Businesses of Mount Prospect

Does MPHS have photographs: Yes

Address: 1706 E. Kensington

Is building standing: Yes

What is at site: Photo’s Hot Dogs

When was business founded: October 30, 1989

Is business still operating: No, the Mount Prospect location closed in 2019

Who owned business: Jim Photopoulos

Interesting stories, facts, history:

Jim Photopoulos got the nickname “Photo” when he was a high school student in Buffalo Grove and it stuck. Photo started working in restaurants when he was ten years old. His family ran The Round Table in Libertyville, The Forum in Arlington Heights and Artemis and Sunrise Pancake House in Mount Prospect. When he finished college he worked managing the Artemis Restaurant while looking for a spot to start his own restaurant. In 1989 he found a spot near the Kensington Business center and set things in motion. After opening the store he started a major promotional campaign, bringing fliers and free hot dogs and shakes over to the receptionists at Kensington trying to drum up business. This worked and he soon had a lunch rush, sometimes serving over 300 people in an hour. He has used his successful business to give back to the community as well, offering many different clubs and organizations free food or discounts. He received both the Sam Walton Business Leader of the Year award from Wal-Mart and the Business Leader of the Year Award from the Mount Prospect Chamber of Commerce.

If you ordered delivery from Photo’s Hot Dogs in the 1990s, chances are your food was brought to you in this vehicle. Jim Photopoulos, the owner of Photo’s Hot Dogs, used a retired 26-year-old ambulance as his delivery truck. It was dubbed the “Photomobile.” In the early 2000s, the ambulance was replaced with a VW Bug.

Does MPHS have photographs: Yes

When was business founded: 1898

Is business still operating: Is now the Daily Herald

Who owned business: Hosea C. Paddock

Interesting stories, facts, history:

Hosea Paddock began a newspaper in the developing communities surrounding Chicago. Over the years his company has been able to become the most trusted source for information in the suburbs and has successfully compete against the large Chicago papers. Paddock’s personal goals for the paper were to: “Fear God, Tell the Truth, and Make Money.” His company has continued with these goals and has survived for over a century. In this time, it has increased its popularity by reflecting the views of the readers. Paddock Publications has weathered two World Wars, the Great Depression, the dot com revolution, a fire in the offices, and a gun wielding irate reader.

 

Does MPHS have photographs: Yes

Address: 1 E. Busse, 2 W. Busse, 100 S. Emerson, 111 E. Busse

Is building standing: 3 of 4 are

What is at site: BankOne Building

When was business founded: 1911

Is business still operating: It has merged with other banks

Who owned business: Started by William Busse

Interesting stories, facts, history:

The Mount Prospect State Bank was one of the most influential businesses in the development of Mount Prospect. The bank was formed in 1911, originally as a national bank. It became a state bank in the 1920s because of a need for more flexibility in real estate loans and other services. It was originally located in a small building on the corner of Emerson and Main, where a small parking lot is today. In its first year of operation, this small unincorporated town was disturbed by a botched robbery attempt, which ended with a shoot out in the road.

William Busse, the most influential person in the development of our community, founded the bank and used it as the financial backbone of his developments. Many of the homes that we live in today may have been financed by this business. The Mount Prospect State Bank started out in the tiny corner building and continued to serve the community from this modest location through WWI. Then, in 1928 at the height of the boom of the 1920s, the bank moved to a larger building a block north at 2 W. Busse. This building was originally the home of Busse Buick, another business started by William Busse. In this location the bank weathered the Great Depression of the 1930s and was one of very few financial institutions to go through the depression with uninterrupted service. During this time many banks went out of business. In 1933, shortly after his inauguration, President F. D. Roosevelt ordered all banks in America to close and work out their books. The Mount Prospect State Bank closed its doors for the first time. However, it was one of the first Banks in Illinois to reopen in a time when only about ten percent of the areas banks ever reopened.

The bank then worked through the second World War. Following W.W.II, Mount Prospect went into its largest building boom ever and the State bank was here to finance it. Between 1950 and 1960 Mount Prospect’ s population grew almost 500%. In 1967 the Mount Prospect State Bank moved again. They built the building that is now the Mount Prospect Village Hall. They continued to lend money and act as the community’s largest saving bank through the suburbanization of the 1960s. In 1975 they moved again to the tallest building in Mount Prospect, the bank building on Busse Ave between Emerson and Maple.

Does MPHS have photographs: Yes

Address: Rand and Central

Is building standing: Yes

When was business founded: 1961

Is business still operating: Yes

Interesting stories, facts, history:

While strip malls are rarely of much historic interest, the Mount Prospect Plaza has more to say than one might imagine. When the Plaza was built, there were very few shopping plazas in America. When the Plaza was started, it was a pioneering concept. In the long run, strip malls have dramatically changed the landscapes in America, particularly in suburban communities. Strip malls are based on people driving to one location, which is at the outskirts of town and is isolated from the rest of the community. This is a very different concept of shopping than the small town days of the 1950s. Earlier in Mount Prospect’s history, there were small community owned businesses in the downtown area, which was a mixed use neighborhood with offices, store fronts, and houses within close proximity. The heydays of downtown Mount Prospect came to an end in 1962 with the opening of Randhurst and the Mount Prospect Plaza. These locations brought in larger national chain stores and were based entirely on an automobile culture. Ample parking was a necessity, but a pedestrian scale or an attractive street front was not.

Mount Prospect Plaza opened in mid-March in 1961. The grand opening, however, was a bit rocky. Construction delays prevented some of the stores from opening on time, and the parking lot pavement wasn’t finished. Despite these challenges, the completed stores and the Mount Prospect Plaza Merchants Association celebrated the occasion with numerous giveaways, including a weekend for two in Las Vegas and a complete family Easter wardrobe. The rest of the stores opened in the following weeks.

Does MPHS have photographs: Yes

Address: 330 E. Northwest Highway

Is building standing:

What is at site:

When was business founded: 1923

Is business still operating:

If no, when did it close:

Who owned business: Founded by George L. Bussee

Interesting stories, facts, history:

The Mount Prospect Development Association was founded in 1923 by George Busse, his brothers and several friends to start developing the community. Since the original sub-development by Ezra Eggleston in 1874, there had only been one major development in Mount Prospect, which was the 1905 Busse-Wille Re-Subdivision of the original Eggleston triangle. George Busse saw an opportunity and formed the Development Association. The first major project that they undertook was the subdivision of what was left of Owen Rooney’s farm, which became known as Busse’s Eastern Addition. This doubled the size of Mount Prospect. The association went on with a series of other development projects as the community continued to develop. It was well positioned as Mount Prospect’s population began to grow rapidly in the late 1920s. From the 1920s until 1950 the population of Mount Prospect grew by an average of 120 residents a year, which is impressive when you consider that Mount Prospect’s population was 349 in 1920. In 1937 the Mount Prospect Development Association was renamed George L. Busse Real Estate, Inc. for its founder.