Auto Body, Collision Repair in Midlothian

About Midlothian, Illinois

Midlothian is village in southwestern Cook County Illinois with a population of 14,315 at the 2000 census.  The village has a total area of 2.8 square miles, all of it being land.  The Village of Midlothian takes its name from the Midlothian Country Club, a private club founded in 1898 by prominent Chicago businessmen looking for a summer retreat for their families. They came "way out to the country" (147th Street) and found a piece of property with rolling hills that reminded them of the Midlothian described in Sir Walter Scott's book The Heart of Midlothian. That Midlothian is in Scotland where golf was first played and so it was chosen as a fitting name for the new club. The club was one of the first golf clubs in the country and remains a prestigious course. The mayor's annual charity golf cjassic is held every summer at the Midlothian Country Club. The club also played host to the 1914 US Open.

Until the turn of the century, the area now known as the Village of Midlothian was little more than a milk stop along the Rock Island Railroad serving a few area farmers. In 1900, a group of wealthy Chicago industrialists, looking for respite and retreat from the crowded city, discovered the green knolls and rolling fairways of the new Midlothian Country Club and golf course. Deciding they needed faster transportation, they petitioned the Rock Island to build a spur track, and soon passenger trains were speeding people from Chicago to the quiet little village.

The Rock Island also built a depot - complete with a potbelly stove to provide heat - and traffic to Midlothian began increasing. By 1915, land developers who saw opportunity in Midlothian began arriving, purchased land from farmers and subdivided the farms into tracts of land for housing developments. Soon the first general store opened followed by a school, and then more businesses offering goods and services to serve the community's fast-growing population. The Midlothian Fire Department was organized in 1924.

By 1927, there were so many people living in the area that community leaders decided it was time to formally organize the community and incorporate it. On March 17, it was incorporated as the Village of Midlothian, taking its name from the golf club around which the community had grown and prospered. The following month, John H. Hamilton was elected as the village's first president.

In the '30s and '40s, homes continued to be built for people moving to and settling down in Midlothian. The Kreis Brothers opened the Ford Garage (where the village's fire engine was kept) and Chuck Cavallini began selling ice cream from his corner "Sweet Shop" (the Cavallini family would later own and operate the renowned Cavallini's Restaurant - home of the Chuck Wagon dinners - which served patrons from Midlothian, surrounding communities and even Chicago for a half century before closing in 1989). The first copy of The Messenger newspaper was printed in 1929 by the Andrews brothers, above the old Largent store located on 147th Street just west of Kildare. The first editor was Kevin McGann, who later served as aide-de-camp to General Dwight Eisenhower during World War II. McGann also worked with the General on his two books.

In 1949 Midlothian's present Village Hall was built at 148th and Pulaski. It provided a permanent home for the village staff. The facilities have been expanded and recently renovated; the Village Hall complex now houses the administrative staff, public works offices and garages, the fire department administrative offices and Station 1, the police department administrative offices, records, communications and investigative resources, a conference room and meeting room used by residents as well as staff, and the Village Board Chambers. Monthly hearings for parking tickets and housing-code violations are also held in the Chambers. 

For the best collision repair services in Midlothian, come to Kallemeyn Collision Center conveniently located in Palos Heights.