I got the following article via email which appeared in a Chicago newspaper:

Numerically, the Maid-Rite fast-food franchise poses no threat to McDonald’s, but it has demonstrated staying franchise in America (after A&W).

Launched almost 80 years ago in Iowa, it has its corporate headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, but you’ll find a pair of Maid-Rite outlets east of the Mississippi River in Quincy, Ill. This charming river town of about 40,000 attracts foodies to its companionable watering holes and down-home
eateries - and, perhaps, to the local Maid-Rites for their specialty sandwiches. It also draws a flock of architectural buffs who go to admire buildings that fill five distinct historic districts.

Quincy is the seat of Adams County. Both take their names from the sixth president, John Quincy Adams, son of the second U.S. president (the only such father-son combination until the election of George W. Bush). From 1850 to 1930, Quincy was the most prominent river town in Illinois, and at one time the state’s second-largest city, bigger than Chicago.

You’ll find the four corners of the intersection of 16th and Maine streets of particular interest. Described by National Geographic as the “most
significant architectural corner in the United States,” it showcases Greek gothic, Victorian and Queen Anne styles. Quincy serves as a virtual text-book of architecture. Every style popular within the United States during the Civil War through the turn of the last century can be found there. The picturesque river town also preserves a remarkable number of pre-CivilWar buildings. Many federal and Greek revival-style buildings date
from the 1830s.

During the first half of the 20th century, Quincy kept pace with other design movements. Find many examples of prairie school homes pioneered by Frank Lloyd Wright and a large number of craftsman bungalows. Associated with the arts and crafts movement of the early 1900s, craftsman bungalows, characterized by a low-pitched roof and single-story or one-and-a-half-story construction, preceded the modern ranch home.

The Gardener Museum of Architecture and Design, which occupies a limestone Romanesque-revival-style building dating from 1888, focuses on local and national trends. It chronicles architecture’s 100-year march from Greek revival to art deco and beyond - especially as it relates to the Upper Mississippi River Valley. Its main exhibit, “A Kaleidoscope of American Architecture,” uses Quincy as a backdrop as it ranges from 1885 to the “Birth of Modernism.” The latter explores, through photographs and architectural ornaments, the “Classical Revival,” the rise of the prairie school, art deco and art moderne and the craftsman bungalow craze.

German immigrants made significant contributions to Quincy’s architectural heritage, with sturdy homes built close to the brick side-walks in European style. “Calf-town,” a German enclave, had a cow or calf in virtually every family’s back yard. Over a period of about 40 years, from 1829 to 1870, more than 10,500 German immigrants settled in Quincy. On the southwest side, the German population rose as high as 78 percent. Today, many German-founded businesses remain, including the Knapheide Wagon Co. and Underbrink’s Bakery, opened in 1929 by Claude Underbrink, using $20 in savings and a $250 loan. Today’s owners, Leroy and Janet Rossmiller, follow original recipes to bake custard rolls, nut cups, frosted angel-food cupcakes, Boston brownbread and assorted pies and cookies. Original display cases, vintage baking tools and photographs of Underbrink at work also keep the heritage alive.

Visit Quincy in spring when dogwoods bloom and the waxed beauty of azaleas comes in many pastel shades. In early May, the annual Dogwood Festival draws 20,000. By summer, the grand old oaks, elms and maples that line both sides of Maine Street create a canopy of shade. Spring also brings hoops to the streets of Uptown Quincy, with the Gus Macker 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament (May 28 and 29). One of the largest 3-on-3 basketball tournaments in Illinois, it attracts upward of 8,000.

The sixth of seven famous senatorial debates of 1858 between U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas and his challenger, Abraham Lincoln, took place in Quincy. The incumbent Douglas had a law office in the Quincy House, considered the finest hotel west of Pittsburgh, but destroyed by fire in 1883. Find a monument to the occasion in Washington Park.

In the early 1900s, Quincy had a reputation as one of the nation’s largest brewery towns. Dick Brothers Brewery was larger than Anheuser Busch in St. Louis. Around the turn of the last century close to 150 saloons operated in Quincy. In 1919, Prohibition shuttered most of them (although a few remained open as “soft drink parlors”). After Prohibition was repealed, locals began using the term “tavern” rather than
“saloon.” One of Quincy’s most companionable taverns, a quintessential neighborhood joint called Mr. Bill’s, is locally popular for frosty beer and
thick burgers. Its long main room has a wooden floor, tin ceiling and walls yellowed with age. Mr. Bill (aka William Grotten) often holds court from his stool at the end of the bar, distributing wooden tokens redeemable for brews.

On Quincy’s riverfront, the Pier Restaurant offers an eagle’s-eye view of the Mississippi, glorious sunsets and steaks, chops, pasta and seafood. Built on high pilings, patrons reach the second-floor dining room via a long plank bridge during high water. Signature entrées include roast pork chop with mustard sauce, pecan-crusted salmon and horseradish-crusted catfish.

Back to Maid-Rite. For the uninitiated, its signature loose-meat sandwich resembles a sloppy Joe without the sloppiness. It is made of low-fat 100 percent ground beef steamed and served on a warm bun. It arrives with a spoon to scoop up the loose meat. The Maid-Rite franchise dates back to
1926, when Fred Angell, a butcher in Muscatine, Iowa, combined into a sandwich a special cut and grind of meat with a select set of spices. A
legend goes, Angell asked a delivery man at his restaurant to sample his newest sandwich creation. After a few bites, the taster commented, “You know, Fred, this sandwich is just made right.” And thereby hangs a tale. Currently, 67 Maid-Rite outlets operate in seven states.

If you go:
Information: Quincy Convention & Visitors Bureau, (800) 978-4748,www.quincycvb.org;
Illinois Tourism, (800) 226-6632, www.enjoyillinois.com
Mileage: Quincy is about 280 miles southwest of Chicago.
Upcoming event: Annual Dogwood Parade & Festival includes parade, craft and hobby fair, amusements and food, April 30 and May 1.

Mike Michaelson is a travel writer based in Chicago and the author of the guidebook “Chicago’s Best-Kept Secrets.

Posted by Justin in Nostalgia, Quincy