19th Century

Village founded; Maywood Library Association founded.
A 125-foot Observatory Tower was erected; First industry came to Maywood – Chicago Scraper and Ditching Company, located at 5th Ave. and St. Charles Rd. – the building also housed the Post Office (George R. Hall, first Postmaster) and the Maywood Company; South Side School was built (oldest school in Maywood) at 4th Ave. and Washington Blvd. – later it was used as the High School and then Emerson School; 25-30 houses built; Maywood Hotel, grocery store, meat market (Hugh Potter), and blacksmith shop opened; CNRR began stopping in Maywood.
Great Chicago Fire led to over 100 homes built for settlers; Maywood Company gave five adjoining lots to homebuilders to assure well-rounded growth in Maywood.
Panic of 1873; progress slowed for 15 years.
Maywood Public Library founded.
Village incorporated; A one-man police force was deemed necessary. The jail was made of two-by-fours and was roofless; a volunteer fire brigade was established -firefighters in good standing received $3 for each fire attended.
First newspaper (“Home News”).
First electric street cars; according to the census the population of Maywood was 4,000.
Maywood Fire Department founded.
Former Village Hall (on 5th Ave. just north of Oak St.) constructed; Twentieth Century Club was established by women to promote education, philanthropy and municipal reform.

20th Century

 
Horse-drawn Fire Dept. hose cart, start of telephone service.
 
Carnegie Library built.
 
Washington School occupied a two-room building – with additions this building was used until 1930, when it was replaced with the building that is now standing.
 
Boy Scouts started; Proviso High School opened.
 
Soldiers’ Widows Home built (for Civil War widows).
 
Hines Hospital built.
 
Checkerboard Airfield built.
 
Air Mail Service begun from Checkerboard Field.
 
Business Men’s Association established.
 
Girl Scouts started.
 
Charles Lindbergh flew Air Mail from Checkerboard Field.
 
Recreation Board established.
 
33rd Tank Co. (Co. B) formed, Illinois National Guard.
 
Greater Maywood Association (now Maywood Chamber of Commerce) founded.
 
Company B (122 men) formed as part of 192nd Tank Battalion.
 
Bataan Death March (41 men returned); First Bataan Day Parade.
 
Council/Manager form of government adopted.
 
Eisenhower Expressway opened.
 
Loyola University Hospital opened.
 
American Can Company closed.
 
First Historic Home designation (Cluever House – Built 1913).
 
Maywood Chamber of Commerce Gold Card Program instituted; Maywood Chamber of Commerce published its first Maywood Community Guide.
 
Maywood Chamber of Commerce awarded a $6,800 grant from the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce to develop a Drug-Free Workplace Program.
Maywood Chamber of Commerce Gold Card Program won the Governor’s Hometown Award; Maywood Public Library opened a new Central Library Annex.
Maywood Chamber of Commerce Gold Card Program instituted; Maywood Chamber of Commerce published its first Maywood Community Guide.
60th Anniversary “Diamond Jubilee” Year, Maywood Chamber of Commerce; Hugh A. Muir, Chamber’s sole surviving Founding Father, celebrated his 90th birthday; Maywood Public Library won the Chicago Building Congress 1999 Merit Award for construction under $10 Million; The American Institute of Architects Chicago Distinguished Building Award for the Maywood Public Library was presented to Ross Barney & Jankowski, Inc., the architectural firm; a new Veterans Memorial, honoring victims of the notorious “Bataan Death March,” was dedicated in the southeast corner of Maywood Park on Bataan Day (2nd Sunday of September).

21st Century

2000 Past President (1987-1989 & 1993-1997), Maywood Chamber of Commerce, Karen A. Yarbrough, won the race for 7th District State Representative; 105th Anniversary, Maywood Fire Department; dedication of Underground Railroad Memorial, 1 st Avenue & Lake Street, by Operation Uplift & West Town Historical & Arts Museum; Patricia A. White resigned and retired after serving for 30 years as Executive Secretary of the Maywood Chamber of Commerce; Aetna Plywood Company opened a new facility on a portion of the old American Can Company site along St. Charles Road.

2001 Ralph W. Conner, Chamber member, elected as Mayor of Maywood, along with three members of the “Maywood First” Party as Village Clerk and Village Trustees; Stephen J. Kuptz, Chamber member, appointed as Village Treasurer. Edwenna Y Perkins, Chamber member, elected as Village Trustee.

2002 Past President (1987-89 & 1993-97), Maywood Chamber of Commerce, Karen A. Yarbrough, won reelection as the 7th District State Representative; Maywood Chamber of Commerce awarded a $6,000 Member Initiative Grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, sponsored by State Representative Karen A. Yarbrough; Chamber Board Member, Carolyn Johnson, received The Loyola Spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award”; Hugh A. Muir, Chamber’s sole surviving Founding Father celebrated his 93rd birthday; School-Based Health Center opened at Proviso East High School, Chamber Board Strategic Planning Retreat.

