a pretty racist town.
It was in the 50s-60s. I've been here since '79 and I've never met anyone even remotely white supremacist. We've had GDs here since the 90s, Blood tags here and there, no "gangs" I've ever seen except bikers. There's been a meth problem here since the early 90s, lots of farms with anhydrous to steal, heroin is bad, we find needles in unexpected places. We've had random car chases and standoffs, crime is up in the last couple of years. I drive a cab here so I kinda see the dark side of the area more than the light.
In the 50-70s I heard but not right now
@@Aarontank24 A guy from E. Peoria named Matt Hale, weasly looking cops kid, was around here in the 80s trying to start a WP group. He came to an AFSCME pay protest we were having after he found out my coworker was biracial, stood across the street running his mouth, him and one of his big Lurch-looking henchman and a Pekin cop making sure nobody got stupid. He yelled, we yelled back, he left when we started crossing the street. He's been in prison for years for threatening a Federal judge. He's the only one I've ever known being around here. We have more of a problem with meth, heroin and homelessness than anything else.
This is the link to the Pekin PD scanner. It gets interesting and might give you an idea of how it is here.
I'm listening to "Tazewell County Sheriff, Pekin Police and Fire - TAZCOM" using the Scanner Radio app, you can listen to it by going to scannerradio.app/?l=NTczNzA
GamingAaron 11 so cool when it was racist lol makes sense