Morton Grove

Tijdens het afstropen op Internet naar foto's uit het begin van de 20e eeuw om het reisverslag van Jacob Willem Bijvoet aanschouwelijk te maken kwamen soms verrassende zaken tevoorschijn. Zo was Morton Grove in eerste instantie niet in de atlas te vinden. Later werd duidelijk dat het een plaatsje is ongeveer 12 miles van Chicago. Het plaatsje is echter niet (meer) te vinden in een atlas, omdat het geheel is opgeslokt door Chicago.
Uit onderstaand bericht op Internet bleek Morton Grove prima te bereiken met de trein en woonde er diverse potentiële klanten van Jacob.

Gevonden op Internet:

Morton Grove, IL

Cook County, 14 miles N of the Loop.

Morton Grove first gained national recognition through its greenhouses and later through its stance on gun control. Fame, however, came as slowly as did settlement.

English immigrants moved into the Lehigh-Beckwith area in the 1830s, followed by German and Prussian fam- ilies a decade later.

In 1872 the Milwaukee Railroad laid a single-track line, setting up a flag stop in town. The approximately one hundred residents relied on truck farming or employment with local companies. They named their community Morton Grove for railroad financier Levi Parsons Morton, later vice president under Benjamin Harrison.

In 1889 new industry came with the Poehlmann Brothers Company greenhouse business. Renowned for its roses, the company received national attention when its Poehlmann Rose received first prize at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. The brothers operated three plants in Morton Grove, employing between 300 and 500 workers. Between 1900 and 1930 the local economy depended on the wholesale florist business. Platz and Sons opened their greenhouse in 1904. In 1910 the Lochner family started a roadside stand selling vegetables and flowers, which prospered and led them to build a greenhouse 15 years later. The burgeoning floral business also benefited a local contractor who built greenhouses.