South Pekin began as a railway station on the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad (C&NW).

[3] Settlement began in the 1820s in the South Pekin area when white settlers arrived in the future Tazewell County.

A few years later, C&NW decided to build a line of access to the coal field and carry freight between Chicago and St.

[3] More families arrived and the railroad gave them boxcars to use as homes on a location that was known as McFadden Flats.

[3] The village of South Pekin was laid out in Cincinnati Township on July 10, 1913[6] and incorporated on April 12, 1917.

Ultimately most employees opted to settle close to the yard which was already located in South Pekin.

In addition to the numerous blue collar jobs the C&NW operation also brought management positions and erected a three-story masonry office building (which was demolished near the beginning of the 21st century).

South Pekin was a home terminal for Chicago and Northwestern Railroad crews in the twentieth century.

The Chicago and Northwestern also maintained a bunkhouse in South Pekin where crews could stop for the night.

In the 1970s train crews would go onward through Nelson and proceed to Proviso (a suburb of Chicago) or to Clinton, Iowa.

The racial makeup of the village was 98.17% White, 0.35% Black, 0.17% Native American, 0.09% Asian, and 0.96% from two or more races.