Business & Tech
La Grange’s First Business: Unold’s Grocery and Market
The northwest corner of Brainard and Hillgrove avenues housed the birth of commerce in the village back in 1868.
On a visit to the, 444 S. La Grange Road, I learned that the brick building at the northeast corner of Brainard and Hillgrove avenues stands in the location of the first business in La Grange. Historical Society volunteers also gave me the history behind the buildings that occupied that location over the years.
John Unold and John Robb open Unold’s Grocery and Market in 1868 at the spot where now exists. Many of the local farmers traded at the market. The two-story frame building also had a hall on the second floor, which was rented out for parties and meetings. The hall was also used for dancing. On dance nights horse-drawn carriages had a route that they traveled picking up 12 to 20 dancers each night. This building remained until it burned to the ground in 1886.
Replacing the frame building after the fire was a new brick building known as the Unold Building that included a meat market and a pharmacy. Old Fellows Hall was the social center that was housed above the store. A walkway made of planks was installed in front of the store so that pedestrians could cross the dirt road. Apparently Unold was a shrewd businessman as told in this story about how Unold solved a credit problem at his general merchandise general store:
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At the end of the day, he and his wife took account of the business of the day. Unold remembered that a pound of butter had been included in an order delivered to a customer, but he supposedly said to his bookkeeper wife: “Charge it to everyone. The one who received it will not complain.”
This building was replaced in February 1929 after the Unold Building was damaged by fire in 1928. The new building is still standing today. In 1943, Roger’s Service Store, a drug store, resided in the building. The building remains the same except for the removal of the concrete finaials along the frieze of the building that were removed sometime after 1941. Current stores in that building are , , , , and . In 1943, Roger’s Service Store, a drug store, resided in the building.
