Archives for July 2012

Does MPHS have photographs: Yes

Address: 320 W. Central

Is building standing: Yes

What is at site: Friedrichs Funeral Home

When was business founded: 1958 in Mount Prospect. Still operating.

Who owned business: Hank Friedrichs

Interesting stories, facts, history:

The Friedrichs Funeral home has been offering mortician services in Mount Prospect for close to five decades. The family business goes back over 100 years and four generations, although it has not always been in Mount Prospect. Hank Friedrichs has been very involved with community organizations and has been a large supporter of the community.

Photo taken in 1965

Does MPHS have photographs: Yes

Address: Northwest Highway and Elm

Is building standing: No

What is at site: Townhouses

When was business founded: 1905

Who owned business: J. B. Crowfoot

Interesting stories, facts, history:

The Crofoot Company was probably the largest industrial concern in Mount Prospect in the 1920s. The factory produced “modern and up-to-date” staplers, and tackers for a number of uses, including assembling screens and attaching labels to shipping crates. Originally started in 1905 in the Crofoot family home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin it moved to Chicago to take advantage of the larger market and the easy access to transportation. The firm moved to Arlington Heights in the early 1920s but was lured to Mount Prospect by William Busse a few years later. When the Crofoot Company moved to Mount Prospect, they brought a workforce that greatly increased the population of the community and improved home sales in Busse’s Eastern Addition. The factory was located in a large building on the corner of Evergreen and Maple, near the water tower.

Does MPHS have photographs: Yes

Address: 101 S. Main Street

Is building standing: Yes

What is at site: Central Continental Bakery

When was business founded: 1979. Still operating.

Who owned business: Bob and Roger Czerniak

Interesting stories, facts, history:

The Central Continental Bakery is not only one of the largest and most successful bakery’s in the northwest suburbs, it is also on a very interesting site. The most influential person in the development of Mount Prospect was Cook County Commissioner William Busse and right here, where Central Continental Bakery is today, was his first house in Mount Prospect. He built his home here in 1894 and married and raised his family here. This was certainly the grandest house in Mount Prospect. There were formal sunken gardens behind the home and the home was used to entertain distinguished guests who came to town. The house was so nice that a number of William Busse’s friends asked to get married in his home. Their pastor would come to the Busse house and hold the ceremony in the Commissioner’s parlor. As William Busse got older and his children moved out he decided to build himself a new smaller home. In the 1920s he built his new house directly behind his first house, were village hall is now. He then had his first house picked up and moved onto Emerson Street and gave it to one of his sons.

He then built the building that is now Central Continental Bakery and rented it out to Meeske’s Market. Meeske’s Market was a fixture in downtown Mount Prospect for 59 years. It started in 1925 in the Busse Building on Main Street and built 101 S. Main in 1950 when they expanded. In 1973 the Meeske family sold the business, although the store maintained the name. The shop was closed in 1984 after going through a series of owners. The small locally-owned grocery store in downtown was not able to compete against massive chain stores in shopping plazas at the outskirts of town. After a renovation Central Continental Bakery moved into the space and has been there ever since.