Painting Company in Morton Grove, IL

A handful of farmers from England settled in 1830-1832, despite there being no roads from Chicago, only native American trails, as the defeat of the Black Hawk War and the 1833 Treaty of Chicago led Native Americans to leave the areas. Farmers from Germany and Luxembourg started arriving by the end of the decade, clearing the land by cutting the walnut, oak, hickory, elm and maple trees. Logs were initially hauled to a sawmill at Dutchman’s Point (later Niles, Illinois) at the corner of what became Milwaukee, Waukegan and Touhy Avenues, and stumps burned for charcoal that could then be hauled to heat homes in expanding Chicago. Immigrant John Miller erected a water-powered sawmill near where the Chicago River met the future Dempster Street shortly after 1841. This simplified homebuilding in the area, as well as facilitated further lumber sales. A road (first known as Miller’s Mill Road and after 1915 as Lincoln Avenue) allowed wood from the sawmill (and produce from nearby farms) to be hauled to the largest settlement in the surrounding Niles Township (initially known as Niles Center and now Skokie) or even further, into Chicago. Around 1850, the “Northwestern” road to/from Chicago (now known as Milwaukee Avenue) was improved (partly using lumber from Miller’s sawmill) to become a single lane plank (toll) road. That reduced a four-day journey into Chicago to about a half day, and also helped sales of produce and farm products from the rich bottomland. Lumber was also hauled to Jefferson Park to fuel locomotives after the first railroads were built in the area. In 1858, Henry Harms built a toll road from the intersection of Ashland and Lincoln Avenues in Chicago to Skokie, where it met Miller’s Mill Road. Harms’ Road was later extended through Glenview.

In 1872, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad bought Miller’s Mill and laid track (which became two lines in 1892). They also dug gravel for railroad and road use nearby, creating a quarry at what later became Austin Park. The stop (later station) at what had been Miller’s Mill was named Morton Grove to honor one of the railroad’s New York financiers, Levi Parsons Morton. The Morton Grove settlement began growing from about 100 persons, and by 1874 had grown enough to have its first postmaster, Civil War veteran Medard Lochner. Rural mail service started 21 years later, although a blacksmith shop was opened at the settlement by 1884, and a trading post and saloon had operated since 1847. The first subdivision (177 lots) was platted by real estate developers George Fernald and Fred Bingham in 1891, and a convalescent home for German-American aged was built in 1894. The village formally incorporated on December 24, 1895, just eight days before Morton became the Governor of New York. Morton Grove’s first mayor, George Harrer, was of German descent (and became the namesake of the village’s largest park), and his brother became Skokie’s mayor.

The first greenhouses were built in Morton Grove in 1885 (the railroad transported 135,000 tons of coal annually to heat them in cold weather), and the Poehlman Brothers’ floral business grew into one of the world’s largest floral firms, receiving international recognition when one of its roses won first place at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. The orchid department alone included eight greenhouses, and the nearby railroad station received flowers from the Philippines and South America to service customers with more exotic tastes. By 1915 the Poehlman Brothers’ payroll included 400 to 500 people. However, the business went bankrupt in the Great Depression. Baxter Laboratories bought much of the former Poehlman land, and became a major employer in the following decades. The 20 acres (8 hectares) of land surrounding Greenhouse C was purchased by the Morton Grove Days Committee and ultimately became Harrer Park. Lochner’s and the wholesale firm Platz Flowers (retail business name “Jamaican Gardens”) continue to operate in the village. August Poehlman long served as one of Morton Grove’s six trustees (and as its second mayor), and his brother Adolph was the village attorney.