When the Thoma House was demolished in 1929, the articles said that it was to make way for "a modern furniture store". I haven't been able to determine what that store was or if it ever opened.
1504 Miner
The Zephyr Cafe circa 1939, looking every bit as modern as the Pioneer Zephyr for which it was undoubtedly named, which was a hit at the 1934 Century of Progress Exposition. Appropriate, since the restaurant presumably relied heavily on train passengers.
Toned down by 1957, it later featured a large mural of pioneers. (A reader advises me they were Mediterranean or Latin American Field Workers.) Probably not the mountains of Illinois.
Close-up of the Neon Sign in the window
Ad from 1936 opening
The Zephyr Cafe opened in July 1936 on the left side of the building; a different tenant was next door in the same building. The facade was simple Streamline Moderne; covered in randomly-sized cut stones with two notches at either end. It was managed by the Ladas Brothers - Sam, Andrew, John. The family also ran the Arlington Cafe in Arlington Heights. Like the Sugar Bowl, it featured good, diverse meals and a soda fountain - the slogan was the straightforward "Good Food". In 1938, the Herald described it:
The people from all over this part of the county, the tourists and visitors, all have pronounced this Cafe one of the finest in this section.
It is attractively furnished and tastily decorated, which makes it a most cheerful place, and here amidst comfortable surroundings, one of the most courteous services is afforded the public. Whether at noon luncheon or dinner, you will find all the satisfaction of good service and high quality of food that will please the most jaded appetite.
Good food is a watchword with this concern and the management is so careful in supplying high quality continually that it is the kind of a place to which you can go and be sure of a good meal.
Thr manager personally sees that the people of this part of the country are not only given the choicest of food, but the latest dishes of the day and that the best of service is always given regardless of the size of the order. They have provided the very latest of equipment in the kitchens, and everything is in the very best of condition and appetizing when served to the guests.
They specialize in genuine Chinese Chop Suey and real Italian Spaghetti. You are assured of the finest at moderate prices.
You won't find too many Greek restaurants today claiming to serve genuine Chinese Chop Suey (isn't that an oxymoron, since Chop Suey is an American invention?) and real Italian.
In 1949, the business was expanded next door, to the Zephyr Lounge and Steak House next door, which had previously housed "The Curiosity Shop", a resale and antique shop that opened in 1946. Called colorful, beautiful, comfortable, and relaxing, and featuring gorgeous circular booths, a "magnificent" bar, and an all-mirror background, the Lounge sounds like somewhere I'd like to kick back a few drinks.
By the time it closed, around 1967-1970, the two were together known as the Zephyr Restaurant.
In 1971-1972 it was briefly the Aristo Restaurant. From 1973-1985 it was the popular Sawa's Old Warsaw Polish restaurant, which still operates in Broadview.
Photo by Malcolm Mlodoch
Next it became Magnolia, another Polish restaurant, from 1987 to at least 1989. In March 1993, Booeymongers, a blues club with a pizza kitchen, opened, and closed in 1996. Booeymongers updated the (green!) facade with stucco and an arch at the top, but kept the notches. From 1998-1999 it was Zodiac Chinese Restaurant. Later that year, the Leona's chain opened a location, which it remains today.
1508 Miner
A Glimpse of 1508 Miner's original facade, 1936 Des Plaines Historical Society Postcard
"Modernized" By 1940 with Faux-Marble
Toned down a bit... (Malcolm Mlodoch photo)
And Today's Inoffensive but Boring Facade
Again, there was little to be found on this building pre-1949. It had a short-lived but attractive stepped facade originally. In 1949, Frank's Apparel opened, a women's wear store. In May 1958, Leonard's for Men and Boys opened, closing in 1963. The next business was Kier Men's Wear, closing in 1974. Audrey's Bridal Boutique was in business at least 1979-1988. From 1990-1992 it was Signature Studios Photography. Square Deal Discount Shoes closed in 1997. Cookie Garden was next. Currently it is Spy Source/Total Security Solutions.
This letter appeared earlier this month in the Journal. What do you think?
Sims Demolition Could Be Another Mistake
In 1985, an ambitious development called River Woods Park was proposed for the same block of Ellinwood Sims occupies. It would have featured a four-winged, nine-story, 436-unit apartment building with an underground parking lot, a health club, small office building, and green space. Ellinwood Street would have been eliminated. Then checks started bouncing in 1986. The proposal languished for another year because the developer had options or owned the parcels on the block. The city considered taking over these properties, but decided they could not afford the risk.
Then The Prime Group bought the old Riverwoods Lumber property at the corner in 1988; four other developers had been looking at the block. They proposed an 11-story senior citizens home and a 22-story apartment building on the site of Sims and other businesses, with 20% set aside for low-income subsidized apartments and the rest luxury apartments. Ultimately the 22-story building was dropped, and the senior proposal became the Heritage, finally opening in 1993.
You might remember yet another high-rise proposal from 2005 that would have covered the entire block. The same year, there were vague rumblings of an "entertainment" proposal. Neither came to pass.
