Mount Prospect Historical Society

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History Camp 2024

Session 1: June 10-14, 2024 (9 a.m.-12 p.m.)
Session 2: July 8-12, 2024 (9 a.m.-12 p.m.)

Both sessions are sold out. Please email amarcus@mtphistory.org to be put on the wait list.

Get ready for History Camp 2024! The Mount Prospect Historical Society is offering two unique sessions of History Camp. Each session runs Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon and features a history themed day camp experience for children ages 6 (By April 1, 2024) to 11. Each day a different aspect of local history will be explored on our campus and at various community locations through activities, projects and walking field trips. Each week’s programming is diverse, so campers registering for both sessions will have new experiences. Programming varies from prior years as well, so repeat campers are welcome!

Some of the unique activities campers can expect this year are:

  • Learn more about Mount Prospect’s early residents with a tour of St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery
  • Visit the artifact collection
  • Learn about real pirates and buried treasure in Mount Prospect with themed activities
  • Make a time capsule
  • Make a quilted potholder

Don’t miss out on this fun opportunity to learn more about Mount Prospect’s History! Space is limited, so be sure to register soon using our on-line registration form below or by calling the Society at 847-392-9006. (Note: We are closed Friday through Monday)

The cost for each session is $100. (fee is non-refundable)

History Camp was developed by professional educators and is overseen by our Director and staffed by trained volunteers.

All campers will receive a Mount Prospect Historical Society History Camp T-shirt.

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North Shore National Historic Landmarks Bus Tour

The Society has planned its next bus trip for Saturday, May 14. We will be exploring historic delights in the northern suburbs of Evanston and Wilmette.

In the morning, tour-goers will tour both the picturesque home of Frances Willard, a founder and president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, and the mansion of Charles G. Dawes, who served as Calvin Coolidge’s vice president.

Frances Willard House

The Frances Willard house was built in 1865. The author and activist lived and worked in this house during the years of her presidency of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). For many of those years, the house also served as an informal national headquarters for the WCTU and a boarding house for its workers.

Vice President Charles G. Dawes House

The nearby lakefront Dawes mansion was, from 1909 until his death in 1951, the home of Charles Gates Dawes and his family. Dawes earned the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize for his plan to alleviate the crushing burden of war reparations that Germany was required to pay after World War I. He also served as President Calvin Coolidge’s vice president and as a general during World War I .

Baha’i House of Worship

After lunch on your own in Evanston, the tour will continue north to Wilmette’s renowned Baha’i House of Worship, an architectural masterpiece built over a 30-year span from 1921 to 1951, where we will be treated to a private tour. It was dedicated in 1953 and has received many architectural awards. In fact, in 1978 it was added to the United States National Register of Historic Places and in 2007 the Illinois Bureau of Tourism named it one of the “Seven Wonders of Illinois.”

Tickets for the May 14 trip are $67 per person which includes tour admissions and bus transportation. The tour bus will depart from the Historical Society, 101 S. Maple St., promptly at 9 a.m. and is expected to return back there by 5 p.m. Lunch will be on your own. Comfortable clothing and shoes are strongly urged.

Also, be aware that the Society will follow all CDC COVID-19 recommendations in effect at the time of the tour, so please be prepared to wear a mask on the bus and during the tours, if that is required at the time.

Space is limited and tickets are non-refundable.

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Mount Prospect’s Slogan

In 1950, the Chamber of Commerce held a contest to choose a slogan that best described Mount Prospect. The winner, Elmer Bussert, won the contest with his slogan, “Where Town and Country Meet.” This slogan for Mount Prospect was used until 1965 when the Chamber felt it no longer applied due to the expansion of the town. A new contest was held and “Where Friendliness is a Way of Life,” submitted by Delores Wells, was chosen to represent Mount Prospect. It remains our town’s motto to this day.

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Mount Prospect Train Derailment

In the early morning hours of October 21, 1959, Mount Prospect experienced a crisis like never before. 24 freight cars spanning from Main Street to School Street derailed off the Chicago and North Western tracks due to a hot bearing box. A local patrolman had been driving down Northwest Highway and saw the flames shooting from the wheels of one of the freight cars. He tried racing to the front of the train to warn the engineer but before he could reach the engine, the cars derailed.
 