2003 Recommendations of the Strategic Planning Task Force were approved, including a revised Mission Statement, a reemphasis on the business community, the reduction of the Board Committees from twenty to nine, the increase of the Board Members from eighteen to twenty, with designated slots for business (12), social services (4), individual residents (3) and municipal government (1); Chamber members participated in the development of the West Cook Consortium of Chambers; Village Manager Dennis Sparks gave a presentation at the Board Meeting; Village Treasurer Stephen J. Kuptz gave a presentation at the March Board Meeting; Chamber members participated in the Town Meeting on the Comprehensive Plan in March; Joint Tenancy Agreement between the Chamber and the Maywood Public Library was adopted in September; Chamber Web site www.maywoodchamber.org was launched in October from new office in the lower level of the Carnegie Building, Maywood Public Library; Chamber Board played an active role in the selection of a new Village Manager.

2004 Recommendations of the Economic Development Committee for its Purposes, Activities, and Strategies were approved by the Board, including the establishment of a low-interest loan program, supported by a consortium of local financial institutions and the Village; Village Manager, William Birth was elected to the Board and gave the Keynote Address at the 65th Anniversary Installation & Awards Banquet; Chamber President/CEO participated in the development of the West Cook Consortium of Chambers; Hugh A. Muir, Chamber’s sole surviving Founding Father, celebrated his 95th birthday; 62nd Annual Bataan Day Memorial Service held on September 12 at the Veterans Memorial, Maywood Park.

2005 Plans went forward for the establishment of a Maywood Economic Development Corporation, a non-profit entity composed of several local banks, to provide a commercial loan program, afagade improvement loan program, and a code-compliance loan program; talks initiated with the Metropolitan Planning council to interest them in selecting Maywood for the development of a Retail Plan; the new Village Manager, Robert L. NeHs, Sr., was elected to the Chamber Board as the governmental representative; beginning in Fall 2005, Chamber members and organizations provided ongoing generous support to Katrina Disaster relief victims; Gold Card Committee name changed to Maywood Chamber Academic Excellence Program; in December 2005, the Chamber joined the Village and School District 89 in recognizing elementary school honor roll students. Hugh A. Muir, Chamber’s sole surviving Founding Father, celebrated his 96th birthday: 63rd Annual Bataan Day Memorial Services held on September 16th at the Veterans Memorial, Maywood Park. Cintas Corporation opened a new facility on a portion of the old American Can Company site along St. Charles Road, east of Aetna Plywood, Inc.

2006 Hugh A. Muir, Chamber’s sole surviving Founding Father, celebrated his 97th birthday on March 2nd. During the 67th Anniversary Installation & Awards Banquet in May 2006, five Proviso East High School seniors were awarded $1500 scholarships to attend the college or university of their choice. In addition, State Representative Karen A. Yarbrough made available a full one-year General Assembly Scholarship for awarding by the Maywood Chamber Academic Excellence Program. Formal establishment of the Maywood Economic Development Corporation in August. Chamber members serving on the MEDC Board include MEDC Board Chairman, Joseph D. Hogan; Chamber Board Chairman-elect Steve Fox; Chamber Immediate Past Board Chairman, Jesse L. Howard, Jr.; and Chamber Board Member, Donald A. Offermann. 64th Annual Bataan Day Memorial Service held on September 10th at the Veteran’s Memorial, Maywood Park. On November 27 and 28 2006, the Chamber joined the Village and School District #89 Officials in recognizing elementary honor roll students. Under the leadership of Mayor Henderson Yarbrough, Sr., Master of Ceremonies, Pastor Jacques A. Conway of the Neighborhood United Methodist Church gave the invocation, followed by a welcome from Cynthia R Broughton.Ed.S., Superintendent, District #89, and remarks by Chamber Board Member Carolyn Johnson. Certificates were then presented to the honor roll students of the six Maywood elementary schools.

2007 Hugh A. Muir, Chamber’s sole surviving founding father, celebrated his 98th birthday on March 2nd. During the 68th Anniversary Installation Anniversary Installation & Awards Banquet in June, 2007, four Proviso East High School seniors were awarded $1500 scholarships to attend the college of their choice. The new President/CEO of Loyola University Health Systems, Paul K. Whelton, M.D., M.S.c., gave the keynote address at the Awards Banquet. Patrick J. Durkin, Vice President, Professional Services, RHC-Westlake Hospital, elected to the Chamber Board.