Businesses of Mount Prospect

Does MPHS have photographs: Yes

Address: Wille Street and Northwest Highway

Is building standing: No

What is at site: Northwest Highway

When was business founded: 1880

Is business still operating: No. Closed 1902.

Who owned business: William Wille

Interesting stories, facts, history:

Founded in 1880 the Wille Cheese Factory operated for over twenty years at the corner of Northwest Highway and Wille Street. William Wille would buy milk from local farmers, turn the milk into cheese and butter and then take wagon loads of cheese and butter to Chicago for sale. In a 1977 interview, William’s son, Adolph, remembered going to Chicago with his father in the spring when the roads were muddy. He recounted how the wagon would get stuck in the mud and the cheese and butter would have to be taken off, the wagon freed and then all the cargo reloaded. After years of doing this, William Wille, got tired of the hassle and closed the factory in 1902. The building was demolished in 1928 when Northwest Highway was widened.

Does MPHS have photographs: Yes

Address: 100 E Northwest Highway

Is building standing: Yes

What is at site: Van Driel’s

When was business founded: 1942

Is business still operating: Yes

Who owned business: Originally, Herb Van Driel

Interesting stories, facts, history:

Herb Van Driel moved to Mount Prospect in the early 1940s. He bought an existing drug store at the corner of Emerson and Northwest Highway. The Drug store had first been started by George Englbom who sold the store to F. O. Merrill and Dr. Burda, who sold it to Herbert Van Driel. When Van Driel came to Mount Prospect, the two doctors in town already had an agreement with another pharmacist. So Van Driel branched out and added a lunch counter, serving ham sandwiches and home made pies. He said that in the first few years most of his business was in food. While there was rationing during World War Two, Van Driel was a distributor for different foods and cigarettes and was able to establish himself as one of the important businesses in town. He later went on to be one of the founding members of the second incarnation of the Mount Prospect Chamber of Commerce (originally founded in 1926, dissolved in 1932 then founded again in 1947). In 1968 he sold the business, although it still maintains his name. He died in 1970.

 

Does MPHS have photographs: Yes

Address: Main Street

Is building standing: Yes

What is at site: Site is empty but building has Baby Lou’s Pizza in front

When was business founded: January 11, 1967

Is business still operating: No. Closed late 80s-early 90s

Who owned business: Sammy Skobel

Interesting stories, facts, history:

Sammy Skobel is one of Mount Prospect’s local celebrities. He was a famous Roller Derby Champion, during the sport’s heyday. He was born on Maxwell Street in Chicago and became legally blind at the age of four from scarlet fever. However, Sammy never let this hold him back. He tried out and made one of the Roller Derby teams, without telling anyone that he was blind and went on to glory in the sport, winning MVP awards, and setting the speed record for the mile. Following his retirement, he moved to Mount Prospect and started Sammy Skobel’s Hot Dogs Plus on Main Street next to Busse Avenue. This store became an institution in the community, which is still fondly remembered by many who grew up in town. Sammy has also gone on to start golf and down hill skiing organizations for the blind.

 

Does MPHS have photographs: Misc. Images

Address: Somewhere in Chicago

Is building standing:

What is at site:

When was business founded:

Is business still operating:

If no, when did it close:

Who owned business:

Interesting stories, facts, history:

H. Roy Berry Company was one of the largest developers in Mount Prospect. The Chicago based company was responsible for some of the largest developments in Mount Prospect. In 1924 H. Roy Berry Company purchased the 74 acre Burke farm, which was subdivided and named Colonial Manor. The company also purchased the 164 acre Russel farm and the 83 acre Katz farm that was subdivided into Castle Heights. The company generally did not build houses in the community. They subdivided the land, platted the streets, installed the basic utilities and then sold the property. Some of the homes in these subdivisions were built by the individual home owners and others were constructed by other developers who purchased blocks of home sites and built homes on them for sale to the public. One of the most important things that H. Roy Berry Company did for Mount Prospect was the construction of the first sewer mains in the village. These were put into the Colonial Manor Subdivision and soon after Mount Prospect took out a contract to build the sewer and water lines for the rest of the village. The H. Roy Berry Company worked extensively with the village leaders in a number of different civic improvements. In the September, 1927 issue of Real Estate News H. Roy Berry, the president of H. Roy Berry Company, is quoted as saying:

“Another thing which drew us to Mount Prospect was the co-operation which we received from the officials of this suburb. They are progressive and active and are quite willing to co-operate with us in everything that will help not only our properties but the village as a whole. We have had no trouble in Mount Prospect in securing sewer and water improvements as well as street paving. Mount Prospect, by the way, has the right to point with pride to the splendid paving they are installing. Instead of using all different forms of non descript paving material they have adopted concrete as the one and only material to be used on every street in this suburb.”

See also our extensive essays on Randhurst

Does MPHS have photographs: Around 2,000 of them

Address: Rand and Elmhurst

Is building standing: Yes

What is at site: Randhurst Shopping Mall

When was business founded: Opened in 1962

Is business still operating: Yes

Who owned business: Originally, Randhurst Corporation

Interesting stories, facts, history:

Randhurst Shopping Mall was an incredible project in its time. Built on top of one of the last farms in Mount Prospect, construction started in 1958 and opened to the public in 1962. The mall was originally constructed by the Carson Pirie Scott Company, who purchased the land through the George L. Busse Realty Company. At the time Randhurst opened, it was the largest shopping center under one roof in America and possibly the largest shopping center in the world. People traveled miles to see the first modern shopping mall. In the first month of business there were over one million shoppers in Randhurst. Those who lived in Mount Prospect at the time remember the mall being so crowded that you could barely walk.

In the late 1960s and 1970s the Randhurst Corporation began hosting special events, such as fashion shows, children’s fairs, and educational programs. In both 1976 and 1977 the mall hosted a full three ring circus. The mall also brought in a number of celebrities such as Robert F. Kennedy, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferigno, and cast members from the “Planet of the Apes.”

As other malls opened in the area the attraction to Randhurst declined. In the 1980s the mall went through a multi million dollar renovation adding, among other things, an upper level food court. In the 1990s the mall has brought in a number of free standing businesses around the perimeter of the building, such as Home Depot.