Historic Marker: Illinois Watch Case Company

County: Kane
Location: The marker is located in Elgin, at 853 Dundee Avenue, between Duncan Avenue and Slade Avenue, on the west side of the street.

 N  42^o 03.160  
W 088^o 16.258

Erected: 05/2007  Sponsored by: The Elgin Heritage Commission and the Illinois State Historical Society.

For more than 70 years, this site was occupied by the Illinois Watch Case Company. The firm was a leader in the domestic watch industry and by the 1920's had produced more than 30 million watch cases.

A subsidiary produced jewelry goods, lockets, cigarette lighters, and the famed "Elgin American" ladies compacts. During World War II, the company won an Army-Navy Excellence Award for its production of mortar shells and war-related materials.

Foreign competition and a changing market eventually led to an end of production in the early 1960's.

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Illinois State Historical Society * P.O. Box 1800, Springfield, IL 62705-1800 * 217-525-2781*Webmaster: Terri Cameron tcameron@historyillinois.org