This isn't the first time the city has taken the "demolish first, ask questions later" approach. The block between Pearson and Miner actually was cleared in 1986-1987 in hopes of attracting new development. Officials believed this would "serve as a catalyst to redevelop the area and bring back the intense interest despite more than 10 years of redevelopment talk." Three or four plans came and went until 1999, when Library Plaza was finally developed - building single-story strip malls on the sites of stores that had apartments above. A net loss, with 12 years of lost property and sales taxes, plus the cost of demolition and construction, plus the loss of attractive historic buildings. The ten years of vacant lots between Lee and Pearson didn't attract developers and only further disconnected downtown, since nobody likes walking through a vacant lot. Chicago did the same thing with Block 37 across from Marshall Field's, cleared in 1989 and finally opening as a lackluster shopping center this year.
Let's look at some other examples of this strategy. Two doors down from Sims is a small, barely-used or visible pocket park; the building there was demolished all the way back in 1954 as part of the large city parking lot that was once behind it. (The city must think the citizens miss that parking lot more than we'll miss a bowling alley!) The park that was between the Sugar Bowl and Brown's was cleared for a walkway between two parking garages that were never built; this vacant land created an opportunity to stick a driveway to Metropolitan Square right in the middle of our most important business street. Old Maine Township High School/Thacker Junior High, replaced with the lackluster Central Park that could have occupied the footprints of any of the surrounding condominium buildings. The 1874 North School, torn down to make way for a parking lot. And so forth. I'm hard-pressed to think of an instance of Des Plaines-led demolition without a redevelopment plan that has produced anything better than a small park or parking lot.
Unless they are a threat to public safety, vacant buildings are better than vacant lots, because vacant buildings have reuse options and vacant lots - especially city-owned ones - are tax drains.
City officials would be well-advised to learn from these past mistakes. They say they're talking to three developers now. How many of them are serious? How many will stick around for two years? What will the climate be like in two years? The plan is for retail and condos, but we have plenty of those to go around. There are many retail vacancies in Metropolitan Square, and there are storefronts in Library Plaza that have still never been occupied. What would draw shoppers to that side of downtown, without an entertainment anchor like a bowling alley? There are condo buildings that aren't complete. There are plenty of office vacancies, too. So why are we so confident a big development is around the corner? "If you tear it down, they will come?" Demand for quality new development will not come until we have fully utilized the resources we already have, by establishing downtown Des Plaines as a worthwhile destination for distinctive shopping, dining, entertainment, and living.
This assumption of redevelopment has been a big factor in depressing downtown revitalization. Why invest in maintaining a building or running a quality business when redevelopment might be imminent? Sims had been expecting a buyout for years.
TIF money is designated to remove blighted conditions from downtown. But now we propose to use it to send a functional building to a landfill and create a vacant lot. In the meantime, it will be a mid-block parking lot - something specifically discouraged in the 2007 parking study, in a block that same study showed had no demand for parking. We will be creating blight and taking properties off the tax rolls.
Let's not make the same mistakes yet again. Instead of buying and demolishing the block, secure options, or let the developer do it. There is no good reason to demolish anything until new development is financed and shovel-ready. In the meantime, if the proposals fall through, existing businesses can continue to be productive. Let the park district run the bowling alley, or let someone else run it on short-term leases, so it is productive. Would it cost more to fix the roof than to demolish the building? Rosemont and Melrose Park are building new bowling alleys - and you can't build the retro character Sims has.
It's time to stop the unsuccessful "strategy" for downtown that we've pursued for the last 40 years. We have aggressively removed much of our history and character. Before losing the things that can give our city a unique identity, before we go past that tipping point towards Anytown, USA, we need to step back and create a real plan for downtown - to use our resources efficiently to achieve a reasonable goal. We need to identify and protect many of the dwindling historic places that are left so that they can help us have a more productive future. Most of all, we need a vision of what we want downtown as a whole to be, instead of continuing its death by a thousand cuts. Creating a strong downtown isn't as easy as making a parking lot and crossing your fingers. Before we do something else we might come to regret, step back and think about how it factors into a comprehensive master plan in revitalizing downtown Des Plaines. It's too important to leave to chance or developers.
The Thoma House Hotel, also known as the Desplaines House, was one of the most distinctive landmarks in downtown Des Plaines from 1883-1929. It was built for about $10,000 back in 1883 and containing a noted bar. It was purported to be one of the finest hotels in Chicago suburbs, located directly across from the railway depot.
The three story building contained 35 guestrooms, a lodge room, entertainment room, place for public meetings, and later the first bowling lane in Des Plaines. It advertised itself as a summer resort. Remember, Des Plaines was "out in the country" for Chicagoans at that time, and the Methodist Campgrounds were a popular destination - though you wouldn't find the Thoma House's "fine brands of wines, liquors, and cigars" there.
The Thoma House was frequently used for meetings, including those of the Village Council before the Village Hall was built in 1893.
Around 1915, Thornton Shaw took over the historic Thoma Hotel, renaming it "Shaw's". Mr. Shaw extensively remodeled to make it again the pride of the town. Catering to "first-class patronage and banquets," Shaw's became known for good cooking, however briefly. He designated the Bowling Alley for the use of "the most fastidious Ladies".
