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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.