The Joliet Area Historical Museum in Joliet, Illinois, recently acquired space that housed the world’s first Dairy Queen restaurant.
That first DQ, which opened in 1940, was in a brick, two-story building at 501 N. Chicago St., though the building itself dates to the 1890s.
Greg Peerbolte, the museum’s executive director, talked to the Joliet Patch about the acquisition:
Peerbolte said that Sherb Noble of Kankakee introduced Dairy Queen to Joliet.
When Noble opened his Joliet store in 1940, Dairy Queen primarily had two goals: selling soft-serve ice cream and rapidly expanding their franchise all over the country, Peerbolte explained. […]
The museum’s first phase of the Joliet Dairy Queen project will involve a walk-up experience that could be ready to unveil in 2024. […]
“We want to restore the exterior signage, and we’re looking to put up a wall and use the front area of the building for a display with interpretive signs,” he said. “We would like to restore some of the vintage neons, some of the lights.”
Peerbolte said the museum has been working with the Dairy Queen corporation to make sure the project is done right and receive some cross-promotion.
It’s unknown when the original Dairy Queen closed, though a lawn mower store occupied the space in the mid-1950s.
Dairy Queen has more than 6,800 locations across the world, including three in Joliet.
(Hat tip to Lynn Bagdon; image of the first Dairy Queen in Joliet, Illinois, via Facebook)
Nice to see this being saved.
We can rebuild it. We have the technology.