It was sold to Bernhardt "Barney" H. Winkelman in 1916. He replaced the bowling alley addition with his own Recreation parlor building in 1921. He continued to operate it as the Des Plaines House until 1929, at which point it had become outdated and to some degree dilapidated, and was replaced by a furniture store. Today its site is occupied by Leona's and Total Security.
This building served the vast majority of its lifetime as Brown's Department Store. It has a few stories to tell.
It was built on the site of the Thoma House Hotel's bowling lane annex and stables. The bowling lanes had opened by 1905.
Bernhardt H. "Barney" Winkelman, one-time proprietor of the Thoma House, built this building in 1921. Winkelman was a very prominent businessman; over the years he also owned and operated the lumberyard next to the tracks at what is now Ellinwood and Lee, and the adjacent saloon; the American House saloon on Ellinwood where Center Street was eventually built, and the land behind it reaching to Prairie. His house was the former home of Socrates Rand's widow at Lee and Miner, where he eventually built the Des Plaines Theatre (his house was moved to Jefferson Street and later demolished).
The building was based on a stock design from the Midland Terra Cotta company. At this time, you could basically order a building facade from a catalog. Don't be surprised if you see a twin somewhere. Since it was replacing bowling alleys, the new building featured 7 pocket billiards tables, a snooker and billiard table, and 2 bowling alleys. This closed in 1932.
By 1935, it had become home to Janet's Tea Room, formerly of Lee Street, described thus by the Suburban Times on February 2:
Janet's Tea Room is one of the most popular in this section and merits the large patronage it receives, for it's one of the cleanest and most sanitary—serving the most palatable foods to be found anywhere. It is very popular with the people of Des Plaines and Cook county.
This tea room has gained a name that has spread far and wide as a place where the local people and the traveling public can more than satisfy their demands in the matter of obtaining good food.
The menu not only consists of the prime necessities of life, but many delicacies are offered that are inviting and tempting to the taste of the most fastidious appetite.
Cleanliness is one of the outstanding features of this modern eating place, and this is not confined to the counter alone, but goes into kitchen, where all dishes are thoroughly washed and sterilized.
The service is equally satisfactory whether your order be large or small, as the owner makes you feel at home and that your patronage is appreciated.
Let us suggest that if you want your next luncheon party to be a success that you call and make arrangements here and leave the rest to them. You are sure to find everything to your entire satisfaction.
It seems that the restaurants downtown clustered around the train station to better serve that clientele. Later in 1935, the building became home to Sears, Roebuck, and Company, which remained here only two years before swapping locations with the struggling Brown's Department Store in summer 1937.
In this location Brown's refocused on soft lines - clothing and fabrics, and eventually focused even closer on women's and children's active clothing. Known for its parakeets and other birds kept throughout the store, Brown's closed its doors in February, 1996.
The building almost became a Bruegger's Bagels, going so far as mounting a sign, but then that chain ran into financial trouble. It instead became a National Quik Cash payday loan office. The back half was converted into a series of shops, including Bagel Cafe (then a-Adams Driving School), Family Hearing Center, Ursula's Jewelry, Clip N' Curl, and Stuff & Puff Tobacco.
The building was demolished to make way for the driveway to Metropolitan Square.
This building was built as the Des Plaines Post Office, a Taxi Garage, and store. It was the Manuel building, built by Dr. Edward A. Manuel, a veterinarian who established Des Plaines' first public transportation system, a horse and buggy, out of a stable on this site.
The Suburban Times, October 15, 1920
DR. E. A. MANUEL'S BUSINESS BLOCK
Expected That It Will Be Ready For Occupancy November 1st
LOCATION ON MINER STREET
Building is Finely Equipped - Fine Construction - Will Be A Credit To Our Town
(By E. D. MacL[uckie])
Dean Swift once said that the man who could make two blades of grass grow where one grew before deserved better of mankind than the whole race of politicians put together.
Then, what shall we say of the man who plans and erects a fine business structure in the center of his own village, not only as an example of thrift and good business principles, but as an example for his neighbors to emulate? Pericles of old adorned Athens, so is our good fellow citizen, Dr. E. A. Manuel, beautifying this little town of Des Plaines.
Let us call your attention to how this is being done:
Facing the Northwestern station on the north stands Dr. E. A. Manuel's new store, garage, and apartment building, which is fifty feet wide and one hundred thirty-eight feet from front to rear. Seventy feet of the front portion is two stories high, the remainder being one story in height.
The rear portion fifty by sixty-eight feet is a convenient and substantial garage, which will not only be the home of the doctor's fine taxi-service but which will comfortably house twenty automobiles. The garage has a cement floor, is provided with an office ten by sixteen feet, and a lavatory and toilet. Its large basement accommodates the steam-heating apparatus and call the coal required for a season's run. A chute from the garage floor to the basement permits the convenient handling of the coal. The floors, stairways, and supports are all reinforced concrete and cement.
The steam heating of this portion of the structure guarantees a temperature of 50 degrees in the garage and 70 degrees in the office during any kind of weather.
