The City

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The City of Prospect
Heights
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A is for Area in Prospect Heights In Prospect
Heights there are 4.5 square miles of land. Each
of the lots are ½ acre to a 3/4 of an acre in
size. A long time ago, there was a lot of open
land. This land used to be farmland. When the
houses were built, the land was developed. When
farmland disappeared, many neighborhoods grew.
Today, many houses have large backyards. The city
boundaries are Sanders Road on the east, Windsor
Drive on the west, Hintz Road on the north, and
Euclid Avenue on the south for a total of 4.5
square miles.
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B is for Businesses
In Prospect Heights there are not that many
businesses around. It also has a lot of stores.
There are ice cream stores, pizzerias, delis, and
pharmacies. There are 220 businesses in Prospect
Heights. One business is Leonard Digate Income
Planning that started in 1972. Lorper is another
business in Prospect Heights that provides word
processing, database management, personalized
repetitive letters, and delivery. Also, there is
a business, called Family Dollar where everything
is 1! Another business is Papa Johns, where
they sell pizza. Another business that sells
donuts and ice cream is Dunkin Donuts/Baskin
Robins. Mostly, there are small businesses in
Prospect Heights.
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C Is for City Hall The first City Hall
building was built on the corner of Camp McDonald
and Elmhurst Road. Then it was moved to 8 N.
Elmhurst Road. City Hall is open Monday-Friday,
830 A.M. to 430 P.M. During, this time staff
is available to answer questions from residents
or businesses. At 10 P.M. on April 13, 2006,
someone broke in a back office window of the
Prospect Heights City Hall. The arsonist poured a
mixture of gas and oil in the window, and then
set the building on fire. By the time the
Prospect Heights Fire Department came from just a
block away, the fire was burning through the
roof. The fire burned so quickly that the
Prospect Heights Fire Chief, Donald Gould knew
immediately that this was no ordinary fire. The
City Hall had burned down, so they had to rebuild
all of it. The new City Hall is located in the
same place where it burned down.
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D FOR DISTRICT 23
In Prospect Heights School District 23, there
are four different schools. There are three
elementary schools and one middle school. The
schools are Anne Sullivan School (grades 3-5),
Betsy Ross School (early childhood-grade 2),
Dwight D. Eisenhower(k-grade 5),and MacArthur
School (grades 6-8). District 23 also has its own
website at www.d23.org. Students from Arlington
Heights, Wheeling, and Prospect Heights attend
the schools. District 23 is the best place for a
child to grow.
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E is forChicago Executive Airport
The Chicago Executive Airport is the third
busiest airport in Illinois. It is about 411
acres. There are three runways. The airport
opened in 1925 as Gauthiers Flying Field, and it
expanded in 1930. It was renamed Pal-Waukee in
November, 1928. On December 26, 1986, the airport
changed from a private airport to public
ownership. More than 167,000 planes take off and
land at the airport. Each year there are 300
aircrafts and 57 corporate jet aircrafts based on
the air field. Approximately 200,000 planes take
off and land each year.

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F is for Fire Department
The Prospect Heights Fire Department is
located at 10 East Camp McDonald Road. The fire
chief is Donald Gould. The fire department was
built in 1940 and organized in 1944. The very
first fire chief for this department was Fran
Foor. There are three ambulance, five fire
trucks, one crash truck, one pumper truck, and
one incident command. There is also another
building located on Wolf Road, which is another
fire department. There are sixty-seven
firefighters, who work at the department, and
there are about ten fires a year. The emergency
calls are usually medical calls.

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G is for Government

• In1938, the Prospect Heights Improvement
  Association was formed. It was the government of
  this community for 38 years, even though Prospect
  Heights was an unincorporated area. By 1955,
  there were almost 600 homes in unincorporated
  Prospect Heights. On January 31, 1976 the
  village of Prospect Heights was born. The first
  Mayor of Prospect Heights was John Gillian.
• Now the acting Mayor is Pat Ludvigson, and the
  five Aldermen are Richard G. Hamen, John Styler,
  Dolly Vole, James Armbruster, and Bree Higgins.
  Their terms are four years.
• Mark Kirk is the U.S. State Representative. The
  State Senators are Dick Durbin and Roland Burris.
  Roland Burris is the only African-American member
  of the U.S. Senate. Our Illinois State
  Representative is Sid Mathias, and the Illinois
  State Senator is Matt Murphy.

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H is for Hotels in Prospect HeightsThere are
three hotels in Prospect Heights. The first one
is Wingate by Wyndham. It is at 600 Milwaukee
Avenue. There are 50 rooms. You can earn Wyndham
points every time you stay at Wingate Hotels. The
phone number for Wingate is 1-800-449-3716 for
Customer Service. To book a reservation, the
phone number is 1-800-228-1000. Super 8 is
another hotel in Prospect Heights. To book a
reservation the phone number is 1-800-800-8000.
The Customer Service number is 1-800-454-3509. It
is located at 540 Milwaukee Avenue. The third is
Forest Lodge. It is located on 1246 S. River
Road. The hotel has no pool, some meeting rooms,
and 58 rooms. Forest Lodge has been open for 56
years! The direct phone number is 1-847-537-2000.
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I
I Is for Incorporated
Prospect Heights was incorporated on July 4,
1976. It officially became a city. They now had
the power to conduct business with the people who
lived there. The village had tried to become
incorporated in 1972, but it did not pass. Before
it was incorporated, it was under county rule.
Now it is recognized as its own city.

