Illinois Watch Case Company
CITY:
Elgin
COUNTY:
Kane
DEDICATED BY:
The Elgin Heritage Commission and The Illinois State Historical Society
DEDICATION DATE:
May 1, 2007 at 5:00:00 AM
The marker is located in Elgin on the northeast corner of the intersection of Dundee and Chester Avenues.
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.