A cement driveway nine by seventy connects the garage with Miner street. Were this driveway extended seventy-five feet, it would run under the west eaves of the Northwestern station, which shows how conveniently located this building is.
The driveway has a hundred barrel cistern under it, which will supply the entire building with soft water (what a luxury!) Besides the cistern there are two man-holes in the driveway, one for coal and the other for goods.
The front fifty by seventy feet of the structure will accommodate two business houses, the new post office on the left and a store on the right of the automobile entrance. The post office is twenty-two by seventy feet, while the store is sixteen by sixty feet. Each of these is supplied with a lavatory and toilet. These are on the first floor. On the second floor are two up-to-date six room apartments, each boasting a parlor overlooking Miner Street, a dining room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and three bedrooms and (housewives take notice) each bedroom has a clothes closet. Hot-water heat supplies the front seventy feet of this building.
The dental suite in the front and middle part of the second floor is uniquely complete and arranged, consisting of a handsome waiting room with a liberal skylight, an office separated from the waiting room by a heavily-plated opaque glass partition, an x-ray room, a toilet and lavatory, two operating rooms, and a laboratory. This suite has two entrances, one for ingress and one for egress. The walls of the operating room are padded to keep out the noise from the trains.
On the second floor is a large central hall communicating with a gentlemen's and a ladies' toilet, the dental suite, and the apartments.
At the rear of the seventy-foot addition and on the second floor is an immense open-air porch, extending across the building, which will be closed in by wire screens in summer and glass in winter.
This portion also has a liberal basement for the hot-water heating plant, coal, and storage, Its stairways, walls, and supports are re-enforced concrete and cement.
Not even the roof has been neglected or overlooked; for it is made with sheathing on the rafters; this is covered with flaxlinum, which is a strawboard of seventy-five percent flax and the [SNIP] "If it will keep out the cold, it will keep out the heat."
The floors are cement and terrazzo mosaics, cement on the parts to be covered in linoleum, and terrazzo mosaic in halls and rotundas.
Lastly, but quite important, is the attractive facade, or front, of this new business block, (and we call it "business block" with much gusto.) It has four entrances. Over the left one in raised terra cotta letters are the words, POST OFFICE. Over the right hand entrance is the one wod, STORE, in the same kind of letters, while a long ornamental lintel over the middle, or garage, entrance bears at each end a representation of an automobile wheel, flanked on the left by a pair of nippers above a wrench and on the right hand by an automobile "jack," which replicas are bound together by the appropriate legend: TAXI SERVICE. This lintel with its adornments is strikingly appropriate for a garage whose location is the very best. The word OFFICE adorns the stairway entrance.
Above the central entrance near the roof is an eagle perched upon a United States shield with its traditional thirteen stars and thirteen stripes, all in terra cotta.
The large plate glass window frames are trimmed with genuine copper, thus insuring safety and durability. The front entrances are trimmed in terra cotta, while the front wall is capped with cut stone.
The construction of this building has been greatly retarded because of the inability to secure material. Few buildings are built on the careful and honest lines in both material and workmanship that this one has been, which is a compliment both to the builder, Mr. W. G. Wille, and the owner, E. A. Manuel.
The building will be fully completed and occupied by November first.
In conclusion, this whole structure embodies the ideas of comfort, solidity, strength, durability, and congruity, which typify in many aspects the character of its owner, Dr. E. A. Manuel, who could give to this community no better example of progress and no more fitting monument of his own worth and business integrity.
...and now it's a driveway!
Before this building was built, Dr. Manuel was already operating the Des Plaines Depot Garage here, selling Hupmobiles and Dodge Brothers Motor Cars; this later became Des Plaines Motor Sales in the new building. Manuel's taxi service grew into the Suburban Auto Coach Company and then United Motor Coach (with its passenger depot later in this building), before being absorbed into the Regional Transportation Authority in 1965. Dr. Manuel's impressive house still stands at the corner of Rand Road and Elk Boulevard.
The post office moved to the Masonic Temple building after five years, in 1925, although the back garage portion was later used by the Post Office. Over the years, much of the Terra Cotta on the first floor was removed as the store and garage became an auto showroom, and in about 1954 a total modern aluminum storefront system was installed as Brumlik Shoes moved in.
1946 postcard, 1950s postcard, 1960s via Chamber of Commerce booklet
In 1980 the Des Plaines City Council elected to purchase the Brumlik building to provide access from Miner Street to the Park Place parking lot. This was done in anticipation of a 3-story transportation center on the train depot's site, which would have connected via overhead walkway through this property to another parking deck in the Park Place lot. The transportation center would have connected to the Behrel deck, and in turn to the rest of Superblock, had it developed as planned. Although the owner of Brumlik's protested, the store closed in September, 1980, and the building was demolished the next month.
By the following March, the transportation center was down scaled to what we see today; there would be no overhead walkways going through the site. A park was built there, Miner Square, and was outfitted for $8,000, then upgraded for $20,000 more two years later. The building's demolition was ultimately unnecessary; an 'arcade' could have been built directly through the building for parking access, as many other downtowns have done. The park was again redone in the late 1990s. The removal of this building made it possible 20 years later to remove the adjacent Brown's building and put in a driveway to Metropolitan Square, further degrading Miner Street.
