Jump to content
Main menu
Main menu
move to sidebar
hide
Navigation
Main page
Recent changes
Random page
Help about MediaWiki
Special pages
Niidae Wiki
Search
Search
Appearance
Create account
Log in
Personal tools
Create account
Log in
Pages for logged out editors
learn more
Contributions
Talk
Editing
Melrose Park, Illinois
(section)
Page
Discussion
English
Read
Edit
View history
Tools
Tools
move to sidebar
hide
Actions
Read
Edit
View history
General
What links here
Related changes
Page information
Appearance
move to sidebar
hide
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
== History == According to the [[Encyclopedia of Chicago]], in 1882 residents of a then-unincorporated portion of [[Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois|Proviso Township]] voted to establish their own municipality—called simply "Melrose" until 11 years later, in 1893, when the "Park" was added and population in the area began to steadily increase. The first Italian-Americans arrived in 1888. On March 28, 1920, the [[Fujita scale|F4]] [[1920 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak|Palm Sunday tornado]] cut a {{convert|328|ft|m|adj=mid|-wide}} path over {{convert|1094|yd|m}} through the village and killed ten people. It destroyed the Sacred Heart Church and attached convent.<ref>{{cite book |title=Melrose Park, Illinois (Images of America Series) |last=Marbella |first=Fidencio |author2=Margaret Flanagan |year=2009 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-0-7385-6093-9 |pages=85–104 }}</ref> At the turn of the 20th century, the population surge plateaued and industry began to stagnate; it was only after [[World War I]] that the local economy was able to recover, the result of some manufacturing companies setting up shop in the village. New industry, coupled with Melrose Park's prime geographic location next to the Proviso freight yards, led to a steady increase in the number of area jobs. This continued after [[World War II]], with still more companies moving to Melrose Park. [[Zenith Electronics]], [[Alberto-Culver]], [[Jewel (supermarket)|Jewel]], and [[International Harvester]] (now [[Navistar]]) are some examples.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/809.html|title=Melrose Park, IL|website=www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org|access-date=August 20, 2018}}</ref> Many of these companies are still located in Melrose Park and the local industry remains stable, but Alberto-Culver no longer exists, Zenith continues to exist as a brand only today, and Navistar's plant facility closed in 2021 and was eventually demolished. During the late 1990s, to attract more commerce, the village underwent major cosmetic improvements, beginning with the redesigning of all village street signs. The wooded area on both sides of Silver Creek, between Broadway and 17th Avenue along North Avenue, was almost completely excavated, the grass replaced, and wood chips were added along the bases of the remaining trees. Many busy streets were repaved and the athletic field next to the village hall was completely redone. This has helped not only to attract new businesses but also many first-time home buyers. The athletic field next to the village hall is named after the late Ralph "Babe" Serpico, father of the current mayor, Ronald M. Serpico.
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to Niidae Wiki may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see
Encyclopedia:Copyrights
for details).
Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Search
Search
Editing
Melrose Park, Illinois
(section)
Add topic