Lyon and Healy Factory, Chicago, Illinois.
Lyon and Healy is a musical instrument manufacturer that still operates in Chicago. Formed in 1864, Lyon and Healy opened a factory at Randolph and Ogden in 1890 that is still operating.
Known for their harps, they have also, at times, made guitars, banjos, pianos, and other musical instruments. In 1913, the factory depicted on the postcard was opened (designed by Hyland and Green). Located on Fullerton just west of Pulaski (then Crawford), along the Milwaukee Road line, the factory included a station along the railroad named after the complex; the station is still called Healy today.
The Lyon and Healy factory on Fullerton did not remain in operation for long; by the 1930s, it was home to the Mills Novelty Company, a noted coin-operated machine manufacturer. The usual model of industrial deconcentration would suggest that the company would have closed its original factory on the Near West Side and made the Fullerton location their main operation. In actuality, the Fullerton operation did not last twenty years, and the firm’s 100+ year old Near West Side factory at 168 North Ogden Avenue in Chicago still remains in operation.
Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.
My Dad moved into our family home at Kildare and Fullerton in 1918 and moved out in 1978. His historic knowledge of that area was incredible. He talked about how everything West of Cicero was dirt roads and farms. He used to hunt rabbits at "Lyon-Healy Prairie where Keeler avenue now is going North. Reading this brings back many memories of his history of the area. He left at age 70 when he was held up right by his home in broad daylight---he had enough of the changes of the area.
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