In April of 1918, Peter Sheid, a popular blacksmith who once lived in McHenry and Crystal Lake, passed away. On April 11, his funeral service was held at St. Mary’s Church. While helping prepare the grave, N.J. Justen noticed smoke pouring from the roof of the Church. He sped over and alerted Rev. Edward Berthold,… Continue reading The Fire and Rebirth of St. Mary’s Catholic Church
When McHenry was a travel destination for vacationers, it offered many colorful locations for people to enjoy themselves. One of the most interesting places was the Polly Prim which was located where the Hickory Pit now sits today on Rte. 120 & Charles St. The Polly Prim was built in the spring of 1924, by… Continue reading The Polly Prim
On a Sunday morning, September 3, 1911, a couple of fishermen who were out on the Fox River and made a gruesome find. Floating in the river was the body of a man. Authorities were called and after the body was removed from the water, they could see it was wrapped in a rain cover… Continue reading The Mysterious Case of Frederick Wennerstrom
Going into the 1900s, McHenry had a lot going for itself. It was a summer tourist destination and had a great agricultural community. Businesses and factories were also starting to spring up throughout the village. One of those was the Gail Borden Condensing Plant. The Gail Borden Company had factories in many towns in the… Continue reading McHenry’s Borden Factory
In 1918, William Pries came to McHenry after purchasing the local market from Charles Frett. Frett had been in McHenry for 25 years when he sold the business. It was well respected and liked. People in town knew that Pries had big shoes to fill. William Pries, who was a successful businessman from Wauconda, got… Continue reading The Beginning of McHenry’s Pries Market
In August of 1919, a local resident named “Buff” Feltz stopped by the McHenry Plaindealer office with an old dance program he found in walls of a Crystal Lake house he helped raze. Plaindealer editor, F. G. Schreiner found the program interesting and posted the details of the dance thinking that some of the “old-timers”… Continue reading The Masquerade Ball of February 1878
The drive-in theater was one of the iconic crazes of the 1950s. While the first drive-in was actually in Camden, New Jersey in 1933, the popularity of the drive-in didn’t take off until the 1950s. Drive-ins offered some things that their indoor counterparts didn’t. Overall, the atmosphere befitted its casual summertime setting. At a drive-in,… Continue reading McHenry’s Skyline Drive-In Theater
