Did you know your favorite brunch spot sits on a street that no longer exists?!
(Big thanks to Maple & Yolk for sponsoring this Elmhurst history video!)
The spot where you order your eggs benedict used to be Hahn Street, an actual road that ran right through here.
This whole area has reinvented itself over and over.
Picture a peaceful, tree-lined residential block in the 1920s, then fast-forward to the 1960s when it had morphed into a bustling commercial strip!
The building Maple & Yolk calls home, Elmhurst 255, carried the name “Hahn Street Project” through years of planning that kicked off in 2006 before the economy put everything on ice.
Construction finally wrapped in 2016, and with it, Hahn Street disappeared for good (though eagle-eyed folks can still spot a trace of it behind the building on Addison!).
This exact storefront was also Rainbow Cafe until just earlier this year.
So the timeline goes residential street, used car lot, apartment complex, and finally, my go-to gluten-free brunch!
📍 Maple & Yolk, 254 N. York, Elmhurst
👉 Share with a fellow history lover!
🙏 and special thanks to the Elmhurst History Museum for the images!
Transcript
Your favorite brunch spot is sitting right on a street that does not exist anymore. If you're new here, my name is Amara, and I do video marketing for small businesses. I keep up on all things Elmhurst, so you don't have to. And a big thank you to Maple & Yolk for sponsoring this Elmhurst history video.
So Maple & Yolk is on the ground floor of Elmhurst 255, which is this big apartment building right here on York. But this stretch of York has actually completely transformed throughout the years.
Back in the 1920s, this section of York just north of Third Street was a quiet residential area with trees and houses. But by the 1960s, it had completely transformed into a busy commercial strip.
And literally right where I'm standing, this used to be a whole street called Hahn Street. For years, this entire Elmhurst 255 project was actually called the Hahn Street Project. Planning for this project started all the way back in 2006, but the economy stalled it out.
The Elmhurst 255 was built in 2016, and Hahn Street was gone for good. But there's still a little remnant that you can see behind the building on Addison.
And the space where Maple & Yolk is now, it was Rainbow Cafe for the longest time right up until earlier this year.
So TLDR, a quiet residential street becomes a used car lot, becomes an apartment building, and now it's one of my favorite gluten-free brunch spots. So if I've learned anything from history, it's that Elmhurst is constantly
