In the early morning of Tuesday, Aug 16, 1911, the West McHenry Post Office was robbed. It probably wasn’t too surprising, as there were a string of post office & bank robberies in the area at that time. About four days before the McHenry Post Office was hit, the South Elgin Post Office was robbed… Continue reading West McHenry Post Office Robbery
McHenry has had several things that make it stand out from its neighbors. Yet, one of the more distinctive things about it was that for many years it was the only city in America to have two Post Offices that worked independently of each other. From 1882 to 1950 McHenry had two post offices, one… Continue reading West McHenry’s Post Office – Part 1
In the 1950s, the US was in the tensest time of the Cold War. This new type of war brought a new variety of fears due to the weapons of mass destruction that were available. The most infamous being the atomic bomb. Civilian defense organizations were set up at the state and national level. Many… Continue reading Operation Alert
In November of 1945, the people of McHenry County saw something they hadn’t seen before: people picketing in the streets. On November 15, 1945, the Illinois Telephone Traffic Union voted to strike. During the war, the federal government set up different commissions to regulate labor and salaries in the wartime economy. The commission set the… Continue reading The Telephone Girls’ Strike of 1945
McHenry's first venture into the electric world started in February 1908. Town leaders wanted to bring McHenry into the electronic age for some time, but this wasn't as easy as one might think. Electric companies weren't like the giant corporations that we have today. Many were start-ups, most of which failed. For example, towns… Continue reading McHenry Electric Service Company
