Lakeside Cemetery Walk

Visit graves of notable people from Pekin’s past

Lakeside Cemetery, Pekin's largest burial ground, is on the city's north side, on the west side of Illinois Route 29. As the city's oldest extant cemetery, Lakeside is the resting place of numerous prominent men and woman from Pekin's history, including many of the city's pioneer mayors who feature prominently in this walking tour. Originally two adjacent cemeteries -- Oak Grove (formerly Temperance) and Lakeside -- but Oak Grove is now the oldest section of the cemetery administered by the Lakeside Cemetery Association. As the oldest section, the Oak Grove section (which includes six sub-sections) is the resting place of Pekin's pioneer families. Oak Grove or Temperance Cemetery was established 10 April 1848 by William and Jerusha Stansberry. Some of Oak Grove's burials had formerly been at the Old Sons of Temperance Burial Ground on Pekin's East Bluff, but were moved to make way for McKinley School. Similarly, the burials at the old Tharp Pioneer Burial Ground were moved to Oak Grove to make way for the building of the first Douglas School, while other Tharp Pioneer burials were discovered in 1988 and moved to Oak Grove. The Old City Cemetery's burials were also transferred to Oak Grove.

Old Lakeside Cemetery, consisting of seven sections, was established adjoining the south border of Oak Grove/Temperance Cemetery. The seventh section of Old Lakeside is also known as the first addition, which was laid out in 1874. The Steinmetz Chapel, long since torn down, formerly stood in Old Lakeside. The remainder of Lakeside, which is the largest part of the cemetery, is called the second addition (currently having 20 sub-sections), and is on the south of Old Lakeside. Lakeside Mausoleum is in the second addition. The northernmost section of Lakeside Cemetery, on the north side of the Oak Grove section, is the Shillings Addition, consisting of three small sub-sections adjacent to the Lakeside Cemetery Association offices and monument shop.

Indexes of burials of Lakeside, Oak Grove, and Old City Cemetery may be consulted in the Local History Room of the Pekin Public Library