Pekin, nine miles south of Salem on State Road 60, has become famous for its annual Fourth of July celebration – the oldest continuous celebration in the nation.

The Monon Railroad carried hundreds of passengers to Pekin on Independence Day each year so they could attend the Pekin Fourth of July parade and other holiday activities.

Pekin was actually the first town in Washington County to have rail service. While the first New Albany & Salem passenger train reached Salem January 14. 1851, the tracks, and subsequently the trains, reached Pekin almost a year earlier.

A farm community, Pekin and neighboring Borden in Clark County became famous for their berries. The Pekin-Borden Berry Association was responsible for the shipment of many freight carloads of berries on the Monon during the 1930s and 1940s.

The town’s depot was torn down in about 1978, but is alive and well in this model created by John G. Campbell of Louisville. Campbell has also constructed a number of other buildings that were torn down years ago, including the Phillips Mill, which is just across the tracks from the depot.

Photographs of Pekin in its heyday are on the wall in The Depot’s main exhibit area. Included is a photograph showing a special train bringing visitors to one of the early Fourth of July celebrations.

John K. Campbell of Salem landscaped Pekin, including construction the dam across the east fork of Blue River that collected water for a small food processing plant.

View more exciting images at The Depot Gallery

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