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Business & Tech

Log Cabin Inn Open Since End of Prohibition

The Log Cabin Inn on Potter Road still has its old-time feel.

With St. Patrick's day just around the corner this Saturday, it seems like a good time to look around at the local taverns.

In the past, Des Plaines was a town of many taverns. But today, many of the oldest in town have disappeared. Local joints like the Isle of Man, Fox & Hounds, El Reno, the Hapsburg Inn, Ray's West Side, Rocky's Tavern, Boomer's Tap, the , Des Plaines Bowl, and Sim's Lounge have fallen by the wayside.

Earlier: .

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A few of these now house other establishments, and a few remain in buisness, like the , Countryside Inn, and . The oldest bar in Des Plaines still in its original form - and now one of Des Plaines oldest businesses - sits in an obscure location on Potter Road. It's likely many Des Plaines residents don't know about it. Just after the end of prohibition, Vincent "Charlie" Crement built his tavern and beer garden.

While the Log Cabin Inn today is on the very edge of city limits, bordering on Park Ridge, when built in 1934 as "Crement's Beer Garden", its surroundings were unincorporated countryside, its nearest neighbors were the Croatian Children's Home, Maine Township High School, and a scattering of small neighborhoods.

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It was renamed "Crement's Log Cabin" in 1938, and was sold in 1946, becoming "Log Cabin Inn". Since it has since been annexed to the city, Des Plaines is now home to two log cabins - though the Log Cabin Inn was not built with logs, just log-style siding.

Today's Log Cabin Inn doesn't look outwardly much different, although its surroundings have grown up, filling with houses, apartments, and the Tri-State Tollway. The current owners have extensively refurbished the tavern and it remains popular.

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