Freight cars and pieces of track were strewn everywhere and even the train station sustained damage from train cars that had jumped onto the platform. Around 15,000 commuters were late for work and traffic was at a standstill in suburbs neighboring Mount Prospect. However, if this crash would have happened any later in the morning, there would have been hundreds of commuters on the train platform resulting in a major tragedy instead of an inconvenience. Wreckage on the tracks in downtown Mount Prospect was cleared by the evening and the undamaged train cars were sent on their way.
 

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Hapsburg Inn

Does MPHS have photographs: Yes

Address: 600 River Road

Is building standing: No

When was it built: Unknown

What is at site: Townhomes

When was business founded: 1934

Is business still operating: No

If no, when did it close: 1984

Who owned business: Original owner was William Bahnmaier and his daughter, Rosemary Scala, took over in the mid-1970s

Interesting stories, facts, history:

Forest River, nicknamed Mudville because it was one of the last places to have paved roads, is an unincorporated part of Mount Prospect. In the mid-1800s, a large part of this land was occupied by the Coons-Nagel farm. As the farm transformed into a subdivision during the 1930s, one of the barns opened as the Hapsburg Inn restaurant in 1934.
 
William Bahnmaier and his wife purchased the barn and set out to make it a restaurant. They kept the original barn structure and transformed the inside into a dining room and bar. Hapsburg Inn was known for their Half Fried Chicken but also served a variety of German and American favorites. Many diners remember the covered porch with a wishing well and outdoor beer garden. 
 
The Hapsburg Inn stayed open until 1984 and many locals have fond memories of dining there. In 1984, the Hapsburg Inn became Ox-Yoke Farm, and by 1986, Kathryn’s Banquets occupied the building. The barn was demolished in the early 2000s and the land is now a townhome development.
 

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Hearth & Home

When Bob O’Donnell and Dave Waldman opened Hearth & Home in September 1971, it was originally named OWL Appliance and Heating. “OWL” stands for O’Donnell, Waldman, and they went out on a Limb. They sold, serviced, and installed gas fireplaces, gas logs, gas space heaters, and gas ovens and cooktops out of a store at 15 W. Busse Avenue. Bob and Dave worked together until Dave passed away in 1977.
 
In 1980 OWL Appliance and Heating moved to a larger space at 430 W. Northwest Highway, added patio furniture to their product line, and changed their name to Hearth & Home Shoppe.
 
Eight years later, in 1988, the O’Donnells bought the current building at 530 W. Northwest Hwy., renovated it and moved there that April. Today (2021) they boast a staff of 15, including five family members.
 

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Century Tile

 
Century Tile was founded on Austin Avenue in Chicago by partners Frank Parks Sr. and Paul Spiewak in 1947 and in recent years (until earlier this year), their children and grandchildren ran the business, with the help of an outside president. Elaine Carlson, who served as vice president/general manager, was one of those family members.
 
As of 2013, Century Tile was one of the 25 largest floor covering retailers in the country, selling out of 12 locations in and around Chicago, including their Mount Prospect location at the intersection of Rand and Mount Prospect Roads. This site was one of last two Century Tile stores to remain open during the months-long liquidation of the 74-year-old family business — which seems fitting since Mount Prospect was one of their oldest locations.

The Mount Prospect Century Tile store closed in mid-2021.

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Mount Prospect Village Hall

The current Village Hall is the fourth building to house Village offices.
 
The first designated municipal building was a small structure constructed by Christ Wille in 1923 and attached to the Crowfoot Manufacturing Building along Northwest Highway.
 
The second municipal building was the first free-standing government building, which gave Mount Prospect a more polished professional image. It became the town’s pride and joy for decades. Its doors opened in 1949 on the corner of Northwest Highway and Maple Street.
 
By the mid-1970s, Mount Prospect outgrew the second building and government offices moved into the former Mount Prospect State Bank building on Emerson Street. The Police and Fire Departments remained in the old municipal building until it was demolished in 1991 and replaced by the Public Safety building.
 
The present-day Village Hall was constructed in 2004.
 
First municipal building, attached to the Crowfoot building
Second municipal building in the 1950s
The third municipal building, formerly the Mount Prospect State Bank building, in the late 1990s