Alfonso Iannelli was arguably one of the most influential and yet overlooked artists of the Midwest. An Italian-American sculptor, artist, and industrial designer, his career ranged from illustrating Vaudeville posters to sculptures to co-designing buildings. Much of his work is scattered amongst landmarks, churches, and architecture in Park Ridge; thus Alfonso Iannelli leaves a [...]
Alexander Harley immigrated from Hungary to America when nine years old, settling with his family at first in Cincinnati and then in San Francisco. While there in the 1910s, he finished grammar and high school, working in his father's painting business. Along the way, his violin became a life-long companion to his innate energy [...]
Albert J. Buchheit, our first mayor, was born in Watertown, Wisconsin in 1876. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, he studied dentistry both in Chicago and at Leipzig University in Germany. He opened his first office on Main Street in Park Ridge in 1905, and later built the Buchheit Building on Vine Avenue [...]
George B. Carpenter was a prosperous chandler living in a fine house in Chicago during the prominent era of sailing ships on the Great Lakes. His house was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1871, and he and his wife relocated to their summer house in Brickton, an 18-room mansion located at 20 North [...]
George W. Penny came to our community from the State of Maine, as did many of our early settlers. He was born in 1824. His industry and enterprise lead him to a certain understanding of the process of making bricks, and he located a clay pit perfect for his needs along what is now Grand [...]