The Behmiller Building is one of the most attractive buildings downtown. Built in 1897, it is the only example of Queen Anne architecture downtown, with distinctive twin oriel (bay) windows. It seems to use the same brick, name plaque, and limestone banding courses as the C.W.M. Brown Building next door, suggesting it was probably designed by the same builder/architect, believed to be Frank Cook. There is a cornerstone, but it is now too weathered to read. From what I've been able to discover, it was originally the Behmiller Grocery store, although it became (briefly) Brown's shortly thereafter.
At some point, probably the 1950s, it was "modernized" with the addition of a permanent wedge-shaped canopy and new storefronts, with Lannon Stone below. While these aren't terrible and don't detract too much from the building, they do obscure some of its detail.
This photo shows the now-hidden base of the oriel windows and the glassy storefronts. Surprisingly, the building also had storefronts in the basement, with a stair going down. (What an awful-looking tree in this photo!) The building today is not too far off from the original. The biggest difference is the now-missing, unusual parapet at the roofline, which contributed to the "peaky" pattern of this end of the block.
Here are some of the businesses that occupied the Behmiller Building:
1518
1937 - Singer Sewing Machine Store
Square Deal Shoe Store
1954-(1979) - Sebastian Real Estate
(1984) - Louis Delegge American Family Insurance
1987-1990 - Susie Software
1993 - The Clock Doctor
Complete Business Center
John's Shoe Repair
1520
1956 - Holmes Motor
1959 - Des Plaines Dental Laboratory
By the end of the year, expect to see 90 new ornamental streetlights throughout the downtown area. 80% of this $1.2 million project is funded by a grant from the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program; the remainder is funded through TIF 1. There hasn't been any official word on what these lamps will look like; in that light, let's look at the streetlights that have been used downtown in the past.
These were the first, placed on Ellinwood Street around 1915.
This is the only example of this light, which was placed outside the Gillespie Printery building on Miner street around 1913.
These attractive lights were downtown Des Plaines' standard from 1926-1956. The Spanish-style lantern atop a concrete base was modern but still fit in well with the architecture of the city, particularly the Spanish style Des Plaines Theatre and Des Plaines State Bank. Later, around 1946, some of the broken lanterns were replaced by "Acorn" style globes. These standards were all removed in 1954 as these pedestrian-scaled lights were replaced by tall highway lights.
The lights to the left went up soon thereafter. While they were very modern in design, they didn't do much for the sidewalk experience; just shiny poles. This type of light is for lighting the street, not the sidewalk. These were in turn replaced by the similar, but even taller, lights to the right in the mid-80s.
So in the mid-1990s the city installed many of this style light in parts of downtown. While not unattractive, this style light tries to look old-fashioned but isn't; you can see many similar lights in shopping centers across the country. Worse, the acorn tops aren't energy-efficient; light shines in all directions, adding to light pollution in the sky while doing a poor job of lighting the sidewalk. The paint on these lights is fading and the globes are discoloring.
These lights are only in Metropolitan Square. They light the street and sidewalk somewhat better than the acorns, and they're not as tall as the Cobras. But they have that fake old-style look, too.
Then there were these, used at the C&NW stations.
And the earliest lights of all
The Earle House and Rand Mill was unquestionably the richest historical site in the city when it was lost in 1978. Today it is largely forgotten, living on mostly in the fading memories of Des Plaines citizens angry about our squandered heritage.
Here is a list of ideal historic sites; you'll probably agree any of these are places a community would value enough to name a landmark on its own merit.
-The home of one of the village's first doctors
-The home of a leading citizen, responsible for the creation of the high school, library, parks, and forest preserves
-A beautiful Queen Anne mansion with a distinctive copper dome
-The sawmill, one of the community's oldest buildings, which created the railroad ties for the railroad that was responsible for the development and growth of the town; in effect the heart and engine of the village
-A grist mill that ground farmer's grain
-A business operated by the community's first citizen and civic leader
-A park bringing together the three things most responsible for the community's growth: the river, the train, and the highway
The Rand-Earle campus was every one of these things. Was this not a History Campus? Was this not a Riverwalk? This could have been a home run of a historic site. Instead, today we are left with The Landmark, a nice condominium with a sick joke for a name.
Dr. Earle, who could "see more with one eye than most men could with two" - thus why half his face is shaded.
Dr. C. A. Earle
Dr. Clarence A. Earle was one of Des Plaines' first renaissance men, seemingly skilled at everything he tried, and he is accordingly a popular subject in local history books. Don Johnson's 1985 book "Des Plaines, Born of the Tallgrass Prairie, tells us:
"Clarence Arthur Earle was born in Colfax, Indiana, on February 4, 1862, the son of Silas and Mary Ann Hall Earle. His father died when Clarence was only twelve years old, yet despite this damaging setback, Clarence continued his secondary education, graduating at the young age of fifteen. Soon after, he embarked on a teaching career which lasted from 1877 to 1885. Still, he had never been able to suppress his desire to become a doctor and while teaching in Iroquois County in 1882, Clarence studied medicine in the office of Dr. P. Stebbing of Kankakee. Enrollment at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Chicago followed, and by February of 1887 Clarence had obtained his coveted medical degree.
