Time-tested: Local businesses that have endured for generations

From a Civil War-era pharmacy to a bank that weathered the Great Depression, some of the oldest active businesses in northern Illinois are still going strong.

While most historical societies and local historians say it’s tough to definitively crown the single oldest business in each county, one thing is clear: some have stuck around far longer than most.

La Salle County

The First National Bank of Ottawa - 1865

The First National Bank of Ottawa opened shortly after the Civil War ended as part of the country’s push to create a more unified banking system under the National Bank Acts of 1863 and 1864.

“Interesting fact, the First National Bank of Ottawa was organized because of the National Bank Act of 1863 & 1864,” La Salle County Historical Society Museum director Amanda Carter said. “The Civil War played a large role in this, as a centralized national banking system would help fund the Union effort in the war, as well as establish one currency used throughout the nation.”

“This made interstate trade much easier as well.”

Founded by around 50 local investors, the bank’s early leadership included W.H. Cushman, whose wife was a bridesmaid in Abraham Lincoln’s wedding, and Richard Thorne, who once received a personal campaign funding request from Lincoln.

The bank has navigated every major American financial crisis of the past 150 years, including the panics of 1873 and 1893, the Great Depression, and the 2008 mortgage crisis, without ever defaulting on a demand.

The bank moved to its current La Salle Street location in 1904 and has grown ever since.

Its parent company now operates under the name American Commercial Bank & Trust with multiple branches across Illinois. However, the original bank continues as The First National Bank of Ottawa.

Inside the bank lobby today, a ledger from their opening day over 160 years ago is still on display.

Maze Lumber - Peru, 1848

“Maze Lumber is a business that has a very meticulous history that has been well kept by the family,” Carter said.

Founded by Irish immigrant Samuel Nesbit Maze, Maze Lumber began as a small operation on the banks of the Illinois River, trading lumber with the help of a grain barge.

After Samuel’s death in 1885, his son Walter Hamilton Maze expanded the business and incorporated it under the W.H. Maze name.

In the early 1900s, Maze tackled a common construction problem - nails that rusted and stained cedar shingles.

With zinc sourced from local plants, they developed rust-resistant zinc nails, launching what would become the Maze Nails division - now a nationally recognized product line.

As demand grew, Maze introduced the industry’s first double-dipped hot-galvanized nails, a method that helped set the national standard for quality.

Today, Maze Lumber and Maze Nails continue to operate in Peru, with a reputation as one of the country’s top specialty nail makers.

McHenry County

Miller Monument Co. - McHenry, 1868

Founded by German immigrant John Henry Mueller in Johnsburg, Miller Monument Co. has spent more than 150 years carving the memories of McHenry County families into stone.

Now in its fifth generation of family ownership, the McHenry-based grave maker is considered the oldest continuous business in the city.

Originally, the company specialized in hand-carved limestone gravestones.

Today, granite is the material used, and laser technology has largely replaced hand tools, but Miller’s tradition of craftsmanship and family stewardship remains.

In 2004, the City of McHenry officially proclaimed May 6 as “Miller Monument Company Day,” recognizing the company’s longstanding contributions to the community.

The Northwest Herald wrote an article about the proclamation, along with the history of the business. That article still hangs framed in the family’s office to this day.

“It was quite an honor for our family,” Co-owner Julie Hobson said, daughter of the late John H. Miller. “My dad was so proud of that.”

DeKalb County

The Suter Company - Sycamore, 1925

Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, the Suter Company has grown from a small poultry and egg operation into a leading national food manufacturer.

Founded by Charles Suter, the company moved from Palatine to Genoa to downtown Sycamore before building its May Street facility in 1947, the same year it shifted from poultry slaughtering to food processing and canning.

In 1956, the company officially incorporated as The Suter Company and began USDA inspections to meet federal requirements. Those changes allowed the business to begin distributing nationally.

Today, The Suter Company operates out of a modern facility on Bethany Road in Sycamore, with a focus on packaged food products for commercial clients.

“At The Suter Company, we are proud of our rich history that has spanned 100 years,” the company says on its website. “‘Business on a Mission’ is more than just a tagline. It inspires our actions every day.”

Will County

J.D. Brown - Joliet, 1844

J.D. Brown & Co. has served Will County for more than 180 years, when pharmacist James Douglas Brown opened a pharmacy downtown on Jefferson Street.

In the early 1960s, ownership changed hands for the first time outside the Brown family when Ken Pritz, a local pharmacist, purchased the company.

Today, his son-in-law, Dave Umek, manages the medical equipment division and, along with other members of the Pritz family, runs the business.

“My father-in-law, Ken Pritz, and mother-in-law Carol bought the pharmacy from the Brown family in the early ’60s, and we’ve wanted to keep it going as a family operation ever since,” Umek said. “We’ve got kids working here now, too.”

Many years down the road, the business has grown into a full-service healthcare provider, offering pharmacy services, medical equipment, home oxygen, and more.

Kane County

The Milk Pail - East Dundee, 1926

Before it became a banquet venue and weekend flea market, The Milk Pail was known as the Country Tea Room. A 1926 roadside stop created by industrialist Max McGraw that followed a 19th-century dairy farm called Clearbrook.

The farmhouse dated to the late 1860s, before McGraw (founder of Toastmaster and McGraw Edison) transformed part of it into a tea room serving fresh food and milk to travelers along Route 25.

However, as road travel evolved, so did the business.

It became a go-to destination in the region, eventually becoming The Milk Pail Restaurant in 1939 - named after the pails customers once brought to the creamery to take home milk.

“It was the thing to do back then - you’d take a day trip to Dundee, visit Haeger Potteries and eat lunch at the Milk Pail,” President of the Dundee Township Historical Society Kristie Benedik said. “It wasn’t the type of place you’d wear jeans to - you dressed up when you ate there.”

The restaurant was known for its pheasant, rainbow trout, and country-style meals along with views of the countryside.

“It was really pretty there,” Benedik said. “It had a banquet hall - my daughter’s sister-in-law even had her baby shower there.”

The restaurant officially closed in 1996 and in 1999, the restaurant landed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Though the business and experience is quite different now than it once was, the name and legacy of the building lives on.