Mount Prospect faces the Great Depression

The 1930s were a difficult time for most communities across America, and it was certainly a time of change for Mount Prospect.

When the stock market crashed in 1929, it affected all aspects of life.

During this time, a group of men came together to form the Mount Prospect Citizen's Band because they felt that their town could benefit from the presence of good music. There was also the establishment of the Mount Prospect Baseball Association, which gave people an opportunity to enjoy baseball during the Depression.

Mount Prospect did boast a victory during the 1930s, and that was with the Mount Prospect State Bank.

It started out in a tiny corner building and continued to serve the community from this modest location through World War I. Then, in 1928, at the height of the pre-crash boom, the bank moved to a larger building a block north at 2 W. Busse. This building was originally the home of Busse Buick, one of the businesses started by William Busse.

In this location, the bank weathered the Great Depression of the 1930s and was one of the very few financial institutions to go through it with uninterrupted service.

In 1933, shortly after his inauguration, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ordered all banks in America to close and work out their books.

The Mount Prospect State Bank closed its doors for the first time. However, it was one of the first banks in Illinois to reopen in a time when only about 10 percent of the area's banks ever reopened.