Clarence practiced medicine both as a private practitioner and as an intern [at Cook County Hospital] until 1889, when he and his wife, Helen Pearce Earle, moved to Des Plaines. By the mid-1890s [1892] Clarence's flourishing practice enabled the family to have a spacious home constructed at the northeast corner of River Road and Miner Street.
A dedicated, talented man, Dr. Earle was, in many ways, the epitome of the storied country doctor. He was also pleasantly eccentric. Some of the city's longtime residents have stated that while answering a housecall, the good doctor would simply drive his Model-A up to the front of the patient's house and then absentmindedly jump out, leaving the car standing in the middle of the street with the engine on and the keys in the ignition. The car was destined to either sit in the street for the duration of the doctor's visit or be moved by the first person who happened along. It seems everyone in Des Plaines knew how to handle the situation.
Dr. Earle's duties as a physician were not limited to his own successful practice. He acted as a medical examiner for the Chicago and North Western Railroad, the Wisconsin Central Railroad, New York Life Insurance Company, and the Northwestern Masonic Aid Association. Dr. Earle also served as a staff physician for both the Benjamin Electric Company and St. Mary's Training School. It is a fact long known, though latterly often forgotten, that this "country doctor" was also a nationally known expert on childhood diseases [due in part to his involvement at Maryville]. Dr. Clarence A. Earle's lifetime of service came abruptly to an end when he died on October 28, 1938. He was 76 years of age."
Oh, and where did he park that Model A? In Rand Mill, which he used as a garage.
The 1916 Beaudette book described him thus:
"Dr. C. A. Earle, President of the Maine High School Board, comes from an Eastern family of talented writers. He is himself a historian whose articles are much appreciated. Due to Dr. C. A. Earle's activities and interests are most of the educational advantages of Des Plaines. He is ever ready to assist and encourage the aspiring student. Dr. Earle is an acknowledged authority on any subject upon which he condescends to write. His historical data have made him well known, in and about the country. Libraries seek him for authentic facts. He has a daughter, Miss Gladys, who is teaching school, while one of the sons, Walter, is taking a pre-medic course at the Chicago University. Walter is a member of the "varsity" swimming team and took "first" in the inter-department contests last spring. Percy is finishing his high school course at the Maine and is an athlete. The oldest son, Norman, is in the Naval Service. The examinations both physically and mentally at West Point are known to be the most rigorous of any. Mr. Norman Earle gained a record at West Point of ranking
as second in general scholarship.
Dr. Earle possesses one of the finest historical literary collections in this vicinity, which he continually is increasing."
Dr. Earle earned that position in part for his work pushing for a high school to be built in Des Plaines in 1902. Earle Field, across Thacker Street, was then named for him; Central School sits there now. As an avid teetotaler, Earle Field came with the provision that alcohol never be served there.
In the same book, Earle was credited as the driving force behind the creation of the Des Plaines Public Library. The persistent Earle argued for a library for the populace of Des Plaines, a ”largely foreign sturdy industrious people who are just learning the value of an education.”
"Des Plaines Public Library is a valuable educational asset for the community. Its existence is due largely to the untiring efforts of Dr. C. A. Earle.
With a courage born of conviction that Des Plaines needed a public library, Dr. C. A. Earle, one of our most aggressive citizens, spared neither time nor energy to awaken the public to a sense of that need.
Although Carnegie Libraries were not ordinarily established in villages of this size, Dr. Earle won Mr. Carnegie's interest as well as that of the community and on May 2, 1906, the first library board was organized."
A 2007 Daily Herald article described his contributions: "Then in 1905, 50 voters in the town that then held 1,666 residents placed the issue of establishing a free public library and a tax to support it on the ballot. On April 18, the voters approved the referendum and the village board unanimously resolved to provide $500 per year every year thereafter to maintain the library.
But even before residents decided in the library's favor, Earle was writing to philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, asking him to fund its establishment.
"In February of 1904, Dr. Earle received a discouraging letter from Carnegie's personal secretary, informing him that his request ... was out of the question because Des Plaines was too small a community," said Sandra Norlin, the library's present executive director.
"Undaunted, but polite, Dr. Earle responded. He described Des Plaines as a rural village of 'largely foreign, sturdy, industrious people who are just learning the value of an education,' and, therefore, worthy of consideration," she added.
Earle received a form to fill out, but no encouragement. However, after two years and several more letters, Carnegie finally agreed.
"The commitment by Carnegie and the village's officials allowed the library to become one of many civic improvements -- including new schools, parks, sewers, lights and gas -- to create a community that would, according to Dr. Earle , 'stand without a peer among the villages to the northwest of Chicago'," Norlin said. "
Earle was perhaps the first local historian, writing many articles on history for newspapers and the Des Plaines Historical Quarterly, including one on the origins of the name "Des Plaines". Don Johnson's 1985 book tells us that "Only through his exhaustive research was the pioneer history of Des Plaines preserved for posterity." He descibed his work, saying "To me the collecting of early local history has been an intriguing pastime. I have unearthed interesting records from old attic trunks, from boxes in the lofts of outhouses, corn cribs and garages. In the quest for early local history, the word 'failure' does not exist." He tracked down the Conant Diary, kept by early settler Augustus Conant, the first man to be legally married in Maine Township in 1836, which is one of the key documents of the early history of Des Plaines. The diary was found mouldering in a Rockford garage.
