The Steamboat Columbia Disaster

On July 5, 1918, the steam boat Columbia sank upstream from this spot near what then was Wesley City.
What began as one of the season's premier social events ended in tragedy.
The Pekin South Side Social Club sponsored the ornate stern wheel's ill-fated voyage.
Beginning in Kingston Mines, some 500 passengers boarded it for a trip to Al Fresco Amusement Park in Peoria.
On the return trip, as festivities were in full swing, a hole was torn in the Columbia's hull and it sank.
The deceased were brought to this riverfront for identification. Of the 87 who died, 57 were from Pekin.

Sponsored by the Tazewell County Historical Places Society and the Illinois Historical Society, July 2003