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101 S. Maple – Dietrich Friedrichs House
This
house was built in 1906 and was the thirteenth house to be built in Mount
Prospect. It was built by Dietrich and Lena Friedrichs, who were a young,
recently married couple. The Friedrichs had both been born in the United States
but were the children of German immigrant families. During the 19th Century this
area was largely made up of German immigrant farmers. These were often large
families with many children to help on the farm. Dietrich and Lena Friedrichs
decided to be different. First, although they were both from very large
families, with each of them having ten brothers and sisters, they decided to
only have one child. Their only child was named Bessie and she lived most of her
life in this building. Dietrich was also different from his family in that he
did not farm. He worked as a house painter and decorator. This was an
interesting occupation to choose if there were only twelve other houses in Mount
Prospect.
Much of what is Mount Prospect today was simply
unincorporated Cook County then and Dietrich must have found
work in these areas. When the Friedrichs lived here the house was always white;
in fact in the early twentieth century it was simply known as the "white house
on the corner." One possible explanation for this is that Dietrich, as a house
painter, wanted to keep his house looking very bright, clean and newly painted
to show his work. The lives of the Friedrichs illustrate a number of larger
trends. Their German immigrant background illustrates the history of the
settlement of Mount Prospect and much of the upper Midwest. The large families
that they were born into demonstrate the agricultural past of the area. Their
choice to only have one child and work in a non-farm, service profession show
the early twentieth century transition away from an immigrant agricultural
community into the beginning of independent suburban communities. The Friedrichs
and their home have a lot to tell Mount Prospect about it's past.
Since 1992, this historic building has been the home of the Mount Prospect Historical Society; an independent, non-profit organization. The office of the Museum is open Monday through Friday from 11am to 6pm. For more information call (847) 392-9006.