Mount Prospect Historical Society

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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