An absolutely tireless progressive, Earle was a vocal advocate for creating the Forest Preserve system in 1910, which he saw as a way to protect rapidly dwindling native species. In 1913 he moved onto drafting enabling legislation for parks in small towns. In 1919 he and other local leaders met and founded the park district. In 1920 he was elected police magistrate.
And of course Earle was an important doctor; he was a member of the Chicago Medical Society and was well known for his work in preventive medicine, scarlet fever, and diphtheria. In his spare time, he was active in the Lions Club, Boy Scouts, and botany.
How fitting it was for such a prominent citizen and historian to build a prominent house on a historic site! The Earle house, built in 1892, was a Queen Anne gem, complete with a copper domed belvedere. Earle couldn't have picked a more prominent or historic site if he had tried; the very nexus of the factors that allowed Des Plaines to exist. The corner of Miner and Rand Road brought together the river, which had attracted the Native Americans to the site, the railroad, which allowed Chicago to prosper, and the roads, which would grow into highways and bring Des Plaines into the mid-20th century. Des Plaines exists largely because it brings together so many modes of transportation; what site could better express that?
Socrates Rand
"Squire" Socrates Rand is often thought of as the "father of Des Plaines" because he was among its first officials and led many of the major improvements that brought the town of Des Plaines into being out of a collection of farms. Among his many accomplishments, he laid out the route following a Native American trail for Rand Road, the principal northwestern road and United States Mail Route in 1845. He operated the first hotel. Later he served as supervisor and overseer of highways and bridges. He served as town treasurer for 20 years. Much later, Rand Park would be named for him. These are just a few of his achievements; let's take a look at the timeline of his life to better understand
1804 - Born in Franklin County, Massachusetts, working on his father's farm and Mill. Was a timber dealer and shipbuilder there and built harbors throughout NY. He attended territorial councils there, where some men told him to go to Chicago. He came to Chicago to work on the harbor in 1834 and bought 320 acres in Des Plaines the next year. He hired a well-to-do man to settle on land west of the river, which induced a band of Germans to settle there. These settlers became supporters of Rand's road building projects.
1835 - Settled on west bank; elected justice of the peace
1836 - Performed first marriage in what would become Maine Township
1837 - Opened home for Episcopal services
1838 - First school in his cheese room, taught by Harriet Rand with about 15 students
1850 - Township of Maine organized; Rand served as moderator at first meeting April 2, 1850
1850 - Married Fanny Wicker
1851 - Postmaster
1851-1852 - Illinois & Wisconsin Railroad builds sawmill with timber donated by Rand; Rand given contract to grade 4 miles of railroad between Norwood Park and Des Plaines
1854 - Job completed, the derelict mill is sold to Rand. Unable to sell the engine, he continues operating itself
1854 - First trains run
1857 - First subdivision of Maine Township, by the Illinois & Wisconsin Land Company, named "Town of Rand" for him. Des Plaines as we know it would grow around this subdivision. Residents would have considered themselves a resident of the Town of Maine, however; Town of Rand was just a name on a plat.
1860 - Provided land for first Methodist Campground, which remained at this location until 1865.
1866 - Sells farmland at corner of Miner and Lee
1868 - Donated timber for German Lutheran Church
1869 - Renamed Des Plaines to match Railroad station, which in turn was named for the river, important for filling up its tank for steam.
1876 - Moved to Chicago
1890 - Died Feb 20
1895 - Widow bought and built house where Des Plaines Theatre now stands
The Rand Mill
The property was first owned by the Thacker family, and in 1851 the Illinois and Wisconsin Railroad company purchased it and quickly erected a sawmill to cut ties for the railroad they were extending from Jefferson Park to Crystal Lake. Although it was on the river, it wasn't hydraulically powered - no water wheel here. The railroad job complete, they sold the mill to Socrates Rand in 1854, since he had worked for the railroad and its associated land development company. Unable to sell the engine, Rand continued to operate it as a saw mill until 1861, when he converted it into a grist mill for farmers to grind their grain; grist mills were de facto centers of the community. The mill closed in 1875.
Later, his grandson Robert Dooley, son of Earle's daughter Gladys, would recognize that history, boasting in an ad in 1960's Centi-Quad-O-Rama, "It was with a sense of historic destiny that Robert chose the firm's present location on Des Plaines' 125th Anniversary directly behind the home of his grandfather, Dr. Clarence Earle, one of the city's early historians whose writings furnish the basis for most of the background information available on Des Plaines. The old Earle residence was built on the original site of Rand's Mill, the community's first business and oldest landmark."
