Mount Prospect Historical Society

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“Meet” the Friedrichs

If the walls at 101 S. Maple Street could talk, they’d have a lot to say about the Friedrichs family. Dietrich, Lena, and Bessie Friedrichs were long-time residents of this home, with at least one family member in residence from the time it was built in 1906 until it was sold to another family in 1966.
 
All three Friedrichs were involved in Mount Prospect community life. Dietrich was a house painter, but also played the violin and harmonica for local dances. Lena was an active member of the St. Paul’s Ladies Aid Society, where she cooked meals, sewed clothing, and made quilts for families in need. The Historical Society owes their daughter, Bessie, a debt of gratitude for her immense help in transforming her former home on Maple Street into the Dietrich Friedrichs House Museum. Her detailed memories of living there and donations of original furniture and family items guided the entire restoration process.
 
You can “meet” this family and tour their home this Sunday, January 9th from 11:30am to 1:30pm during the Second Sunday at the Society program. Costumed interpreters portraying Dietrich, Lena and daughter Bessie will guide you through the house and tell you what it was like in the early 1900s.  Central School will also be open for fun seasonal make-and-takes and visits. This FREE event welcomes all ages. Masks are required.

The Legacy of the Zenith Broadcasting Station

Zenith Radio Station and towers at Rand and Central Roads

Ask any Mount Prospect long-timer and one of the most universal local memories they have is of the pair of Zenith Radio towers that once stood at the corner of Central and Rand Roads. Constructed in 1925 by Zenith for its WJAZ radio station, they were a fixture in the community for almost 50 years.

WJAZ began broadcasting from the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago in 1923. One of its faithful listeners in those early years was Col. Robert R. McCormick, publisher of the Chicago Tribune. He heard the WJAZ broadcasts and became interested in the power of radio. He even began to lease large time slots on WJAZ.

Simultaneously, McCormick reserved the call letters WGN, which stood for World’s Greatest Newspaper, with plans to start his own station. Before long, McCormick bought the WJAZ studio and began broadcasting WGN programming from there. The Zenith Radio Corp. retained the call letters WJAZ.

Even before selling its studio, Zenith had expressed an interest in moving to a more isolated area because of interference with other radio stations in Chicago. First, the company built a portable station inside of a truck so it could broadcast live at events across the country. It could be set up in the middle of a field and could operate on self-sustained power. That was how it became the first radio station to broadcast the MGM lion from Gay’s Lion Farm in California.

While using the portable station, WJAZ visited approximately 50 communities in a 150-mile radius of Chicago, testing for interference levels. That is how they settled on Mount Prospect for a permanent location. Since it was still only farmland and boasted the highest point in Cook County, it proved to be the perfect location. In 1925, George Busse sold his land on the corner of Central and Rand Roads to Zenith, and it became the new home of WJAZ.

The studio was operated by Gilbert Gustafson from 1925 to 1935. The broadcasting station was located inside a two-story farmhouse that was situated between the two radio transmission towers. The station ran on 5,000 watts of power, and its transmitter was water-cooled. Each tower had an antennae and a 1,000-watt light bulb at its tip. The word “Zenith” was arranged down one of the radio towers and glowed red at night. These towers could be seen from miles away.

The building and transmitter were designed by J. Elliot Jenkins, who was considered one of the finest radio engineers in the country. The second floor of the house was used as living quarters for the Gustafson family, and the first floor held the transmitter room, motor, generator room and studio.

Zenith’s WJAZ not only developed new innovations for the industry, it also tested the legal boundaries of radio broadcasting and created quite a stir when it ignored the authority of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The DOC had forced WJAZ to share a wave length with another station, allowing it only two hours of air time per week, while the other station, KOA, was allotted 166 hours per week. Because of the unfair arrangement, WJAZ began using an unoccupied Canadian wave length. The government charged WJAZ with piracy of the free air but the courts found WJAZ innocent, due to the lack of legal authority. The Radio Act of 1912 was not enough to charge WJAZ with piracy or any other violation.

Found in the archives of the Mount Prospect Historical Society are two photographs that show the radio operators and assistants of the Zenith Broadcasting Station dressed up as pirates. It is unknown whether this was a photo taken of a live pirate show or if it was taken to mock the accusations against WJAZ as being “pirates of the air.” Does anyone know?

Zenith Radio Corp. continued to own the Mount Prospect property and had it looked after by a caretaker. The towers and building were eventually torn down in the 1970s to make room for commercial development. Although the towers are long gone, the memory of this one-time landmark still beats in the heart of Mount Prospect. 

