 This was a narrow gauge line, widened to standard gauge in 1902 and taken over by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, and then sold to the Minneapolis and St. Louis in 1934.Pekin is the location of a regional school system, Pekin Community School District, which draws students from Hedrick, Martinsburg, Ollie, Packwood, Richland, and Farson, as well as from the surrounding countryside.The school is built upon the former Linby Naval Outlying Landing Field (OLF # 07815 / Auxiliary Field #6 (Ottumwa)), built in 1943 for training purposes.