The 7 Wonders
History
Resources
People
Businesses
Churches
Houses
Organizations
Schools
Structural
Memorials
Lost and Found
Tours
of
Mount Prospect
Essays
on
Mount Prospect
Other Sources
MPHS
MPPL
Municipal
Regional
On People
On
Buildings
On
Businesses
The Central School
Activities
Mount Prospect: La Historia De
Tu Comunidad
Award
Feedback
Location: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
10 S. Pine Street – Capannari’s Ice Cream
John Conrad Moehling was born
in 1850 on a farm in Elk Grove Township to a family of German farmers. He was
married in 1875 and bought a farm in Mount Prospect but soon found that the
farming life was not what he wanted for his future. After seven years of farming
on his own he leased out the farm and decided to move into town. Meanwhile, in
the 1870s, County Commissioner Christian Geils bought a lot in downtown Mount
Prospect from the first developer in town and built a store. While he liked
building the first store, he was not interested in running it.
A few years later, he decided to sell the building. In 1882 John Conrad Moehling and Christian Geils met and saw a common interest and Moehling became the first shop keeper in the community. As the community developed, Moehling began to expand his business. In 1885, a petition was filed and the first post office was started in Mount Prospect. John C. Moehling was appointed the first Postmaster and the 48 box post office was set up in his store.
In this time he also began
selling flour, grain, feed, seed, coal and buggies. To help facilitate his
expanded business, he built the first side track off of the Chicago Northwestern
Line running through Mount Prospect. In the time he was in business, he saw the
community change dramatically. Mount Prospect went from a very small, early
development to a thriving community. After years of being a pioneer businessman,
he turned over the reigns of his operation to his son John, in 1917 the year
that Mount Prospect was incorporated. The Moehling general store building
remained in the family for over one hundred years.
In 1999 the Village of Mount Prospect purchased the building, removed two additions that had been put on and moved it from its original location on the corner of Northwest Highway and Main street to Pine Street, where it stands today. The village, working in co-operation with a number of businesses and the students of Forest School Vocational Program rehabilitated the historic structure. The building re-opened to the public as Capannari’s Ice Cream store and their reputation for excellence has brought the building back to being a major center of the community.