338-340 Court Street - The Schipper & Block Building

Then: Schipper and Block Co. Dry Goods

Now: Vacant (formerly Illinois Department of Children and Family Services)

The beloved Schipper and Block building formerly housed a department store. The original Schipper & Block building at the corner of Court and Capitol streets opened in 1879, but was destroyed by fire in 1898. The second Schipper & Block building was erected in 1898 to replace the 1879 store after a fire, but the new building itself succumbed to flames in 1922. The Schipper & Block building that stands vacant today was the home of Block & Kuhl of Pekin until the store went out of business in March 1968. Within the next year, Allen’s Vogue moved from its former address, 313 Court St., into the Schipper & Block building, operating from that location until 1984 (with a second location in the Pekin Mall from 1972 to 1986). After Allen’s Vogue closed its downtown location in 1984, the Schipper and Block building would remain vacant for about a decade. Most recently the building was leased for a few years by the State of Illinois as local offices of the Department of Children and Family Services.