New book highlights Mount Prospect's historical sites

Emily Dattilo proves that you can go home again.

Dattilo, a former Mount Prospect resident who returned to the community in 2020 to serve as director of the Mount Prospect Historical Society, has written a new book about the iconic locations in town.

"Mount Prospect Historic Sites" the book focuses not on what is lost in Mount Prospect, but on what remains in the village.

"I hope reading this helps people change their perspective on Mount Prospect," Dattilo said. "I want to remind people that we do have a history as a community."

Dattilo will sign copies of the book from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday in Meeting Room A, Room 154 of the Mount Prospect Public Library, 10 S. Emerson St.

The 128-page book is packed with almost 200 photos, including of the Mrs. P & Me building, which dates to 1902 and began its existence as a bar and restaurant that had to switch to nonalcoholic beverages during Prohibition.

Other images show the train station built in 1930 after Bert E. Terpning, the general superintendent of the Chicago and Northwestern railway system, moved to Mount Prospect. One photo in the book depicts a freight train derailment that ripped off a chunk of the station in 1959.

"We've got some cool pictures, and one of them is in the book, where you can see there's this big freight car kind of leaning up against the building," Dattilo said.

The cover photo is of a party at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall Moose Lodge at 601 N. Main St., which was built around 1950 and was a social center in the mid-20th century. It was taken from the photo album of Dick Halabrin, a member of the post's drill team in the 1950s and '60s.

For more information, visit http://mppl.org.