The McDonald's No1 Store Museum at 400 North Lee Street, Des Plaines, Illinois, USA.
The McDonald's No1 Store Museum at 400 North Lee Street, Des Plaines, Illinois, USA. The McDonald's #1 Store Museum is housed in a replica of the former McDonald's restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois, opened by Ray Kroc in April 1955. The company usually refers to this as The Original McDonald's, although it is not the first McDonald's restaurant but the ninth; the first was opened by Dick and Mac McDonald in San Bernardino, California, in 1940, while the oldest McDonald's still in operation is the third one built, in Downey, California, which opened in 1953. However, the Des Plaines restaurant marked the beginning of future CEO Kroc's involvement with the firm. It opened under the aegis of his franchising company McDonald's Systems, Inc., which became McDonald's Corporation after Kroc purchased the McDonald brothers' stake in the firm. The actual Des Plaines restaurant was demolished in 1984, but McDonald's realized they had a history to preserve, so they built a replica. With golden arches soaring over a glass and metal, red-and-white tiled exterior, the building largely follows the McDonald brothers' original blueprints, which they had introduced when they began franchising in 1953; a Phoenix, Arizona, restaurant was the first built in this manner. Kroc's restaurant was the first McDonald's built in a colder climate, and some adaptations were made to the design, including a basement and a furnace.
Size: 5768px × 3845px
Location: 400 North Lee Street, Des Plaines, Illinois, USA.
Photo credit: © Richard Brown / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1950, car, classic, des, diner, eat, eating, fast, food, hamburger, historical, illinois, mcdonald, plaines, retro, usa