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J is for Journal

• The Prospect Heights Journal is a newspaper. It
  was first started in 1930. The office is located
  at 622 Graceland Avenue in Des Plaines. There are
  six reporters that work for the newspaper. The
  newspaper is delivered on Thursday and Friday.
  The paper is printed twice a week. The editor is
  Todd Wessell.

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K is for Hiram Kennicott
Hiram Kennicott was the first settler of Prospect
Heights. He was from New York. He bought several
acres of land near what is now the corner of
Elmhurst Road and Willow Road. By 1850, he had
over a thousand acres, which he used for a dairy
farm with over 200 cows. He called his home, The
Folly. He and his wife had 12 children. It was a
big estate with private tutors and a governess
for his children.
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L is for Library
The Prospect Heights Library was formed
on June 19, 1956 in a storefront. 2,100 patrons
were registered, and the library had 18,532
items. The library moved to its current location
at 12 N. Elm Street in 1972. As you can imagine,
there are a lot of books. There is a play area
for little children, too. Besides books, you can
also check out movies. There are computers and
toys for kids to play with too. The Prospect
Heights Library holds orchestra concerts, and
they show them on the local cable station. They
also hold our schools art show in the spring.
The library has a reading program each summer.
Mission Read, Book A Race, Powered by Reading,
and Get in the Game have been some of the past
programs. The Prospect Heights Librarys
phone number is 1-847-259-3500.
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M is For Mail
Prospect Heights mail system is run by the U.S.
Postal Service. They are located at 9 S. Elmhurst
Road. The post office phone number is
1-847-255-1771. Their postmaster is Harry Zeck.
Five people work in the post office, but the mail
is actually delivered through the Mt. Prospect
Post Office. Deliveries begin at 730 a.m. and
end at 400 p.m. They issue passports, have 700
P.O. boxes, and have 24 hour automatic postal
service machines. It is open from 9 to 5 oclock,
Monday through Friday, and on Saturday from 9 to
12. It is closed on Sunday.

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N is for Nursing Homes Brighton
Gardens of Prospect Heights is one of the
greatest places in the world for seniors to live!
It is located at 700 East Euclid Avenue, Prospect
Heights, IL 60070. Their phone number is
1-847-797-2705. They have resident clubsBridge
Club, Mens Club, Quilting Club, Decorating Club,
and the Travel Club. Some of the activities for
seniors include a personal fitness gym, a
fair-sized pool, Bible study, balloon volleyball,
darts, singing, dancing, live entertainment,
painting, drawing, and much, much more. The
residents enjoy living there very much. The men
usually participate in activities like golf and
bocce ball. Female residents like baking,
quilting, and other knitting activities. Both
genders enjoy swimming, singing, karaoke, live
entertainment, and other musical activities. As
of March 2009, Brighton of Prospect Heights
housed 86 seniors! None of the people living
there are disabled or impaired in any way.
Residents enjoy it there very much! One of the
reasons why they like it so much is because of
the trips they take, just like a student might go
on a field trip. For example, they go out to
restaurants three times a week, go to church
services, and are occasionally bused to Lake
Geneva in Wisconsin!
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O Is for Officer Vertone Officer
Vertone is a police officer, who works at the
Prospect Heights Police Department. In the
department, he works alongside 36 other people.
Officer Vertone comes to school a few times a
week and tells the kids how to stay safe and how
to stay away from drugs, alcohol, and gangs. The
program he teaches the fifth graders is called
SAVE. He teaches eighth grade juvenile law. He
also teaches sixth graders internet safety. He
teaches internet safety to grades lower than
sixth grade, too. Officer Vertrone also teaches
kids not to get into trouble with the police. He
has worked at the department for 18 years. For
seven years, he was an investigator. For the
remaining 11 years, he was a Patrol Officer. To
be an officer, you have to have a college
education and take a physical test, a written
test, and a psychological test.
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P is for Police Department. The Prospect Heights
Police Department did not begin until 1990.
Before that, the Cook County Sheriffs Department
was in charge of the village. Now there is one
police chief named Bruce Morris, one deputy chief
named Eric Lundt, one sergeant, four
corporals,two investigators, thirteen police
officers, one social worker, one secretary, and
six school crossing guards. The Police Department
is located at 14 East Camp McDonald Road. For
emergencies, people call 911, and for non
emergencies, people call 1-847-398-5511. It
operates 24 hours each day.

