Mount Prospect Historical Society

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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.

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Scavenger Hunt 2021

How to Participate: Take a photo with your team in at least 7 of the locations listed below. Send your photos (individually or make a collage) to the Mount Prospect Historical Society at info@mtphistory.org with the name and address of participants. Once we receive your photos, we’ll send you a “Making History in Mount Prospect” bracelet while supplies last. Have fun! Download a printable pdf here.

Village Hall

Though people had lived in the area of Mount Prospect for centuries, it was not incorporated as a village until 1917 when the population officially reached 300 people. The first Village Hall, or municipal building, was constructed in 1923 on Northwest Highway, near the water tower. The Village Hall has been on Emerson Street since the mid-1970s, but this current building opened in 2004.


☐ Take a photo inside or outside 50 S. Emerson Street

Central School

Central School, Mount Prospect’s first public school, was originally built in 1896 on the corner of Main Street and Central Road. Hundreds of Mount Prospect children attended school here, but also many community organizations, churches, and the town itself were founded within its walls. The Mount Prospect Historical Society fundraised for over 15 years to bring this historic building to our museum campus in 2008 and to fully restore it in 2017.


☐ Take a photo outside 103 S. Maple Street

Mount Prospect Public Library

The Mount Prospect Public Library was established on January 6, 1930, thanks to the fundraising efforts of the Mount Prospect Women’s Club. In the beginning the library consisted of one cart containing about 300 books in the cloakroom of Central School. The library has grown immensely since then, and the Main Branch has moved several times before settling in its current location at 10 S. Emerson Street. The South Branch of the library opened in 2009 in the Community Connections Center.


☐ Take a photo inside or outside either branch location: 10 S. Emerson Street OR 1711 W. Algonquin Road

Historic Tudor Row

Tudor-style architecture, known for its high-peaked roofs and partially exposed wood frames, was popular during the 1920s when this subdivision was developed by the H. Roy. Berry Company. The Tudor-style homes on the 300 block of S. Wa Pella Avenue were the first homes built in the subdivision, and they represent the most concentrated collection of this style of architecture in Mount Prospect.


☐ Take a photo at the sign located on the corner of S. Wa Pella Avenue and W. Lincoln Street

Mount Prospect Golf Course

In 1926, real estate developer Axel Lonnquist opened the Northwest Hills Country Club, later known as the Mount Prospect Country Club and now called the Mount Prospect Golf Club. By 1929 there was an 18-hole golf course, a dazzling clubhouse, and even a children’s playhouse! The course has since been redesigned and the original clubhouse and playhouse have been demolished. After a series of different owners, the Mount Prospect Park District purchased it in 1961.

☐ Take a photo with the sign at 600 S. See Gwun Avenue

Weller Creek

Weller Creek lent its name to the Weller Creek Drainage District, formed in 1915. Their goal was to minimize flooding in the area, and in 1925 they constructed Mount Prospect’s sewer system. The Weller Creek Drainage District served Mount Prospect until after 1949, which was when the town became part of the Chicago Sanitary District.

☐ Take a photo at Weller Creek Park, located at 501 W. Council Trail

Randhurst Village

Randhurst Shopping Center opened on August 16, 1962. At the time it was the Chicago area’s first enclosed regional mall and the largest air-conditioned space in the United States. Randhurst was sometimes called the “pinwheel on the prairie” because the mall was originally shaped like a triangle. The indoor structure closed in 2008 and was replaced in 2011 with the present-day, outdoor Randhurst Village. The former Carson Pirie Scott building (soon to be Homegoods) is the only part of the original mall still standing.

☐ Take a photo anywhere in Randhurst Village. One of the Randhurst Village signs is on the T.J.Maxx building at 1054 Center Drive.

Lions Park

The Mount Prospect Lions Club purchased this land in 1947 and transformed it into a park. They named it Lions Memorial Park to honor those who died while serving in World War II.

☐ Take a photo anywhere at Lions Park. The Lions Recreation Center is located at 411 S. Maple Street.

Rob Roy Golf Course

The Rob Roy Golf Course opened in 1925 as a private golf club, but it became a daily fee course during the 1930s due to the hardships of the Great Depression. The McDonald family owned and operated this golf course for decades until River Trails Park District purchased it in 1989.

☐ Take a photo at 505 E. Camp McDonald Road, Prospect Heights.

Memory Lane

When this area was mapped out during the 1920s, Memory Lane was originally labeled Hill Street. However, it was renamed Memory Lane by the late 1940s.

☐ As you walk down Memory Lane, take a photo with one of the street signs. This street stretches from N. Elm Street, near Gregory Park, to Dale Avenue, near Prospect High School.

St. John Lutheran Church

A group of German immigrants founded St. John Lutheran Church in 1848, forming the first church in the area that would become Mount Prospect. Many of these founding community members and their descendants later helped officially incorporate the Village of Mount Prospect in 1917. During the mid-1970s and into the early 2000s, St. John’s 1901 school building became the first permanent home of the Mount Prospect Historical Society.

☐ Take a photo outside the church, school building, or cemetery, located at 1100 Linneman Road.

Bell at River Trails Middle School

This bell once rang for students attending the second Feehanville School. The first Feehanville School was a one-room schoolhouse along River Road and opened in 1895. The school eventually moved to 1400 E. Kensington Road and a brick two-room school building was constructed in 1924. Feehanville School closed in 1982, but the bell was rededicated in 1995 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of River Trails School District.

☐ Take a photo with this bell in front of River Trails Middle School at 1000 N. Wolf Road.