By 1970, though, Dooley had changed his tune and sought to have the Mill site rezoned for two four-story apartment buildings. Ironically, Dooley cited the nearby forest preserve - the forest preserve Earle had been responsible for creating - as a factor that would make the site good for apartments. The fledgling Des Plaines Historical Society, then headed by firefighter David Wolf, fought to preserve the Mill. Since the city government was overwhelmingly in favor of rezoning for apartments, the Historical Society fought to preserve it as much as possible; including exploration of moving it to the park next to River Road at Ashland. Neither the move nor the apartments came to pass.
There was talk of moving the Des Plaines Historical Society to the Earle House instead of moving the Kinder House. By 1974, the Bicentennial Commission, then headed by Wolf, was looking at lasting projects to commemorate the nation's bicentennial; the three ideas were: turning the old city hall into a "heritage hall" that could be used by senior citizens, youth groups and for a public information center; a bicentennial park; or preserving the Earle House and Mill. None of these came to pass. Wolf even included this plan in his platform during his unsuccessful run for mayor in 1977.
In March, 1978, after Mayor Herb Volberding refused to issue a demolition permit, Dooley said that he would demolish the mill unless the city paid him $1 million. He did not base this figure on any appraisal; this was simply his demand. He also claimed that the idea of rezoning the parcel for historic preservation was not a sincere attempt to preserve the property, but part of a long campaign by the city to harass him. He sought to demolish it saying that its deteriorating state had prevented him from receiving insurance for the past five years and wanted to develop the land eventually. He did not have anything to say about why he allowed it to deteriorate to that point. On April 3, the city council voted on a two-week demolition delay, and the Landmark Commission planned a hearing for May 24. Dooley lowered his demand price to $575,000 with the conditions that it be used only for a museum and/or park with prohibition of alcohol (in accordance with Dr. Earle's wishes) and a hearing to discuss the offer was scheduled for May 16; a hearing for National Register status was scheduled for June 15.
Then on May 14, tragedy struck. A fire broke out in a second floor bedroom of the Earle House, which had been converted into five apartments, and was believed to be caused by an overloaded electrical socket. There was no indication of arson. The fire burned for an hour and caused $50,000 in damage, which wasn't covered by insurance. Damage was mostly contained to the second floor and wasn't considered a total loss, but the 22(!) people living there were left without a home. Dooley hadn't sought to demolish the home, since the rental income was paying the taxes. Dooley withdrew the $575,000 offer and the home and mill were soon demolished.
As a coda to the story, suitcases and trunks filled with letters and documents that had been collected by Earle were discovered in the charred attic, along with collections of antique tools and medical instruments. They were salvaged by Robert Albrecht, who had demolished the house. Albrecht was disappointed that nobody had discovered the treasure before the house burned; he estimated that only a third was salvagable. Dooley said he didn't want the "junk" unless it was worth something. Albrecht planned to donate the collection to the Des Plaines Historical Society on July 4, 1980, but Dooley then demanded their return; Albrecht feared Dooley would throw them away.
The Landmark Condominums were started later in 1978.
(b&w photos from Illinois Historic Preservation Agency's HAARGIS system)
While there are forgotten gems downtown, there are also a few buildings that are best described as "Prime Redevelopment Opportunities". These are two of them: only historic in that they are barely over 50 years old, unattractive, deteriorating, out-of-scale, and on top of that they allow a view of the parking deck behind them.
They were both originally built at about the same time as the Des Plaines Theatre next door (1925). The one on the left held Des Plaines Realty for many years, into the 1980s, until it was replaced by the Capozolli law office. At some point in the 1950s it was remodeled with a "modern" look with lannon stone, plate glass, and corrugated metal. Neither the old or the new building were particularly attractive; the storefronts at Prairie and Graceland, or many of the storefronts near Cumberland, are better examples of this architectural style.
The one on the right is a little more interesting - notice in the 1925 photo the sign is advertising a restaurant and hotel for lease (it must have been a very small hotel.) It held just that (including P. & M. Snack Shop) until it was demolished in 1958 for the Lombardo's Shoes/Toy & Hobby House building, pictured under construction in the above photo. Lombardo's lasted until at least 1986, and Toy & Hobby House until at least 1984. The hobby space later housed Online Cafe, June Moon Collectibles, and a variety of political campaign offices, among other things. The shoe store housed Lucia DeBartolo Salon and, until a few weeks ago, Class Hair Salon. In 2007, the City of Des Plaines purchased this building for $350,000 in TIF funds "for future redevelopment". This allowed it to operate a FEMA Disaster Recovery office following the 2008 Hurricane Ike-related floods. Today the building stands vacant and partially hidden by an obtrusive bus stop.
These two buildings present a unique opportunity, however. If the Des Plaines Theater is rehabilitated, it will likely need more space, since its lobby and backstage are quite small; it needs more lobby space, restrooms, and concessions. If the Theatre became a performing arts center, this would give room for functions like rehearsal or "black box" space, ticketing, and access to the theatre building's second floor; if the Theatre were rehabilitated as a movie theatre, this could provide space for additional screens. There is even more space to be had behind the historic Gillespie Printery and First National Bank buildings, where a cinder-block addition now stands.
(1)
Posts