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Q is for Quality Homes Q is for quality homes
developed by Carlton Smith and Allen Dawson. The
first home was built on Elmhurst Road on January
31, 1936. By December there were six homes
available for sale. Almost all of them were
changed or added on to. In 1938, the Prospect
Heights Improvement Association was formed.
Sometime in 1955, there were around 600 homes
available. Prospect Heights continues to grow,
and so far there are 6,573 thousand houses in
this slowly expanding city.
,
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R is for Residents
The population of Prospect Heights is 17,081
people. There are 4,711 Hispanics, 13,351 Whites,
344 African Americans, 17 Native Americans, 830
Asians, and 2,651 other individuals. There are
6,573 households, and the median household income
is 41,573. There is one school district,
District 23, which has four schools Eisenhower,
Betsy Ross, Anne Sullivan, and MacArthur. There
are many people in Prospect Heights!
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S is for Social Security Office

In Prospect Heights, there is a Social Security
Office. In there you can get Social Security,
government windshield stickers, and much more. It
is located at 215 South Elmhurst Road. The
toll-free number is 1-800-773-1213. It is open
between 900 A.M. and 400 P.M. The managers
name is Elizabeth Williams. They have about 36
employees. It has been around since 1997. They
offer Medicare, retirement benefits, disability
benefits, and dependant and survivor benefits.
The office also helps with prescription drug
plans. When people apply for a social security
card, they apply for it at the office, but the
card is mailed to them from Baltimore, Maryland.
In order to make their services more convenient,
the Social Security Office offers an automated
telephone service (nationwide) at 1-800-772-1213,
and they also make all their services available
on www.social security.gov. The Social Security
Office in Prospect Heights is a very valuable and
useful service to all the residents of Prospect
Heights.
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T is for Trees
There are many trees in Prospect Heights. Some of
the names of the trees that grow in Prospect
Heights are the following Sugar Maple,
Cottonwood, American Basswood, Hop Hornbeam,
Alder, White Oak, and Silver Maple. They trim the
trees every four years. Less than 12 trees get
cut down in Prospect Heights a year. Some tree
diseases are Emerald Ash Bore and Dutch Elm. Oak
Trees live the longest. The Garden Club, the
City, and the Park District pay for the trees
that are planted in Prospect Heights. Six trees
are planted in Prospect Heights every year.
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U is for Unlimited Fun
Prospect Heights has a park district with a lot
of fun activities for kids and adults. Lions Park
Pool is in Prospect Heights. There are baseball
and soccer fields. They have camps for kids,
sports camp, and the Old Orchard Country Club. At
Gary Morava Recreation Center, there is a fitness
center for all ages, a preschool, and many types
of classes. There are thirteen parks in Prospect
Heights. There are seven Park Board members. The
president of the park district is Vicki Carney.
The phone number is 1-847-215-9244.
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V is for the Village of Prospect Heights
Prospect Heights was first settled in 1935. This
suburb is close to interstate highways. The first
official residents were Mr. and Mrs. Nicolin, who
lived at 8 N. Elmhurst Rd. They moved to this
area to escape the congestion of the city. The
first winter was rough with winter temperatures
ranging from 0º to 20º below zero. There was only
a single lane on Rte. 83, no telephones and no
indoor plumbing. Mr. Nicolin had to bring water
home from work in ten-gallon jugs. Prospect
Heights was unincorporated for many years, but on
January 31, 1976 the village of Prospect Heights
was born. The first Mayor of Prospect Heights was
John Gillian. The village continues to grow. Many
people still settle here to escape the congestion
of the city.
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W is for Wells
In Prospect Heights, we get water from wells. It
is very fresh. You can even buy water testers at
City Hall. It is recommended to chlorify your
pipes once a year to prevent the spread of
disease ! The way you do this is, first mix
chlorine with well water and just pump it in. You
may ask, Are they dug or driven wells ? The
answer to that is driven. Wells have always been
used in Prospect Heights. There are more than
2,000 wells in Prospect Heights. Wells sometimes
need to be re-dug. Usually if your water is a
different color, your well needs to be re-dug!
Prospect Heights has always used wells, so if you
dont have a new house, pretty soon your well if
you have one will need to be re-dug.
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X and Y are for eXtra Big Yards
The yards and lots are zoned for one half or
three fourths of an acre. Thats really huge!
The lots are not supposed to be split apart to
build more than one house. By having big yards,
no sidewalks, and no street lights, the village
keeps its unique, rural appearance.
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Z Is For Zip Code
The zip code in Prospect Heights is 60070. A zip
code is a postal code, used by the U.S.A. Postal
Service. Robert Moon is known as the father of
the zip code. On July 1, 1963, a non-mandatory
zip code was announced for every place in the
U.S. Zip codes can start with 0 and move up to
999! The U.S. Post Office only credits Mr. Moon
for the first three numbers in the zip code.
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Web Sites
www.phl.alibary.com. www.prospect-heights.il.usus/
. www.batgirl.atspace.com/kennicott.htlm.
www.sunriseSeniolivng.com. www.super8.com.
www.wingateinns.com.www.d23.org.
www.prospect-heights.il.us. www.googleearthing.com
/upload_www.palwaukee.org www.socialsecruity.gov.
www.prospectheightsfire.com. www.wagoneers.com/joh
n/half-acre.jpg. www.prospect-heights.il.us/city-h
istory.cfm
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The End