Forest River Civic Association

Forest River is an unincorporated subdivision in Mount Prospect formed from farmland subdivided in the 1930s. It was nicknamed Mudville because it was one of the last subdivisions in the area to get paved roads. One of the most famous residents was Roger Touhy, a mobster during the 1920s and 1930s. His home along River Road reportedly had escape tunnels that led into the forest preserve, just in case he needed a quick exit. Despite his shady activities, neighbors remembered him as a generous man always willing to help families in need.

☐ Take a photo outside the Civic Association building or with the sign at 207 Lee Street.

Arlington Beverage Company
Pop Shop/The Art Studio
at Melas Park

This beverage company was founded in Arlington Heights in 1872, but when zoning laws changed in 1964 the company moved to the Pop Shop in Mount Prospect. People all over the northwest suburbs enjoyed their many delicious flavors of pop until the company closed in 1991. Shortly after closing, the building was transformed into The Art Studio at Melas Park.

☐ Take a photo outside 1326 W. Central Rd, adjacent to Melas Park

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Fall Bulb Fundraiser 2021

The Mount Prospect Historical Society is once again offering fall flower bulbs for sale. The bulbs are guaranteed to bloom or you get a free replacement. Bulbs ranging from daffodils, lilies, tulips and beyond, can be ordered completely online. Your purchase will be automatically credited to the Society. Each order will be shipped directly to the purchaser, no matter where they are in the country. Consider suggesting to friends that they purchase their bulbs on behalf of the Mount Prospect Historical Society this year, too.

To purchase bulbs, click here.

Call the Society at (847) 392-9006 or email info@mtphistory.org with any questions.

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“Plains and Trains” Bus Trip planned

SOLD OUT!

The Society has planned its Second Hopefully-Annual bus trip on Saturday, August 28, 2021. This year we will be exploring historic delights on the South Side of Chicago – first, the Frank Lloyd Wright Robie House on the campus of the University of Chicago and then the Pullman neighborhood where Pullman railroad cars were once built.

The Frederick C. Robie House in the Hyde Park neighborhood was built between 1909 and 1910 and was placed on the very first National Register of Historic Places list in 1966. At the time that he commissioned Wright to design his home, Robie was only 28 years old and the assistant manager of the Excelsior Supply Company which was owned by his father. He and his wife, Lora Hieronymus Robie, a 1900 graduate of the University of Chicago, selected the property in order to remain close to the campus and the social life of the University.

After lunch on your own near the University, the tour will continue south to the Pullman neighborhood.

Historic Pullman was built in the 1880s by George Pullman as workers’ housing for employees of his railroad car company, the Pullman Palace Car Company. He established behavioral standards that workers had to meet in order to live in the area and charged them rent. The distinctive rowhouses were comfortable by standards of the day, and contained such amenities as indoor plumbing, gas, and sewers. 

This was the site of the two-month-long Pullman Strike in 1894 that eventually required intervention by the US government and military. After Pullman died in 1897, the Illinois Supreme Court required the company to sell the town because operating it was outside the company’s charter. In 1889, the town and other major portions of the South Side were annexed by Chicago and within ten years, the city sold the houses to their occupants. 

Tickets for the trip are $65 per person and include tour admissions and bus transportation. The tour bus will depart from the Historical Society, 101 S. Maple St., promptly at 9 a.m. and is expected to return back there by 5 p.m. Lunch will be on your own. Comfortable clothing and shoes are strongly urged.  

Also, be aware that the Society will follow all CDC COVID-19 recommendations in effect at the time of the tour, so please be prepared to wear a mask on the bus and during the tours, if that is still required.

Unfortunately, this event is sold out.

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Summer 2021 Activities for Young Historians

History is for kids, too! The Mount Prospect Historical Society is pleased to announce the return of many of our popular summer programs, some with new, updated formats. Programs are for boys and girls age seven and up.

In adherence with current CDC guidelines, the programs will be held on a slightly different timetable than year’s past, with individual sessions being held every-other-week from late June through July. 

Our always popular Prairie Girl programs have been renamed Prairie Kids. Boys and girls are invited to take part in these fun, step-back-in-time experiences. Participants will try their hand at chores of yesteryear, explore what it was like to travel and live on the prairie, learn the importance of gardening and farming, and craft their own old-fashioned toys. Life as a Prairie Kid I will be offered on Thursday, June 17. Life as a Prairie Kid II will be held on Thursday, July 1. (Content for each of the Prairie Kid sessions is different.) *PRAIRIE KID II IS SOLD OUT*

Young Historians play a game at a previous MPHS summer program 

The exciting Science of History program is back, as well. This STEM-based interactive program has been delighting kids in past summers with themes such as catapults, waterwheels, log cabin building, and rockets. This year we’ll explore “Boats, Ships, and Other Things that Float”. Be sure to join in for oceans of fun on Thursday, July 15.  *THIS PROGRAM IS SOLD OUT*

To complement the science program this year, we’re presenting “Crossing on the Mayflower and Life in Plymouth “. Learn what it was like to be a kid on this famous cross-Atlantic trip. Experience what life was like in the New World when the Pilgrims finally reached land. This program will be held on Thursday, July 29. 

All sessions will be held on the Society campus (101 S. Maple, Street, Mount Prospect) from 9:30 to 11:30 am on their respective days. Space is limited to ten participants per session and registration is required. 

Cost is $25 per person for each session or $20 if registering for more than one program. 

We’re so thrilled to be opening our campus again and bringing history alive for all ages. We look forward to having many Young Historians join us this summer on our exciting adventures through time!