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2014 Mount Prospect Historical Society Museum Journal newsletter, Volume V, Issue 2. It was revised in November 2021 to correct content. 

Housewalk Returns!

Online ticket sales have now closed.

Please purchase your ticket at the Housewalk in the St. Raymond PMC building, located on the corner of S. I-Oka and W. Milburn.

Pre-purchased tickets can be picked up in the PMC building at the Will Call table on Housewalk night.

MOUNT PROSPECT HISTORICAL SOCIETY HOUSEWALK RETURNS DECEMBER 3RD, 2021!

After a one-year COVID-19-imposed hiatus, the Mount Prospect Historical Society has announced that its annual Holiday Housewalk will return on Friday, December 3, 2021 in the neighborhood immediately north and slightly northwest of St. Raymond Catholic Church – originally known as “Colonial Manor.”

Tickets will go on sale November 1 for the Mount Prospect Historical Society’s 33nd annual Holiday Housewalk which will begin in the St. Raymond Parish Ministry Center on the northwest corner of its block (at the corner of I-Oka and Milburn Avenues) and will run from 3:30 to 9 p.m.

The interiors of five private homes, built between 1929 and 2019, will be featured on the tour this year. Two additional homes, built in 1929 and 1946, respectively, will be featured from the outside.

The homes which will have their interiors featured this year are: 218 S. I-Oka Ave., owned by Rob and Stephanie Berman; 204 S. I-Oka Ave., owned by Jamie and Debbie McGough; 16 S. I-Oka Ave., owned by Ray and Jill Doerner; 122 S. Elmhurst Ave., owned by Chris and Amanda Manna; and 112 S. Wa-Pella Ave., owned by Shawn and Nicole Stoltz.

In addition, the exteriors of 101 S. Wa-Pella Ave., owned by John and Julie Johnson, and 216 S. Hi-Lusi Ave., owned by Tyra and Tim Jambois, will also be featured.

All of the homes will be exciting to tour in their own ways, whether because of the historic flavor, lovely decorating or the renovation work that has been done, according to JP Karlov, Housewalk co-chairperson. It should also be noted that COVID restrictions will be in place. Tour-goers will be expected to wear masks inside homes and the Walk’s headquarters — and volunteers will do the same.

As usual, this walking tour will be accented by beautifully-lit luminaria. Parking will be available along neighborhood streets.

Commentary in the homes will be provided by volunteers from local organizations, businesses, schools and the community. Local florists and homeowners will provide the decorations. This year’s featured florists are Busse Flowers and Gifts of Rolling Meadows, The Purple Rose of Mount Prospect, Pesche’s Flowers and 7 Red Roses Floral Design Studio of Des Plaines and The Flower Studio of Rolling Meadows. Lurvey’s of Des Plaines will provide outdoor fresh décor for one home.

Non-refundable tickets will be sold for $28 each through Dec. 2 at Busey Bank, 299 W. Central Rd.; River Trails’ Weiss Center, 1500 E. Euclid Ave.; RecPlex, 420 Dempster St.; the Central Community Center, 1000 W. Central Rd.; Millie’s Hallmark, 1024 S. Elmhurst Rd.; LePeep, 10 E. Northwest Hwy.; and the Dietrich Friedrichs House museum, 101 S. Maple St.

Tickets are also available to be purchased below (See Note). Those tickets can be picked up at a “will call” desk located at the St. Raymond Church headquarters during the walk.

Last-minute decision-makers may also purchase tickets on the day of the Walk, beginning at 3 p.m. at the St. Raymond’s headquarters, but the cost will be $30 per person at that time.

“The Housewalk is the Society’s largest fund-raiser of the year,” Karlov explained. “Its proceeds support the many educational endeavors of the Society and help to pay for upkeep on our museum. We urge the public to support our effort to preserve local history through enjoying the Housewalk and our other activities throughout the year.”

Phone the Society at 847-392-9006 for more information or log onto www.mtphist.org.

This year’s Walk is sponsored by Busse Automotive, Novak and Parker appliances and Mrs. P & Me.

PLEASE NOTE:

Tickets purchased online can be picked up at the Will Call table at Saint Raymond’s Parish Ministry Center on the night of the Housewalk. 

To use a membership discount, you must call the Society at (847) 392-9006 to purchase your ticket OR go to 101 S. Maple Street (Dietrich Friedrichs Museum).

Discounted tickets cannot be purchased online. Membership discounts must be used by Thursday, December 2nd, 2021. 

All tickets will be $30 on the day of the Housewalk.