McDonald's No. 1 Store Museum

McDonald's No. 1 Store Museum is a replica of the first McDonald's restaurant opened by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois, on April 15, 1955. The museum was constructed in 1985 and was a re-creation of the original store. It was located at 400 Lee St. in Des Plaines, Illinois, and was demolished in 2018.

History

The original restaurant was the ninth McDonald's store overall and was the first one franchised by Ray Kroc. Kroc, who was a Multimixer milkshake machine salesperson at the time, was intrigued by the McDonald brothers' San Bernardino store, which had purchased eight of his machines. He proposed to the brothers to open more locations. The Des Plaines restaurant marked the beginning of future McDonald's worldwide.

Design

The design of the original McDonald's store was typical of the early McDonald's restaurants, with the now iconic Golden Arches and a mascot, Speedee, who was a chef character running atop the building. The museum replicated this design, including the original sign displaying McDonald's famous 'Over 1 Million Served' slogan.

Closure and Demolition

The museum was closed to the public due to repeated flooding of the site. It was demolished in 2018 after McDonald's decided it was not feasible to move the building due to its size and the cost involved. The site is now vacant.

See Also

• History of McDonald's
• Ray Kroc
• List of food museums